Thursday 14th July 2005

Rally scholarship kicks off

Rallying team seeks drivers and mechanics

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Rally this!

Ever fancied the chance to drive a top-flight rally car in a major UK championship, all at the expense of a leading car manufacturer? Or how about the opportunity to become a vital part of the rally support crew, such as a co-driver or mechanic?

That is the prospect offered by Innovation Motorsport through its new Rally Scholarship scheme, which will provide a lucky few with fully-funded roles in the Peugeot 206 1400 Challenge throughout the 2006 season.

The new Rally Scholarship is open to anyone in the UK over the age of seventeen who holds a current valid driving licence. Every applicant will have a fair chance of winning, regardless of any past motorsport experience.

A panel of independent judges will endeavour to find a team consisting of a driver, co-driver and two mechanics, who together will form the Innovation Rally Team 2006. Based on a three-round system, applicants will be assessed on a number of key areas including: driving skills, reading pace-notes and co-driving techniques, basic mechanical knowledge, TV interview skills, enthusiasm and a willingness to learn.

The selection process will run throughout this summer with all qualifying rounds taking place at RallySchool UK, the Innovation Motorsports testing facility in Tong outside Bradford. Round one will commence on Monday 15 August, round two will be held on Saturday 1 October and the grand final will take place on Sunday 30 October.

Scholarship coordinator Jon Tucker said: "We are very excited about the scholarship. As we all know, rallying is a team-orientated sport and it will be fantastic to see the Innovation Rally Team competing in next year’s Peugeot 206 1400 championship. This is a great opportunity for anyone who would like to become part of a works-supported rally team."

Innovation Motorsports director Chris Moore said: "It’s an interesting concept and I’m really looking forward to the selection process. There are an awful lot of people out there who would love the chance to be part of a professional rally team but have never been given the opportunity. Our scholarship offers that chance to everyone, regardless of their background."

For more information go to www.go-rallying.com, or email Jon Tucker at [e-mail]

[anonymous-user]

What the article doesn't say is:
[quote=Innovation Motorsports Rally Scholarship]Round One costs £189 and consists of eight different assessments that will be judged on a points scoring system. ALL applicants will be assessed on a number of key areas including driving skills, pacenote and co-driving techniques, basic mechanical knowledge, TV interview skills, enthusiasm and a willingness to learn. Following your assessments you are given the chance to decide which role you would like to go for in the team.

Those who have reached the required score for their chosen role will be invited back for Round two- the semi final! The cost of which will be £169 for Co Drivers and Mechanics, and £179 for Drivers. Here you will assessed in more detail on the role you wish to go for in the team (driver, co driver or mechanic). Again you will be judged on a points scoring system, and a selection of candidates that impress the judges enough will be invited back for the Final- Free of charge![/quote]

[15"]

Sounds good!

Im new to all this and would really like to get into rallying so Ive just registered!

Thanks for the link!

[munky]

LexSport said:

What the article doesn't say is: Innovation Motorsports Rally Scholarship said: Round One costs £189 and consists of eight different assessments that will be judged on a points scoring system. ALL applicants will be assessed on a number of key areas including driving skills, pacenote and co-driving techniques, basic mechanical knowledge, TV interview skills, enthusiasm and a willingness to learn. Following your assessments you are given the chance to decide which role you would like to go for in the team. Those who have reached the required score for their chosen role will be invited back for Round two- the semi final! The cost of which will be £169 for Co Drivers and Mechanics, and £179 for Drivers. Here you will assessed in more detail on the role you wish to go for in the team (driver, co driver or mechanic). Again you will be judged on a points scoring system, and a selection of candidates that impress the judges enough will be invited back for the Final- Free of charge!

Nice little earner, the vast majority of applicants obviously won't get to be in the team, but why not squeeze some money out of them anyway. Or that's how it appears.

[15"]

You may be right munky, but from what I have recieved it looks like the days are going to be a lot of fun and I would say good value for money.

Ive never driven a rally car before but it looks like Im going to be driving a Subaru Impreza rally car and a 'FWD' rally car on the day too!! Id pay £189 just for that! If I end up winning then its a bonus!

[nojoker]

Another Scam! Sorry but I have heard through some one who did it. Save your hard earned money and buy yourself a car.

[Jungles]

It might seem scam-ish, but if they actually do run the winners for a fully-funded full season of rallying at some respectable level, then it is probably very much worth the money.

A lot cheaper than spending >$20,000 (or >10k pounds) on an amateur season and not even having anything to show on your C.V. at the end of it. Might as well benefit from the bargain driving experience, and the almost free publicity.

[do80]

Not a scam but at the end there is only one drive. The best place for a youngster to start is probably the 205 Challenge, very competitive with the front running 1600's regularly beating modern 4WD cars, very experienced people always on hand to share years of knowledge, regular test and training days with instruction from top drivers including 1996 British Champion Gwyndaf Evans and '98 British and recent Production World Champion Martin Rowe. With this kind of grounding in the sport any young crew won't go far wrong and with the series, including the mega social side of things and the annual ice driving trip to Sweden organised by the ever jovial Pat Flynn and his family, shouldn't have to look elsewhere. I appreciate it's not as cheap as a few "scholarship" days but there are several cars for hire that don't cost a fortune and I'm sure that most crews would get more out of a one off outing in one of these than spending their hard earned on a maybe.
All of course IMHO.
BTW not an advert, I'm sure they have well over 60 crews registered this year anyway, I'm not connected with the challenge and don't hire out rally cars but having spent some time around it just think it's by far the best place to start.