London Motorsport Show offers careers advice

This year’s London Motorsport Show is hoping to discover the next Lewis Hamilton, Jason Plato or even Ron Dennis when it opens its doors on Saturday 8th and Sunday 9th December at ExCeL London. The Future of Motorsport Zone will have leading organisations on hand to give careers advice to wannabe drivers, car designers and race team organisers.

Supported by Learning Grid and the Motorsport Academy as well as F1 in Schools, Formula Student, UK Youth and Formula Schools, this zone will identify where people of all ages wanting a career in motorsport should start in terms of information, training courses, and work experience.

The zone also involves Energy Efficient Motorsport (EEMS), Green Power and Oxin Design Challenge who will question and aim to educate people and companies already in the industry on how motorsport can become more environmentally sympathetic and create a better solution rather than be a part of the problem when it comes to the industry’s carbon footprint. Demonstrations, displays and seminars will highlight the opportunities available to individuals, teams and companies.

The organisations present will also use the London Motorsport Show as a platform to show children, schools and colleges how they can include motorsport within the national curriculum but also the benefit of the core subjects to a career in motorsport. It also showcases how businesses can work with schools to create the next generation of drivers and designers and mould the future growth of the industry.

With displays of all the major classes of karting, courtesy of the Association of British Kart Clubs, newcomers will be able to determine the right chassis and equipment they need. There will also be a number of workshops catering for both newcomers and seasoned racers. These workshops will cover everything from basic mechanics right through to self promotion, aiming to take some of the mystery out of the sport!

Other features include an ‘arrive and drive’ kart track, including an endurance race designed to test drivers regardless of their experience, and a ‘hot rides’ area where visitors get their adrenalin fix by getting into vehicles such as caterhams and legends with a skilled driver who will race them around the track so they can see how fast these cars can really go! There is also an historic race car zone, fantastic displays of contemporary and classic racing cars, and trade stands selling everything a driver needs to start the new season.

A new area for this year is the ‘Girls in Motorsport’ feature, created to encourage women to take an active role in what is predominantly a male environment. Successful female drivers from rallying, formula one and even power boat racing will all be at the show for ladies to talk to and to share their experiences.

The show will also host the London Masters Rallycross Competition, an arena based circuit that will see around 100 Rallycross competitors battle it out over the two days. Reigning division champions will test their driving skills to limit on a purpose built course that has been created specifically for the competition. Reaching speed of 80mph and aiming for a lap time of around 35 seconds, visitors will be on the edge of their seats watching the exhilarating live action. Competitors include British Rallycross Champion Ollie Donovan and Open Rallycross Champion ‘Mad’ Mark Watson. Sponsors of the London Masters include Shannon Holdings and London Mazda.

The London Motorsport Show covers all disciplines of motorsport from Karting through to Formula One and is a must for any motor racing enthusiast. Doors open each day from 10am and the show closes at 6.30pm on Saturday with the rallycross event finishing at around 8pm and 5pm on Sunday. Ticket prices range from £8 to gain admission into the exhibition only and from £13 for the exhibition and rallycross competition for adults when booked in advance. Family tickets range from £22. For information and to book tickets, visit londonmotorsport.co.uk.