Students
studying motorsport at Wintec are being interviewed for six coveted positions
with World Rally Championship (WRC) teams during Repco Rally New Zealand in August.
This
is a very special chance to work with one of the vehicle manufacturer-backed WRC
teams - Citroen, BP Ford, Subaru, Suzuki, Munchi's
Ford and Stobart Ford - competing in New Zealand from 28 to 31 August
this year, says Chris Stuart, head of Wintec's trades, engineering and
construction schools.
"This
is truly unique opportunity for our students," says Stuart. "We're very
appreciative of the efforts of the team at Repco Rally New Zealand
to liaise with the WRC teams so our students can enjoy working with some of the
world's best motorsport technicians.
When
Repco Rally New Zealand starts on 28 August,
the Waikato Institute of Technology (Wintec) students - both males and females
between 16 and 18 years of age - will have completed half their introductory
motorsport course.
"Our
students are highly motivated to be selected for the WRC role and will be
interviewed by a panel to determine their capability to fulfil a useful role
amongst the WRC technicians. Teams can deploy the students in any capacity they
wish, and the experience of working with an international team will enhance the
students' understanding of the competitive motorsport environment," adds
Stuart.
Rally
New Zealand
is keen to foster this type of community-oriented initiative, says the event's
organising committee chairman Chris Carr.
"While
this is a world championship event with all the hype and prestige that goes
with an event of this calibre, it's also about Kiwis and our practical ‘can do'
attitudes. Without the involvement of hundreds of New Zealanders working as
volunteers in a huge variety of skilled positions, we could not run such a
well-regarded event for so many years," says Carr. "It's fantastic to see these
Wintec students gaining practical on-event experience which will hopefully play
a part in their future careers."
Carr
says it's also significant to see the commitment of tertiary education
providers such as Wintec to the motorsport sector.
It's
very easy to think of rallying as being solely focused star drivers like
Sébastien Loeb or Mikko Hirvonen - or a racing series like V8 Supercars as only
being about those Kiwi drivers we know so well like Shane van Gisbergen and
Greg Murphy - but without the technicians and fabrication specialists, these
guys wouldn't have a world-class piece of machinery in which to compete!
"There
are Kiwis in motorsport teams all over the world - at Prodrive in the United
Kingdom K fabricating carbon fibre parts for Subaru rally cars and Aston Martin
race cars, running V8 Supercar teams like Paul Cruickshank Racing, and a Kiwi
even runs the Indy 500! So there's definitely scope for organisations like
Wintec to help people gain valuable professional qualifications to prepare them
for careers this exciting and demanding sport.
"We're
delighted to work with Wintec to put together this opportunity for their
students to work with a WRC team," concludes Carr. "We also appreciate the
positive support we've had from Citroen, Ford, Subaru and Suzuki and we feel
sure it's going to be a fantastic experience for all involved."
Repco
Rally New Zealand has its headquarters at Mystery Creek Event Centre in Hamilton and takes place
from 28 to 31 August this year. Visit www.rallynz.org.nz
for regularly updated spectator information and full details.
