Son going into motorsport mechanics/engineering
Discussion
My son will complete his GCSE’s next summer. He is bright and keen but A levels are rather narrow at the sixth form. Looking for advice on pathways in to motor sport. Possibly an apprenticeship while working in a garage to gain some experience. Any recommendations? We are in E Sussex and one possible place is West Kent doing the motorsport engineering course.
Any do’s and dont’s welcome
Any do’s and dont’s welcome
Depends what he wants to do. There is a big difference between being on the tools track-side, being on data or strategy track side or being a design engineer, machinist etc that works at the teams base.
Trackside on the tools looks glamorous but is hard work, especially if you're working in a global series, you dont see much of the countries the races are in, hours are long and pay isn't great unless you're at the top level. If you want to get into this, he needs to start getting some track-side experience. Karting is a good start to learn the basics of set-up, pressures, compliance to rules etc.
The other roles, Data, Strategy and Design all realisitcally need a degree to open doors. Ideally choose a university with a Formula Student team. Cardiff, Herts, Loughborough, Bath etc all have successful Formula Student teams. You dont have to study Motorsport or Automotive engineering to get involved in Formula Student but it will help when he is looking to get into a racing gig.
Trackside on the tools looks glamorous but is hard work, especially if you're working in a global series, you dont see much of the countries the races are in, hours are long and pay isn't great unless you're at the top level. If you want to get into this, he needs to start getting some track-side experience. Karting is a good start to learn the basics of set-up, pressures, compliance to rules etc.
The other roles, Data, Strategy and Design all realisitcally need a degree to open doors. Ideally choose a university with a Formula Student team. Cardiff, Herts, Loughborough, Bath etc all have successful Formula Student teams. You dont have to study Motorsport or Automotive engineering to get involved in Formula Student but it will help when he is looking to get into a racing gig.
Crudeoink said:
Depends what he wants to do. There is a big difference between being on the tools track-side, being on data or strategy track side or being a design engineer, machinist etc that works at the teams base.
Trackside on the tools looks glamorous but is hard work, especially if you're working in a global series, you dont see much of the countries the races are in, hours are long and pay isn't great unless you're at the top level. If you want to get into this, he needs to start getting some track-side experience. Karting is a good start to learn the basics of set-up, pressures, compliance to rules etc.
The other roles, Data, Strategy and Design all realisitcally need a degree to open doors. Ideally choose a university with a Formula Student team. Cardiff, Herts, Loughborough, Bath etc all have successful Formula Student teams. You dont have to study Motorsport or Automotive engineering to get involved in Formula Student but it will help when he is looking to get into a racing gig.
Good advice. My nephew did pretty much the same thing with the karting and helping out various drivers /teams in lower formulas while doing his degree in Motorsport Engineering at Brunel. Served him well as he's been working with Williams F1 team in the factory at Grove ever since. Trackside on the tools looks glamorous but is hard work, especially if you're working in a global series, you dont see much of the countries the races are in, hours are long and pay isn't great unless you're at the top level. If you want to get into this, he needs to start getting some track-side experience. Karting is a good start to learn the basics of set-up, pressures, compliance to rules etc.
The other roles, Data, Strategy and Design all realisitcally need a degree to open doors. Ideally choose a university with a Formula Student team. Cardiff, Herts, Loughborough, Bath etc all have successful Formula Student teams. You dont have to study Motorsport or Automotive engineering to get involved in Formula Student but it will help when he is looking to get into a racing gig.
Jon Gaines said:
My son will complete his GCSE’s next summer. He is bright and keen but A levels are rather narrow at the sixth form. Looking for advice on pathways in to motor sport. Possibly an apprenticeship while working in a garage to gain some experience. Any recommendations? We are in E Sussex and one possible place is West Kent doing the motorsport engineering course.
Any do’s and dont’s welcome
Hi - I'm based in E Sussex and had exactly the same discussion with my son, who raced at 14 and 15 and was thinking of a 'career in motorsport' (whatever that may mean).Any do’s and dont’s welcome
These folks do apprenticeships - and could be a good way of learning a trade and starting off in Historics maybe?
https://www.heritageskillsacademy.co.uk/
NB, my lad decided to try Uni, did a year, hated it, and now works in a main dealer selling cars. Loves it.
Many thanks for your replies, a lot of valuable information in the space of 4 hours! Such a shame that successive governments have moved away from the apprenticeship path over the past 25 years. I have seen many students spend two years in sixth form, three at university and end up working in a completely different field
My lad is studying Motorsport Engineering at Northbrook College, just outside of Shoreham.
He's just heading into his third year taking it from College level to Degree level. Might be worth a look, link below;
https://www.northbrook.ac.uk/study-with-us/subject...
He's just heading into his third year taking it from College level to Degree level. Might be worth a look, link below;
https://www.northbrook.ac.uk/study-with-us/subject...
Volunteer to help out in the pits, at most lower levels race teams have no money and will take all the (vaguely competent) help they can get.
What does he want to do in 'motorsport'?
There are plenty of apprenticeships and student placements available, certainly across F1, but naturally it's quite competitive / popular, so he needs to be thinking about how to make his application stand out over others, and realistically experience is the best thing he can acquire.
Personally I'd say an apprenticeship over a student placement if possible, just because of not having to then go back to Uni for a year after the placement year.
If he wants to study automotive / motorsport engineering, from my understanding the colleges and such offering that around Northamptonshire will likely have connections to the various local F1 teams, I know a friend who's at Aston took that route in. I remember when I first met him was the first time I'd even heard that "Motorsport Engineering" was a thing, I was very jealous
What does he want to do in 'motorsport'?
There are plenty of apprenticeships and student placements available, certainly across F1, but naturally it's quite competitive / popular, so he needs to be thinking about how to make his application stand out over others, and realistically experience is the best thing he can acquire.
Personally I'd say an apprenticeship over a student placement if possible, just because of not having to then go back to Uni for a year after the placement year.
If he wants to study automotive / motorsport engineering, from my understanding the colleges and such offering that around Northamptonshire will likely have connections to the various local F1 teams, I know a friend who's at Aston took that route in. I remember when I first met him was the first time I'd even heard that "Motorsport Engineering" was a thing, I was very jealous
Gassing Station | Jobs & Employment Matters | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff