Motorsport Australia has announced that applications are now open for the Ferrari Driver Academy (FDA) for Asia Pacific and Oceania.
In addition to this, I have updates on various race driver development programs from around the world including the IMSA Diverse Driver Development Program, the Porsche Junior Program North America and Road to Racing Canada.
All this plus a new kart to cars program in Canada and more in this week’s Driver Development Roundup on Motorsport Prospects.
Road To Racing is a Canadian Amateur Athletics Association dedicated to motorsports. “We believe the drivers with talent should be able to follow their passion, regardless of how wealthy their parents are. We want an inclusive sport supporting all athletes. We want to make dreams into reality by providing scholarships to deserving drivers, and advance amateur motor sport in Canada.” The video above explains more about their mission.
The field has been narrowed to 10 candidates for the 2024-25 IMSA Diverse Driver Development Scholarship. The recipient, to be named later this year, will receive benefits worth more than $250,000 to assist them in competing in one of three IMSA-sanctioned series during the 2024 season. You can find oout more about the candidates here.
Aspiring young drivers aged 14-17 are now invited to apply for this year’s edition of Ferrari Driver Academy (FDA) Asia Pacific and Oceania Selection Program. As Ferrari’s selected partner in the region, Motorsport Australia will once again run the program and welcome a number of leading talents in the Asian Pacific and Oceana regions to the regional event to aid Ferrari in its search for a potential future champion.
Building on the success of its Porsche Junior Program North America in 2022, Porsche Motorsport North America has announced a 14-driver lineup for 2023. These drivers will compete across the Porsche Deluxe Carrera Cup North America, Porsche Sprint Challenge North America (992 class) and the Porsche Sprint Challenge North America (GT4 class) series. The Porsche Junior Program North America is an intricate part of the Porsche Motorsport Pyramid on the continent, a level-by-level process of driver development from karting to the highest levels of endurance sports car racing.
Williams Racing has announced Luke Browning as its newest Driver Academy member. “On joining the academy, the 21-year-old will work in close collaboration with the Williams Racing team to further improve and develop his race craft with a personalized simulator program at the factory in Grove, Oxfordshire. Browning will also join the team on the trackside during Grand Prix weekends.”
Cup Karts Canada has announced a new sponsorship partner to help provide Cup Karts Canada competitors with an initial first step into car racing. The new partnership is between Cup Karts Canada, SportCup Inc and Britain West Motorsport.
“We are very happy to announce this partnership”, Cup Karts Canada owner Gerald Caseley said. “Both SportCup and Britain West offer fantastic junior programs designed to help karters moving up to cars get the most out of their initial steps into car racing. Britain West has multiple championships with previous karters in the open wheel ranks. Their FF1600 program is the place to start in open wheel. SportCup is a championship team that has a great GT car program that gets drivers maximum seat time and development in GT cars. For any of our karters looking to make the jump up to car racing, these are the teams to talk to.
If Andretti Global is granted entry to F1, he says a new European training ladder would be established using the formula he’s developed to bring the likes of Colton Herta, Pato O’Ward, Kyle Kirkwood and countless others up the ladder to IndyCar.
“We would set up shop over in England where we’re going to have the engineering shop for the F1 team,” Andretti told RACER. “If the F1 deal comes through, I want to do Formula 3 and Formula 2 as well. I want to be in control of bringing our drivers up through the system, because then you know what kind of equipment they have and how they’re being treated.”
Formula 1 has announced a new partnership with production company Hello Sunshine on a docuseries about the all-female F1 Academy series.
“The adrenaline-fueled, story-driven docuseries follows all fifteen drivers across the five F1 Academy teams, offering exclusive, behind the scenes access. The docuseries will highlight the drama of the races, as well as the personal stories of these incredible drivers and the teams around them, as they break barriers in one of the most demanding sports in the world.”
Author: Mark Boudreau
Mark is the publisher of Motorsport Prospects. As a former lawyer, he applies his legal background and research skills to assist race drivers by showcasing the resources they need to make their motorsport careers happen.