TOP 20 DRIVERS SELECTED FOR INAUGURAL MSA BRITISH RACE ELITE PROGRAMME

When applications closed on the 28th February for places on the Motor Sports Association's new British Race Elite programme, Performance Director, David Brabham, had an unenviable task before him. Eighty-six applications were received from drivers the length and breadth of the country, all of whom were between 16 and 25 and who aspired to reach the pinnacle of British motorsport's driving talent.  From this number, Brabham and his co-director at the Brabham Performance Clinic, Don Macpherson, had to select the 20 drivers who would be put forward for interview with an independent panel of judges. 

They represent Formula Ford, Formula Renault, Formula BMW, Formula Palmer Audi, Formula 3, Touring and GT Sportscar racing and are:

•  Henry Arundel
•  Sam Bird
•  Tom Bradshaw
•  David Brown
•  Riki Christodoulou
•  Jack Clarke
•  Jonathan Cocker (link to summary of Jonathan's career so far...)
•  Andrew Jordan
•  Jonathan Kennard
•  Callum Mcleod
•  Michael Meadows
•  Jeremy Metcalfe
•  Lee Mumford
•  Tom Onslow-Cole
•  Adrian Quaife-Hobbs
•  Dean Smith
•  James Sutton
•  Duncan Tappy
•  Colin Turkington
•  Jordan Williams

Brabham said of the selection, “It wasn't an easy job to whittle the number down to 20 as the quality of applicants was very high.  One of our main criteria was that the drivers must have a confirmed 2007 racing programme and this was a factor in the final selection as was, of course, their achievements to date.  We also tried to cover as many British racing categories as possible, bearing in mind that this is a “Race Elite” programme and not just a single-seater programme.”

The MSA's Chief Executive Officer, Colin Hilton was in full agreement with David Brabham and added, “We were delighted to see so many and varied applications for the MSA British Race Elite. Those twenty selected for the first round will now have to prove their mettle in a rigorous interview programme, after which we really will have discovered the first elite team of Britain's young racing stars.”

Final judging will take place on 5th April at the Motor Sport Association's headquarters in Colnbrook.  The judges are Peter Briggs, a highly experienced single-seater Team Owner/Manager; Oliver Gavin, former British F3 Champion and current factory GM sportscar driver; Chris Gorne, race engineer in GP2 and Renault World Series and engineer to the winning A1 Team France; Matt James, Assistant Editor of Motorsport News with particular responsibilities to BTCC and national racing; David Leslie, one of Britain's most versatile racing drivers having raced in single seaters, touring cars and sportscars, now a commentator with Eurosport.  Their experience in and representation of a wide range of formulae will be invaluable in making the final selection of the six drivers who will become the first members of the MSA British Race Elite programme.

12th March 2007
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