The-Bolt-Spring-Summer-2014

Motorsport driving engineering
careers on to the right track
UNIVERSITY NEWS
15
Next step; training on a course that offers hands-on
experience and the opportunity to start building a network
of contacts that can be built on throughout a career.
‘I have been greatly impressed by what everyone at the
University of Bolton has been doing and at the general ‘can
do’ atmosphere that seems to pervade the campus.
‘Motorsport works to impossible timescales,’ said John. ‘That
can be a challenge and the hours can be antisocial. You have
to demonstrate to people that you really are committed.
‘But for those who make the effort, for those who show
commitment and have been through the right training, the
opportunities are there.’
Leading motor racing figure, John Grant is
Chairman of the British Racing Drivers’ Club
(BRDC) which is the owner and operator of the
UK’s most famous racetrack, Silverstone. He
came to the University of Bolton to give young
engineers advice on how to get their careers off
the starting line.
John’s career in the motor industry is wide-ranging. He
worked for Ford of Europe and Ford Motor Company (USA)
before moving to Jaguar Cars as Executive Deputy Chairman.
Today he is Chairman of, arguably, the UK’s most exclusive
drivers’ club, the BRDC. Along the way he has collected a
wealth of knowledge and experience to pass on to young
people.
John outlined the advantages motorsport gives young
engineers starting out on their career paths, from its ‘can-do,
nothing is impossible’ culture to its use of cutting-edge
technology. These are both attributes and career experiences
which, John says, employers find very attractive in potential
employees.
‘I believe passionately in motorsport engineering and it is a
great place to start a career,’ said John. ‘You can then go on to
work in many other areas of engineering, be it automotive,
marine or aerospace, if you want to.’
The UK’s Motorsport Industry Association has 4,500 member
companies which employ 38,000 people, of which 25,000 are
in engineering roles. Annual sales total around £6 billion, of
which 60 per cent is export business.
And while Formula 1 is viewed as the pinnacle of racing and is
certainly elite, John says there is much more to motorsport –
from motorcycles to historic racing, from endurance racing to
Formula 3. Then there is the component manufacturing and
design industry. He said that while some of the world’s most
famous manufacturers, such as Mercedes Formula 1, are based
in the UK, the country has many small but busy racing
manufacturers.
Getting as much experience as possible is the first step, says
John who advised young engineers to go to race meetings, get
into the pits, talk to the mechanics and drivers and see if they
can get in at the start by helping to clean the cars and tyres.
John was talking at the University’s first Autosport Careers
Day where potential students and their families had the
opportunity to network with John as well as TV star and
racing driver, Kelvin Fletcher, the owner of a Le Mans racing
team and head of CAPE, Nick Reynolds and the creator of
the Keating Supercar, The Bolt, Dr Tony Keating.
Visitors were given a full tour of the Centre for Advanced
Performance Engineering (CAPE) where they saw the latest
equipment and were shown around the CAPE cars, which
included a McLaren M8 C/D, a Chevrolet Corvette C5R as
well as 12 Le Mans race cars. Pictured below with one of the
cars is (from left) TV veteran broadcaster, Gordon Burns, who
compered the event; University of Bolton Director of
Marketing, Aris F. Mattheou and Nick Reynolds. Front row are
John Grant and Kelvin Fletcher.