"Star Driver" programmes. Do they work?

[smokin'joe]

I think that CAMS (Confederation of Australian Motorsport) have got the "Star Driver" idea right. Drivers under a certain age (can't remember what it is now) nominate for the CAMS Rising Star Scholarship, they can be from any facet of motorsport Rally, Circuit, whatever & CAMS together with their sponsors put money behind the drtivers that get chosen. The get chosen via a series of tests through the AIS (Australian Institute of Sport) & observations at events they enter to see whether they have the talent. It's through this program that Molly Taylor was able to do the Suzuki Cup in Britain, & people like young Daniel Ricciardo (who looks like he'll get an F1 test) get to go overseas & get to perform infront of team manager's.

I think the FIA need to do a simular thing. If we are ever going to find the next Loeb or Schumacher we need to look wholistically not on on facet on motorsport.

a similar system is in place here for circuit and rally with Formula Vee and Fiestas as the car used, as well as wild-card entries for the local WRC round on offer for existing drivers to aim for.

[noel157]

Putting aside the PSD have any drivers from any of the schemes around the world actually progressed further up the motorsport ladder?
Or have most of today's successful drivers simply advanced from their national championships and have been taken under the wing of a manufacturer (Loeb & Ogier) or pushed and supported by their ASN (Sordo)?
The old way was to try and be in the right place at the right time and try and impress the teams that matter, Kris Meeke being a good example of this although it took 3 or 4 years for things to fall into place.

[bluuford]

I think that Dutch driver programm is the most successful I have seen in last two years (apart from FFSA). Abbring and Weijs were just couple of Junior drivers with no experience and not very fast in terms of WRC. Now they are as fast as Prokop with C2 on tarmac and Michal with his Swift. Progress has been very good.

[AndiG]

I think that the Austrian Red Bull Driver search a few years ago was very good-Andi Aigner ended up as PWRC champion and I am sure he has the speed to compete in the WRC. But I cannot understand why thea did't push him anymore after his PWRC title!

[Barreis]

Red Bull needed new blood.. Aigner drove Fabia WRC and later became PWRC champ.. I spectated him on his first ever rally - Croatia Rally..

[Karbonyl]

Aigner didn't bring any money to the budget for next season, so he simply had to be replaced. Big shame, he's pretty fast guy.

[Langdale Forest]

Any star driver programmes IMO seem to take a reasonably good (but not world class) driver and give them a drive for a year. And then the driver gets nowhere.

The stars of the future they had in the BRC was nothing special when I look back at it now.

[dimviii]

Aigner didn't bring any money to the budget for next season, so he simply had to be replaced. Big shame, he's pretty fast guy.

i ve been told inside from his past team that he wasn t so cooperative.Nothing at all about money.