Thursday 12th December 2013

PistonHeads.com Caterham Academy

Our Matt to earn his spurs as a racing driver in the 2014 Caterham Academy as PH returns as a title sponsor

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We like the Caterham Academy championship. Riggers raced in it a little while back and last year we offered one lucky reader the chance to take part in a full season in an exclusive competition here on PH. Our lucky winner Dan Livingstone did himself proud too, scoring three podium results and finishing fourth overall. Suffice to say, the racing bug has bitten hard and he'll be back on track before long if he's got anything to do with it. 

Another packed grid promises lots of fun

Which is the point of course, the whole idea being an accessible, structured leg-up into the world of racing from earning your race licence to taking part in your first proper race. The entire package costs £21,495, making the Academy one of the most affordable ways into motorsport as well.

Indeed, we like the Caterham Academy so much we're returning as a title sponsor and from next year it'll be called the PistonHeads.com Caterham Academy. But there's more to this than adding our name to the race programme. We need a man on the inside. And that man is our Matt, confirmed as a competitor in the 2014 championship and looking forward to taking delivery of his car in the very near future. 

We managed to haul Matt away from the Demon Tweeks catalogue for a couple of seconds to get his thoughts: "I'm excited, nervous, eager and apprehensive all at the same time! I love Caterhams and can't wait to drive 'our' Seven on road and track as much as possible. Now give me that catalogue back".

Like all Academy entrants, Matt will follow the programme of completing his ARDS test, taking part in practice test days, getting his first taste of competition in a couple of sprints and then taking to the track for some typically full-on Caterham racing. You can read about his progress and the inside line on life as a Caterham Academy racer on the site next year; for now let's wish him and all the other entrants the best of luck and look forward to a cracking year of racing. 

[cybersimon]

I trust you will make him build it.

[renaultgeek]

great, more sub par journalism.

[jmesgotav8]

I trust you will be giving Matt a variety of exciting tow vehicles to pull this from event to event? For proper consumer advice obviously, Not just so I can have a nosey round them whilst he's racing...

[mrmr96]

Sounds interesting.

Will you be subtracting the bills for damage from his pocket money?

[Matt Bird]

Hello!

We'll have to see about tow cars having never taken anything on a trailer before. There's often a nice Range Rover or two in the car park though...

The car is being built by Caterham as I'd quite like it to work! There is track insurance also for just that eventuality.

And as for the sub-par journalism, I can only apologise and endeavour to improve. My driving probably needs more improvement though!

Cheers,


Matt

[jmesgotav8]

Matt your going to have to develop a thick skin to deal with the cretins who feel the need to slate your handy work through an anonymous posting. You can console yourself with the fact that you have the job that they want and do it to a much higher standard than they are capable of. I'll give you the same advice that I got given when I was a newbie:

"Any fool can criticise, and most fools do"

See you at the ARDS day

[CheesyUK]

You'll have a blast of a year. Well done PH for staying involved. See you in the paddock.

[Gorbyrev]

Brilliant on every level - have a blast Matt. £21.5K has got to be the cost of the car plus not a lot else really.