Graduate engineer looking to gain experience in motorsport

[JonnyRSchofield]

Hello everyone,


Having just found this forum, I am a graduating engineer from the University of Liverpool with a 1:1 class MEng in Mechanical engineering and looking for advice. Please feel free to move this thread to another area of the forum if I am mistaken about the topics location.


I am looking for design/test/trackside engineer experience wherever possible and willing to give my weekends and holidays up in return for travel expenses. I have been involved with Formula student for 3 years, achieving the position of senior management, overseeing the cars drivetrain and have attended a number of European based competitions. Up until now, I have had interviews with positions with a few race teams but the feedback on both occasions mentioned gaining more experience.


Fortunately, in this economic climate I have found myself a graduate position at an engineering firm, which will give me a well rounded experience in the engineering industry whilst ‘paying the bills’, but my real goal is to work in motorsport. I am willing to work hard, give up weekends and keen to learn the necessary skills to be involved in a race team.

Any information would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Jonathan

[ascarracinguk]

Why not contact people like 888 or prodrives asking them for work experience?.....one thing can lead to another, I did it with my job in civil engineering, after 2 weeks of work experience they took me on and I'm still with them 4 years later working for one of the biggest construction companies in the world

[JohnD]

I know you want a position in professional motorsport, but meantime have you considered amateur, club motorsport? I think that there are many teams who build, modify and drive their own cars and compete at a high level, who would be delighted to have a graduate engineer with your experience join in. You were at Liverpool, Oulton Park is nearest, but Silverstone isn't that far, so go along and troll the pitlane!

And what about your colleagues in Formula Student? Have any of them continued in amateur motorsport, or want to? Join forces, esp. if they have complementary skills to yours and offer a complete service to a team!

John

[grantp]

FWIW I've just noticed, in another place, some ads for 'Internships' at Red Bull Racing.

No idea what that might cost you or whether it is in any way appropriate but it might be interesting to find out.

[tristancliffe]

We, and several other teams in F3 Cup, often use 'student labour', so people like you get to play with fairly modern F3 machinery, get fed and watered whilst doing so, in return for travel expenses and sometimes a small amount of pay.

I don't have a vacancy at the moment, but worth keeping your ears to the ground perhaps.

[cheapracer]

One of the more regular members of this forum got his V8 Supercar engineering position with a resume similar to yours by making the effort to write to all the teams and spending his spare time on weekends helping out at race tracks and getting known.