The new Motor Sport Safety Development Fund has hit the ground running after agreeing funding for 26 projects across North America, South America, Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia.
The projects span all areas of potential development identified by the Fund Management Committee – Officials Skills Safety Training, Facility Safety Improvement and Young Driver Safety. Specific projects range from the training of marshals in emerging markets to safety internship programmes and young driver development programmes, with funding going to motor sports associations in developing countries such as Mozambique and Lebanon as well as established motor sport markets such as the US and Japan.
To administer these projects, the Fund has extended its partnership with the FIA Institute, which will have full responsibility for enhancing the programmes relating to drivers, facilities, and officials. The FIA Institute will adopt a highly strategic and active approach, with the primary goal to facilitate significant and sustainable development across these three key areas.
Seven-time Formula One World Champion Michael Schumacher, who is Chairman of the Fund Management Committee, said: “The Fund can have an enormous impact on improving the standard of drivers, motor sport officials and race facilities around the world. The partnership with the FIA Institute will enable us to achieve real progress in the development of all of these areas.”
The FIA Institute will develop a series of best practice frameworks for National Sporting Associations to utilise as a guideline to develop and enhance their own infrastructure. Each of the enhanced programmes will aim to foster improvements at all levels of motor sport from grass roots through to the elite championship level and to ensure that drivers, officials and facilities are developed in parallel.
Allied to this approach, the FIA Institute will be encouraging the development of regional, high-performing training centres, which will be used to help drive the development of motor sport in all regions.
The next round of funding will open in September 2009 and as part of this new round of grants, projects will have to meet a range of criteria, set by the FIA Institute, to be considered for support.
The Fund was created to manage the distribution of motor sport safety-related grants from the FIA’s $60 million share of the $100 million fine imposed on McLaren- Mercedes in 2007. The Fund, which is part of the FIA Foundation, is controlled by a Management Committee made up of Max Mosley, FIA President; Nick Craw, President of the Automobile Competition Committee for the United States; Jean Todt, Member of the Board, Ferrari SpA and Norbert Haug, Vice President, Mercedes-Benz Motorsport.
To encourage applications, Fund representatives have given a number of presentations about the scheme at events in Uganda, Peru, Singapore and most recently Costa Rica.
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Fund Presents Opportunities in Americas
The Motor Sport Safety Development Fund continues to encourage applications from sports associations around the world with an event in Costa Rica for Central and South American clubs.
Quentin Crombie, the FIA Institute’s head of Educational and Excellence Programmes, gave a presentation on the new partnership between the FIA Institute and the Motor Sport Safety Development Fund at the event in Costa Rica.
Many Central and South American clubs and other related stakeholders had gathered in Costa Rica for a Make Roads Safe event, so it was a perfect opportunity to explain to those in attendance another initiative that is set to provide significant benefits for the region.
Crombie said: “The purpose of the presentation was to give a detailed update to the clubs regarding the Fund, the new partnership with the FIA Institute and the planned enhancements to the programmes.” Crombie was joined by four members of the Fund’s management committee, Peter Doggwiler, David Ward, Jean Todt and Management Committee Chairman Michael Schumacher.
Jean Todt and David Ward spoke about the importance of the Fund and the opportunity to leave a lasting legacy, before Quentin Crombie explained in detail the role that the FIA Institute would play, and the planned enhancements to the programmes.
The presentation was translated into Spanish in real time, and translated materials were also made available after the meeting. Many of the clubs expressed their enthusiasm for the Fund and the recently announced partnership with the FIA Institute. They were also keen to begin work on their submissions, which will be due later in September this year. The event follows similar presentations about the Fund that have taken place in Uganda, Peru and Singapore. |