The project, championed by Richard Egger who works closely with the partnership, is a competition to select two mobility impaired drivers to participate in a year’s paid club motorsport.
Richard explained;
“A big thank you needs to go to Advantage West Midlands who have financially assisted the project which will see invited drivers, selected from those who complete and return the application form, attend a selection and training day where their driving aptitude and personal attitude will assessed.
All participants will get to drive a suitable car on a series of tests designed to assess car control, not speed that comes later. The participants will also be assessed on their determination, “competitive approach” and communication skills.
The two successful drivers will then be invited to drive in a series of club AutoSOLO and Autotest events based in the Nuneaton and Leicester area, and the real good news is that all the costs associated with competing will be covered by existing sponsorship."
Tim Norton, the Council’s Principal Marketing and Projects Officer added;
“We have attempted to make this fantastic opportunity open to as many people as possible. To be able to apply for a place on the selection day you need to be mobility impaired, aged 16 or over and be capable of simple driving tasks using common adaptations, steer, stop and drive with reasonable accuracy.
The Assessment Day itself will comprise of a safety briefing, car acclimatisation and practice, driving tests and car control assessment. That will be followed by an individual interview and then the announcement of the successful candidates and award ceremony."
This project has grown out of a partnership between:
DIAL (Disablement Information & Advice Line)
Loughborough Car Club
Advantage West Midlands
Nuneaton & Bedworth Borough Council
Motorsport in the Midlands and
The 30th Signal Regiment based at Gamecock Barracks.
Richard added;
“There is an element of going into the unknown here in that this is a new project, and we will be learning as we go. However there are some established facts that lead us to believe that this is a viable and exciting opportunity for two lucky people. Those being that:
- historically a wide range of disabilities have not proved a barrier to competing in mainstream motorsport.
- the biggest barrier for all new competitors is where to start, and how to get involved. It is basically a lack of accessible information. This project is the motorsport equivalent of the issues DIAL was set up to address.
- the selected branches of motorsport are ideal entry points for novices as the costs are moderate and the cars are not complex or expensive. Loughborough Car Club has experience in this field and has been running a “junior team” for the last ten years using these kind of events."
For further details and an application form please contact Tim Norton or Dave Leach on 024 7637 6447 or Richard Egger on 0115 985 0165 or Mobile 07971 596 551.
For more information on AutoSOLO and Autotest events have a look at www.btrda.com
The closing date for applications to be received is Monday, 31st March, 2008.
