After four gruelling days both on and off the circuit, of fitness testing (both mental and physical) and intense competition against each other in everything from sit-ups to problem solving to one-on-one match racing, 18 young racing drivers out of 30 candidates from all over the world have been selected to form the class of 2012 at the prestigious FIA Institute Young Driver Excellence Academy, where the chief instructor is none other than former Formula 1 driver Alexander Wurz.
And one of them is petite Capetonian Andrea Bate (22), 2009 Western Cape Regional GTi Challenge Rookie of the Year and a top contender in the 2011 SA National Goldwagen challenge - the only girl to make the cut.
The 18 drivers are (in alphabetical order):
Mohamed Al Mutawaa, 18, UAE
Klaus Bachler, 20, Austria
Andrea Bate, 22, South Africa
Craig Breen, 21, Ireland
Andrea Caldarelli, 21, Italy
Gabriel Chaves, 18, Columbia
Jonas Gelzinis, 23, Lithuania
Michael Klitgaard Christensen, 21, Denmark
Jack Le Brocq, 19, Australia
Michael Lewis, 20, USA
Alexander Lynn, 18, UK
Jose Andres Montalto, 21, Costa Rica
Ramon Pineiro, 19, Spain
Brendan Reeves, 23, Australia
Pontus Tidemand, 20, Sweden
Timo van der Marel, 22, Holland
Sepp Wiegand, 20, Germany
Lewis Williamson, 21, UK
They will now be coached 'in the car' by Wurz and his team from Test and Training International, and 'out of the car' by former World Rally Championship navigator Robert Reid and his team from Elite Sports Performance.
Over the next year, the 18 drivers will attend a series of workshops covering all aspects of driver performance and safety. The driving elements of the course include the development of technical skills, safety training, attitudes and awareness.
The human performance aspect will feature physiology, psychology, nutrition, media skills and career management.
The primary goals of the Academy are to prepare young drivers to compete at World championship level, to build their skills in driver and road safety and to promote the principles of safety, fairness and responsibility both on and off the track.
Wurz said: “Over the course of the four days we have been looking at every area of driving skill. We have broken this down into its composite parts, such as steering input, braking input, throttle input, and into combining all of this behind the wheel.
“Overall, these guys have demonstrated a lot of talent. They are also all very coachable and they have a good understanding of what we are after. I'm really looking forward to a good cooperation with the new Academy drivers.”
Reid noted: “These drivers arrived here from around the world but have all demonstrated the same hunger to succeed. They've been through lots of rigorous testing which has given us a great understanding of what makes them tick. I'm really looking forward to working with the chosen Academy drivers over the next year.”