Motorsport: New intake for NZ youth driving academy

WELLINGTON - Teenagers Brendon Hartley and Shane van Gisbergen are among nine drivers in this year's intake to the motorsport elite academy in Dunedin.

The academy, which is jointly hosted by the New Zealand Academy of Sport: South Island (ASI) and MotorSport New Zealand, puts young race and rally drivers through their paces over six days beginning on Sunday.

Hartley 15, of Palmerston North, and van Gisbergen, 16, of Auckland, are joined by Lee-Anne Barnes (Rotorua), Andrew Higgins (Auckland), James Holder (Southland), Matthew Hamilton (Christchurch), Daniel Gaunt (Auckland), Ben Harford (Wellington) and Emma Gilmour (Dunedin).

This year's academy builds on last year's successful pilot of the initiative, and includes new features such as computerised testing of decision-making abilities.

The drivers will be put through their mental and physical paces while being taught the knowledge and skills to advance professionally.

The testing will be done at Otago University's human performance centre (HPC), with other training sessions and seminars at the Academy of Sport facilities.

A new test will examine the drivers' decision-making abilities while being confronted with multiple sources of information.

The drivers will also endure gruelling sessions with racing simulators in the HPC's environmental chamber, where they will use and compare strategies for combating the extremely high temperatures their sport exposes them to.

"The programme concentrates on the full gamut of factors crucial to enhancing the drivers' performance -- such as strategies for coping with the intense physiological and mental demands of racing, ensuring peak fitness, optimum nutrition, and the best use of clothing and safety equipment," HPC director Chris Button said.

The programme will have a competitive edge to it, with participants judged on their performance and application in all elements of the academy programme, from driving to decision making, media and presentation skills.

- NZPA