Blue sky and sunshine set the tone for a hard fought day as the finalists met up at Gamecock Barracks near Nuneaton for the Assessment day. At stake were two places on the scholarship that brings a fully paid for season of club motorsport.   The 12 had been selected from the strongest field seen in the four years of running the scholarship.  organiser Richard Egger said “Thanks to the efforts of performance equipment suppliers Cyclone Mobility this years level of applications went ballistic leaving the club committee with a very hard task of choosing the final 12”

The finalists undertook a day of driving tuition and then competition, whilst at the same time being interviewed by a panel containing one of last year’s finalists, Kumar Moorthy and the Car Club’s magazine editor

The 2 lap course consisted of short straights and a flowing slaloms.  This looked deceptively simple but as they were soon to discover, this required a delicate balance of speed and precision.  “The purpose was to identify those who could deliver speed in a consistent manner on a course which would penalise messy or ragged driving” said Dhiren Solanki, Time Keeper on the day.

After six runs with a tutor on board, to develop their skills, the competitors attempted the course with the instructor becoming a passenger.  These times were then combined with the interview results and the instructors’ assessment to produce two final winners.

Katherine Stevenson Wheeler was one of the judges and said “It was fantastic the level of commitment and enthusiasm they all showed, but it did make it very difficult to choose the final two”

Winner David Barrett said  “I have been in a chair for 24 years and a new door has opened  to me” whilst second winner Ian Trott added “I am just getting over the surprise at being selected, I have a lot to learn and will do my best to try and make the high standard set by Kumar last year”