MSA to provide bursaries for Team UK drivers

Posted: April 23, 2010 9:55 AM - 2367 Hits

MSA to provide bursaries for Team UK drivers

Posted: April 23, 2010 9:55 AM

The Motor Sports Association (MSA) has confirmed that a bursary of up to £10,000 will be made available for all members of the MSA Team UK national squad this year.

As part of the governing body’s commitment to the newly unveiled programme, the four rally and six race drivers will be able to apply for the funding from the MSA to assist with their living costs and day to day expenses.

“In the past five years, we have seen drivers on our schemes holding down full-time jobs while trying to become professional sportsmen,” explains Robert Reid, MSA Performance Director. “We have looked at the Olympic funding model and feel that this could have a significant impact on the ability of our drivers to focus on their career goals. But in return, we are demanding increased commitment and dedication from the drivers; if they don’t shape up, we will have no qualms this year about dropping them from the scheme.”

“This represents a further development of the MSA’s commitment to talent development,” advises Colin Hilton, MSA Chief Executive. “Thanks to the MSA Academy framework that forms part of the Whole Sport Plan, we are able to attract new partners to help us deliver a number of new initiatives at both grass roots and elite levels. We are grateful to the Racing Steps Foundation whose support as the first of our partners has enabled the MSA to enhance the current projects and extend their impact.”

“Without doubt the biggest cause of stress in my life is about money,” says Cooper Tires British F3 International Series driver and Team UK member James Calado. “It is easy to assume that because we have to find huge budgets to run the cars, we must have plenty of spare cash for daily life. But when you are worrying about finding a tenner to put fuel in the car to go training, that is obviously going to have an adverse effect on performance. I can’t begin to explain just what a difference this bursary will make and it will enable me to focus even harder on success this year.”

The Team UK drivers must make a formal application for the bursary funding and detail what it will be used for, so that the MSA can assess their individual needs. In order to qualify for the monthly payments, drivers will be required to satisfy several criteria that include the carrying of logos and decals, attendance at training events and full engagement with the Team UK scheme and coaches.

TEAM UK CONVENES FOR FIRST TRAINING EVENT

Posted: February 21, 2010 9:19 PM

The Motor Sports Association’s Team UK national squad convened at Silverstone’s Porsche Experience Centre this week for its first training session of the year.

Nine of the ten elite race and rally drivers spent two intensive days working with recognised sports performance experts in preparation for the coming season. Only one driver was unable to attend due to testing commitments. The activity was overseen by national race coach David Brabham and national rally coach Mark Higgins, under the guidance of MSA Performance Director Robert Reid.

The drivers were put through a rigorous physical assessment by Eliot Challifour and his team at VoTwo, who have trained a number of elite athletes including reigning F1 world champion Jenson Button and Red Bull F1 star Mark Webber. The Team UK members then went on to work on a one-to-one basis with Hugh Richards, Sport and Performance Psychology lecturer at the University of Edinburgh.

Andy Mellor, Head of Technical Affairs at the FIA Institute, gave a fascinating presentation about the advances made in safety within motor sport and shared some of the relevant driver technology that will come through in future years. This included discussion of evolving car, seat and helmet design, as well as improvements in fire safety, crash testing, high-speed barriers, head restraints, roll over protection systems and more.

Dedicated sessions with championship-winning race engineer Andy Miller offered invaluable advice on communicating with race engineers and how best to extract performance from in-car telemetry. On the second day, all the drivers benefitted from in-depth media and TV interview training from experienced motor sports broadcasters John Hindhaugh and Nick Daman.

National Race Coach David Brabham said:
“It’s been a fantastic first gathering of the squad and everyone has reported great feedback from the sessions. We have significantly upgraded the content of the scheme and we will be demanding comparable commitment and dedication from the drivers but, in return, they will benefit from the best performance programme around.”

Alexander Sims, F3 Euro Series driver and 2008 McLaren Autosport BRDC Award winner, said:
“I’ve been amazed by the quality of the last two days; it really feels like a big step up from last year’s elite programme. To be selected to be part of the national squad means a great deal and offers a great opportunity to be able to benefit from the coaching and experience of the people running the scheme.”

Marty McCormack, who will head abroad to contest the French Rally Championship this year, said:
“These two days have been a real boost for the start of the coming season and having the race guys around has made it much more competitive. We have all got on extremely well and it is really starting to feel like we are part of a national team.”

MSA reveals new Elite Programme

Posted: December 2, 2009 3:52 PM

The Motor Sports Association’s commitment to the training of future world motor sport champions will be increased next year as the current Race and Rally Elite schemes are consolidated into one driver development programme.

The programme will have a new identity as TEAM UK and will form the pinnacle of the MSA Academy structure revealed earlier this year under the direction of MSA Performance Director Robert Reid.

TEAM UK will be operated by Brabham Performance Clinic with race and rally coaches providing specific expertise to supplement the learning shared across all disciplines. Racing legend and 2009 Le Mans champion David Brabham will fulfil the role of National Race Coach alongside the highly experienced and three-time British Rally Champion Mark Higgins as National Rally Coach.

In place of the previous application and interview process, a selection panel will determine suitable candidates to make up TEAM UK in 2010. A total of ten places will be available for the most promising athletes across all disciplines and the final team will be announced at Autosport International in January.

“We realised that there was a high degree of shared content between the Race and Rally schemes, so it made sense to bring them together,” says Reid. “It will enable the programme to become more focused and more select; TEAM UK will become a recognisable badge of honour and young drivers will aspire to join the UK national squad.

“The MSA is offering an amazing opportunity for a very select number of drivers,” says David Brabham. “To be able to demonstrate to a sponsor or team manager that you are a member of the national team is a very powerful endorsement. By becoming more targeted, we will be able to work more closely with drivers on their in-car performance, as well as the all-round skills needed for a successful career at the top end of world motor sport.”

“I would like to pay tribute to everyone that has enabled the MSA Elite schemes to come so far in such a short period of time,” says Colin Hilton, MSA Chief Executive. “Both Brabham Performance Clinic and the Inside Line have made valuable contributions to the development of the programme, as has Robert Reid whose vision started the whole process. I have no doubt that consolidating the schemes will create even better opportunities for this country’s most promising talent.”

Topics: Team UK

MSA to provide bursaries for Team UK drivers