Metro partners Caterham Academy

Caterham Cars is excited to announce Metro newspaper as title sponsor of the 2009 Caterham Academy.

Now known as the Metro Caterham Academy, the series is recognised as providing novice racers with one of the best value and easy introductions to the world of motorsport, turning over 600 men and women into racing drivers since its inception in 1995.

The agreement with Metro – Britain’s fourth largest national daily newspaper – will include race reports in the sport section and regular editorial features, both in print and online.

Perennially selling out its 56 grid places, the Academy straps rookie racers into the seat of a legendary Caterham Seven – hailed as one of the best handling cars available today. The Academy vehicle’s underpinnings are identical in specification to the popular, Ford 1.6 powered Roadsport 125 – a car capable of accelerating from 0-60mph in just 5.9 seconds.

Along with the car, Caterham’s ‘package deal’ takes novice racers by the hand to make the season as enjoyable as possible, from preparing them for their ARDS race licence, honing their driving through tuition, to offering technical set-up seminars and organising entry to all seven championship rounds.

To capture a close-quarters insight into the excitement of the championship, Metro’s own Junior ‘Lewis’ Olokodana will compete in the entire series driving a Metro branded Seven.

Racing with the number ’10’ in recognition of the paper’s 10th anniversary in 2009, readers will be able to follow Junior’s progress through regular features and race reports in the paper along with blogs on Metro’s website.

Metro's Head of Special Projects, Anthony Worssam, commented: ‘We're delighted to be involved with an event that appeals to the dreams of so many of our readers.’

Caterham Motorsport manager, Simon Lambert, said: ‘We are delighted to have Metro join us for the 2009 season and we are excited that the partnership will convey the exhilarating racing to a broad audience. The racing is always close, so the chances are that its car will feature strongly in the mix.’

Starting from £17,995, the race package includes everything needed to compete in a full season of Seven racing.

For more information visit caterham.co.uk