2007 MSA BRITISH RALLY ELITE

Posted: April 16, 2007 1:02 PM

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16/04/17
MSA BRITISH RALLY ELITE THREE DAY TRAINING REGIMENT SUCESS
It was a testing three days for all MSA British Rally Elite scheme members after the first training sessions for 2007, which took place at Edinburgh University last month. The participants were given extensive tutoring on all aspects concerning rallying and the development of their careers in the sport. Areas covered included: Sport Psychology, Physiology, Strength & Conditioning, Sponsorship, Career Advice, Media Skills, Fitness and Nutrition. The Elite level training was based on personalised one-on-one sessions with academy members benefiting from a more team-structured approach.

Day one kicked off with an introduction from former World Rally Champion co-driver Robert Reid and then consisted of individual sessions of Sport Psychology, Fitness and Career Advice for the Elite members. Academy members had two major workshop sessions in Strength & Stretching and Motorsport Sponsorship followed by a group discussion in the evening with the instructors and the Elite members.

Day two started off with an early morning run up Arthur’s Seat following by workshops covering Media and Nutrition. The Elite members then had sessions on Strength & Conditioning and Sponsorship. The day was capped of by a Q&A night in the team hotel. The final day had a very physical feel, with all competitors taking part in Fitness and Strength testing including the infamous ‘beep’ test. Elite members had another personal session in Sport Psychology re-capping on day one’s meetings.

The Sport Psychology module taught the group the importance of time-management, organisation, motivation and appropriate mentalities during and between events.

Edinburgh University expert Hugh Richards covered goal setting and creating performance models to compare and look back on at the end of the year. The team was given charts to use during the year to monitor their performance and, by December, compare the differences from the present.

Sponsorship was covered by Brian Cameron, a businessman and former rally competitor who taught the group the important commercial side to rallying. Brian covered several topics including how to go about gaining sponsorship deals and the importance of maintaining good sponsor relations. He also ran the guys through sponsorship proposals and how to plan and execute them. The topic of Media skills was covered by Sky Sports TV presenter Lee McKenzie who brought across the importance of PR and press releases, giving techniques in writing – this was extremely informative as many of the Elite members, especially those in the academy, write their own releases. The group also covered the importance of gaining maximum media coverage to maintain the sponsorcompetitor relationship and looking at different and quirky angles to keep things fresh and interesting.

Lee also made use of a TV camera to school the group in proper interview techniques, illustrating her tips by showing the scheme members both good and bad examples of driver interviews from recent years. Her extensive knowledge in the sport and motorsport in general really impressed the participants who felt they got a lot out of her input.

Professional Sports Nutritionist Lorna Hall joined the group to explain to the group the importance of diet and hydration within sport. She looked at specific foods helpful to competitors on event and then touched on general diets, including fat contents and carbohydrate intake. The Elite members were then taken on a tour of a local supermarket, where Lorna explained the good and bad products to buy and use during events.

The exercise on Strength & Stretching was covered by Stuart Anderson and looked at the importance of core body strength and stability during competition. This was related to the possibility of long term injuries if stretching is not properly carried out and useful stretches inside the car and between stages.

Steve Young took the MSA British Rally Elite team out for an early morning run up the infamous Arthur’s Seat in icy conditions, to begin his fitness tutoring course. Steve covered many areas of fitness including core strength and general fitness at home and in the gym.

With his extensive knowledge and past experiences with top sportsmen including Scottish rugby union internationals, he created personalised fitness programmes for each member of the group for the remainder of the year.

Physiology was covered in depth by Edinburgh University Physiologist Tony Turner; he took the scheme members through several core strength and flexibility tests. To conclude Tony began a group running of the highly anticipated ‘beep’ test which separated the fit from the fittest. There were 16 determined runners but only two winners, with James Wozencroft and Bobby Mitchell taking top honours with very impressive scores.

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07/03/07
MSA BRITISH RALLY ELITE DRIVES FORWARD INTO 2007
MSA British Rally Elite and Academy members will, this month, take part in the scheme’s first ever extensive three-day residential training course held at Edinburgh University. As the first training event of the year, the course will run from 18-20 March covering a comprehensive variety of core topics ranging from sport psychology and media skills to fitness and nutrition. The four Elite members have a more personalised course involving one-to-one sessions with different experts in their respective fields, day one beginning with psychology, career advice and physical fitness.

Each member will have two individual sessions with Hugh Richards, Sports Psychologist from Edinburgh University – the first to review last year’s performances and the second to generate a go-forward plan for this year.

Former World Champion co-driver Robert Reid also will spend time with each Elite participant to discuss their plans and to offer advice on career options and competitive programmes for the season. A further individual session has been allocated to devising personalised fitness plans for the year.

Day two will bring both Elite and Academy scheme members together for an early morning fitness session followed by a dedicated workshop on nutrition and hydration, supplying the competitors with helpful dietary information for during and between events.

Media skills will also be covered on the second day as both groups will be lectured in interview techniques and written media skills by TV motor sports presenter Lee McKenzie.

This session will include instruction on the fine art of interviewing with full use of a TV camera that will be onsite for the day. Elite group members will finish day two with a two-hour stretching and core body strengthening session followed by an evening workshop with sponsorship guru Brian Cameron, to cover sponsorship and business opportunities within the sport.

The final day will see the four Elite level participants go through phase two of their psychology session with Hugh Richards as well as intense physical testing, including the multi-stage fitness test and core body strength examinations. These tests will allow the examiners to identify areas in which participants need to work harder to maintain a high level of fitness and body strength to protect them from injury during competition. MSA British Rally Academy members will go through similar exercises over the three days but in a more workshop based style. All 12 members will work together with each of the specific experts to gain experience towards developing their rally skills.

As an added bonus the competitors will spend two hours with Robert Reid and JWRC co-driver Glenn Patterson on both Sunday and Monday for a discussion session on WRC events and event preparation.

The three-day event is a massive step forward for the MSA British Rally Elite training scheme and will greatly benefit all 16 Elite and Academy scheme members develop into top class drivers and co-drivers. The intense three days of training is going to be an ideal way to start the year for all involved.

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COMPETITOR NEWS UPDATES
After being selected by the prestigious MSA British Rally Elite selection panel in January, drivers James Wozencroft (Ludlow) and Philip Morrow (Lisburn), along with co-drivers Scott Martin (Carlisle) and Robbie Durant (Bicester) have already been busy at work in the past two months.

Morrow won round one of the Mitsubishi Ralliart Evolution Challenge at last weekend’s Rallye Sunseeker, a great start to his 2007 Evo Challenge campaign.

His performance also rewarded him with an impressive fourth place overall and a win in the Production Car Class. Martin’s year has begun well taking top honours in round one of the 2007 Fiesta SportingTrophy International with Stobart driver Barry Clark.

The year will be a busy one for the 24-year-old; he will compete in every round of the FSTi championship plus the Tour de Corse, Rally Ireland and the recce for the Acropolis Rally. He will also tackle Rally Poland for some fast gravel experience on this WRC candidate event. Durant was co-driving for Andrew Pinker in last week’s 100 Acres Rally – second round of the US Championship. Sadly, they were forced out of the contest with engine trouble in their open class Subaru.

Wozencroft has yet to compete this year but is set to begin his 2007 campaign at the Pirelli International Rally in April. He will be coming in strong after a successful 2006, which saw him win the British Super 1600 Championship, capped off by an invitation to compete at JWRC level in last year’s Wales Rally GB.

Some of the MSA British Rally Academy squad will kick off proceedings this weekend at the Malcolm Wilson Rally in Cumbria with Andrew Roughead, Tom Walster, Adam Gould, Elfyn Evans, Bobby Mitchell and Seb Marshall all set to tackle the stages.

Welshman Simon Hughes (right) began his year on snow when he showed impressive speed at the inaugural Rally Norway last month.

He was constantly setting top three stage times in the FSTi category of the WRC event but was relegated to fourth after leg 1 troubles which retired him on the first day.

MSA British Rally Elite

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10/01/07
Philip Morrow one of 3 Drivers Selected
The MSA British Rally Elite Selection Panel of Phil Mills, Mike Broad and Robbie Head have been in deliberation over the Christmas period and have finally selected the competitors for 2007. They have been confirmed as drivers James Wozencroft (Ludlow) and Phillip Morrow (Lisburn), along with codrivers Scott Martin (Carlisle) and Robbie Durant (Bicester) who moves up from the Academy level.

The scheme also boasts its first graduates, in the form of Matthew Wilson (left), Daniel Barritt and Stuart Jones. Matthew is again contesting the full World Rally Championship for the Stobart M-Sport Ford Team and comments: “The scheme has been of massive benefit to me and has helped enormously since I have been involved. The mental skills training has helped with my preparation for events and also how I review and assess my performance after a rally, and find ways to improve it. I now feel I can perform on a more consistent basis and I am fitter and stronger than I have ever been, it helps so much on tough world rally championship events.”

Barritt and Jones are taking part in the Production Car WRC and the former has also gained a lot from his involvement. He says: “I have found the sport psychology elements of the scheme really beneficial as they help focus my attention and performance more effectively in pressure situations and also from a codriver’s view-point, this has helped with my preparation for an event. I learnt a lot from working with Robert Reid and Phil Mills during the year as well.” All three graduates will effectively move out of the scheme due to their high level of competition and the logistical commitment of taking part in the WRC. They will all have full testing and competition programmes and this inevitably makes it very difficult for them to attend the training events during the year.

Back to the 2007 intake and both drivers, Wozencroft and Morrow (right), will be contesting the British Rally Championship in different classes and are also aiming to take in some WRC rounds to gain some valuable international experience. Both are returning to the BRC after competing here in 2006 and with the extra knowledge and skills from the MSA Elite scheme, hope to achieve some top-level results this season. “I now have a more structured process to prepare for events, everything is planned out, which means that I can concentrate on my rally without any surprises or hassle,” reports Wozencroft. “I have really improved my pace notes this year with Robert’s help and the scheme has given me many more media contacts.” The 2007 co-drivers are finalising their plans for this season, but both hope to be contesting the Junior WRC. Scott Martin returns, after successfully co-driving Barry Clark to international fame as they lifted the Rookie Title in last season’s JWRC. He describes how the scheme has helped him so far: “As a codriver, my event preparation is much more thorough, and I have picked up a lot more tips and new ideas from Robert and Phil Mills. It’s priceless to have two former WRC champion co-drivers helping you improve your skills. I now analyse how I performed during an event and can pick out any areas where my performance may not have been up to scratch.”

MSA British Rally Elite