The now, Dunlop Motorsport News Race Academy (sort-of, because Dunlop doesn’t call it that), judges are: James Bailey (Dunlop PR chief), former academy winner Simon Shaw, BTCC racer Paul O’Neil (and half-brother to Sporty Spice) and Motorsport News journalist Matt James.

Dunlop Race Academy – How it works

Last week, Dunlop made registrations available on its website, as well as publishing further details of the academy will work. The key points can be summarised as follows:

• Registration is available up until the end of March. Applicants must submit a “video audition” to the Dunlop website informing them of their “racing form”.
• Dunlop will shortlist 36 drivers (six drivers from six regions of the country) on or around 10th April 2009.
• The Dunlop Race Academy judges will monitor the performance of the 36 short-listed drivers between 1st April and 25th May.
• On 26th May, each Dunlop Race Academy judge will vote for the best driver in each region whilst at the same time, the public can also vote for their favourite driver on the Dunlop Drivers Know website.
• Both judges and public votes will count, the judges contributing 75% of the vote (that was probably intended for three judges and not four) and the public 25%. The public is therefore effectively worth 1.3 judges.
• The top six drivers from each region will be assessed on circuit by the Race Academy judges and shortly after, the three finalists will be announced.
• Each finalist will receive a drive in one of the final three rounds of the 2009 Dunlop Sport Maxx Cup and both their on-track and off-track performance assessed by the Dunlop Race Academy judges.
• And finally – the top performing driver will receive a fully funded drive in 2010.

Dunlop appears to have the most transparent and accessible racing driver scholarship in British motor sport. That is a pretty bold statement considering it is in the context of an MSA initiative (MSA British Race Elite) and two from the BRDC.

During the 1st April to 25th May period I will potentially be racing four weekends (three National rounds and one Midland South). I plan to submit my application in due course and I will be hoping that a positive start to the year in National Formula Ford will compliment my past achievements.

I say “kind of” because the Dunlop Race Academy has in fact been around since 2004. This year, however, is the first year in which the academy will focus on drivers who have already started their motorsport careers (that is, competition license holders). In previous years, only drivers with no prior motorsport experience have been eligible.

Arguably the Academy’s leading light is 2005 winner Simon Shaw, who has since been class Champion in the Dunlop Sport Maxx Cup before finishing runner-up overall in this years Championship.

So how does the 2009 Dunlop Race Academy work?

Well, it is the self-proclaimed Motorsport’s version of the ‘X Factor’ and from what I can gather the application process reflects that.

Each applicant is being asked to submit an “audition video of themselves online”. The Dunlop Race Academy Judges (currently unannounced – although previous judges have included GT-racer Callum Lockie, Mark Hales and Simon Shaw) are then expected to monitor the early season performance of the applicants and together with individual online votes (the exact ratio has not yet been announced) select six finalist drivers in June, one from each region of the country.

Following this, the finalists will be subject to a full day assessment and evaluation by the Dunlop Race Academy Judges where the six finalists will be reduced to just three.

Lastly, each of the three finalists will receive a drive in one of the final three Dunlop Sport Maxx Cup races of 2009. Ultimately, the overall winner will be the driver who most impresses the Judges during their weekend in the Dunlop Sport Maxx Cup and the recipient of a fully funded drive in the 2010 Dunlop Sport Maxx Cup.

And what do I make of it?

Well, first of all I think that Dunlop should be applauded for continuing its support for young racing drivers during this time of economic disaster. I think also, they should be applauded for offering opportunities to those both complete novices and those already involved within motorsport.

The Academy’s ambitious, X-Factor style, application process is probably unlikely to capture the nations attention with the same fondness that Simon Cowell‘s and Louis Walsh‘s did. However, if it encourages public interaction with the sport, at any level, this should be seen as positive.

And what is more, by encompassing online votes, the process becomes more transparent than any other scholarship out there. Sure, the McLaren Autosport BRDC Award does, in theory, include an element of public voting but such votes are considered an “indication” of which drivers to consider, rather than a means of selection. Again, this is extremely positive from Dunlop.

And last, the prize of a fully funded drive in 2010 is very unusual indeed. In fact, the Racing Steps Foundation are the only other party to offer such opportunity as neither the BRDC Rising Stars, BRDC Super Stars, MSA British Race Elite nor the Porsche Carrera Cup GB Scholarship does so.

What next?

As more details emerge, I will start work on my own application. Until then, I will continue to concentrate on making a memorable start to the year when National Formula Ford 1600 kicks off at Anglesey in April. Having worked more than 60-days straight (no days off) up until Christmas last year, I’m working as hard as I can to make the most of 2009.

I’ve already won one championship with Dunlop tyres – I’d like the opportunity to win another.