NZ Elite Motorsport Academy 2010

NZ’s Top Young Drivers Prepare For World Stage

The person behind the marketing management of many of New Zealand’s top athletes will be giving sponsorship tips to the cream of New Zealand’s up and coming young racing drivers this week.

New Zealand Marketing and Management Consultant Tonia Cawood has managed events and sponsorship contracts for many leading athletes, including NZ rowing champions and NZ Beef and Lamb ambassadors Georgina and Caroline Ever-Swindell.

She will guide the nine racing drivers on this year’s NZ Elite Motorsport Academy in Dunedin through understanding sponsorship and marketing, an increasingly crucial part of the racing industry environment.

“Sponsorship can mean the difference between competing and not, so it’s important the drivers get a clear understanding and appreciation of what is required from an expert,” explained Motorsport Academy Co-ordinator Dean Horo.

The NZ Elite Motorsport Academy, run by the New Zealand Academy of Sport South Island (NZAS SI) on behalf of the MotorSport New Zealand Scholarship Trust, equips the drivers with the skills and knowledge they need to face the all challenges in the world of elite motorsport.

Now in its seventh year, the intensive week-long camp will provide the drivers, aged from 17 to 27, with a range of experts covering fitness, nutrition, mental skills, planning, public speaking and decision-making to prepare the body and mind for their high performance driving career.

These tests include the University of Otago’s WOMBAT Situational Awareness and Stress Tolerance Test, an international tool used in training pilots and air traffic controllers for complex system decision-making under stress.

Racing simulators will again be used in the University’s environment chamber, to test those decision-making practices under the heat and humidity stress drivers are exposed to during real-life racing.

“It’s not just about driving; the programme we’ve developed covers everything the driver and his or her team needs to compete at an international level.” Mr Horo said.

It has already successfully established a strong high performance culture within New Zealand’s young motorsport professionals. Academy graduates now form the basis of the new generation of the country’s elite drivers; last year’s top racing performers including Mitch Evans, Ben Jagger and Martin Short.

ENDS

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