BUSINESS VIEWPOINT
race or rally engineer and similarly, many young people approach me and ask where they can get the experience that will help them become a race engineer. But to enthusiastic, keen, young people the idea of
having to serve out their apprenticeship stage by stage over years ahead is an unattractive proposition.
What is needed So the MIA race engineering school was born, and
A bad time to sell? F
or years now, race engineering skills have had to be learned 'on the job', which takes time and can be expensive. Many people want to encourage the learning of the special skills needed to become a
These front end plates also shifted the balance forwards, but knocked more counts of downforce off the rear than they added to the front. Drag did reduce a little though
we issued our first diploma to successful students earlier this year. Sixteen young people received a Diploma of Race Engineering, which outlines on its reverse side exactly what the course taught them. More importantly, we have been determined to work hard to talk to employers to ensure the course content reflects exactly what is needed in today's business. The best way we could do this was to engage two young race engineers who are at the top of their game. Dan
“we will do well to get between 30 and 60% overall elastic roll resistence from
the bars”
Long-term is suddenly extending over the horizon says Gordon Munro
Walmsley and Jay Davenport from Strata and Arden Motorsport respectively, filled this role perfectly and proved themselves to be excellent tutors. The course is open to engineering graduates, technicians
who have qualifying experience of motorsport and race engineers who simply want to learn more. So successful was the inaugural running of the course that it will be run again, in the same format, in late November this year. The course is in fact two courses, each of which occupies
two full days over separate weekends. To gain the MIA Diploma of Race Engineering, delegates must attend all four days. However, if they are unable to do so at one time, then they can come back at a later year and pick up the second part of the course to obtain the full Diploma. The costs are kept reasonable at £300 per day and the venues chosen are memorable, including Mercedes GP Petronas HQ, for example. In the social time, we have also
arranged for race engineering leaders, such as Frank Dernie and Pat Symonds, to drop in to meet the students and explain further their lives as a race engineer.
Well planned We had a tremendous response from our 2010 delegates,
every one saying the course was informative, relevant and well planned and that the presenters showed real enthusiasm and knowledge of their subject. They also all said they would recommend it to others. We are delighted to say that at least one of our graduates
this year immediately turned the Diploma into fulfilling their dream, and are now employed as a full a time race engineer. The MIA will be extending the scheme over the next 12
months to include rally engineering, possibly at a WRC headquarters in the UK, and also a one-day crash course for those currently in motorsport education. This was added as it was felt some students could benefit enormously from the knowledge and wider understanding of race engineering, but could not afford either the cost or time involved in taking the full Diploma.
Positive reaction All these ideas for development of the MIA schools have
come from the students themselves. We also listened to the employers, who are delighted that they are receiving applications from young peophave been taught from current experts, and also that the course content is available for future employers to read so they know its relevance, as opposed to some vague general motorsport qualification. The reaction from our friends in the academ very positive.
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www.racecarengineering.com • August 2011
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