Teen Dream (22 Jan 04)

They've been to school and passed the test. Now five young racers are being given £35,000 each and a place in the Formula BMW UK series. 

For the five teenage talents concerned, it will be a golden opportunity. They are to form an exclusive group whose members will receive a £35,000 scholarship each and the right to wear BMW Motorsport colours in the new Formula BMW UK Championship this season.

The new scholars are all between 15 and 18 years old and have never raced a car before. They've just been put through an intensive training and assessment programme at the Formula BMW Racing Centre in Valencia, Spain. From a collection of 24 youngsters who completed a 'licence course' in December, 16 were invited back to Valencia to show why they deserve the £35,000 and everything else that goes with it.

The five that have finally emerged as scholarship winners include Salisbury youngster Ross Curnow who, like the others, is moving up after a successful career in karting.

Other benefits for the winners include a series of other courses. There's a fitness course, with a follow-up test later in the season to check progress, then there's public speaking and media training, sessions on how to communicate with engineers and a chassis set-up course. " We cover everything that is necessary for a driver to learn to speed up his career," says BMW Racing Centre co-ordinator Mike Strotmann. There's also BMW's relationship with the Formula 1 team Williams.

All the Scholars will race in the Rookie Cup section of the series as BMW Juniors, and the winner of that is eligible for another £35,000 to go towards a second season of Formula BMW.

These youngsters are right at the start of their racing careers and most are still at school, but they've all set out under expert guidance and those chosen to be BMW Juniors have what amounts to an exceptional opportunity.

You only had to see the group rush down the pitlane at Valencia when Sauber F1 mechanics, setting up for testing the following day, opened up their garage door, to see how strong the F1 dream burns in these youngsters. That's not unusual for kids their age. What is unusual is that if one of those 16 wins a stack of Formula BMW races this year or next, it's odds on he'll be handed that dream Williams F1 test.

(Includes extracts courtesy of Autosport)

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