The National Motorsport Academy (NMA) announced Friday that it has become the official education partner of former Formula 1 engineer Rob Smedley’s Global Karting League.
Smedley, CEO and Founder of Global Karting League (GKL), designed the all-electric karting series to not only offer an affordable entry into motorsport for young drivers, but also to educate its participants through STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Maths) subjects.
NMA writes that “with 500,000 unfulfilled STEM job roles in the UK and many young drivers often skipping formal education to pursue a professional driving career, it is our mission to combat that.”
The NMA is the go-to place for online motorsport education and degrees with over three decades of expertise and its partnership with GKL is a fitting one.
GKL offers its drivers a free, formal education and NMA will now help the series further the education of motorsport competitors aged six through 16 in developing its STEM learning resources.
Moreover, NMA tutors will engage directly with GKL participants through speaking sessions and activities, covering topics such as racing technology and mechanical skills.
NMA and GKL are presenting a collective goal through this new education partnership, broadening the learning horizons for all racers in Smedley’s karting series and sharing a commitment to remove barriers to motorsport education regardless of background, gender or ethnicity.
“No matter what you want to do in motorsport – whether it’s being a driver or engineer – you need a good grounding in science, technology, engineering and maths,” said Smedley.
“It’s a life’s passion for me to turn kids onto learning about STEM and that’s why we’ve brought it into the Global Karting League championships. It’s about taking that on-track passion of these young drivers and turning it into skills off-track as well.
“Earlier this year, we approached the National Motorsport Academy to be our education partner as we wanted an established learning provider to work with us to enhance our STEM provision for GKL drivers. They were our first choice of partner as there are so many synergies between us.
“The fact that they are pioneers of online motorsport education means a lot to us as that is how our drivers access our STEM and will continue to do so as we roll out GKL championships outside the UK.
“We are both also on a mission to widen access to an industry that has traditionally been closed off to many. I look forward to seeing what we can achieve together!”
Director of Motorsport at NMA, Dr. Kieran Reeves added “We are thrilled to partner with the Global Karting League as their Education Partner.
“It is excellent to see the vision from GKL not only will the participants be taking part in kart racing but will have to follow an engineering academic programme for their appropriate age group.
“We are excited to assist with this development that ensures racers will be gaining valuable STEM knowledge throughout their driving career. It means that they will have a mechanical background to further assist their chosen careers as they age.
“As part of the collaboration with the NMA, each cohort of talent will receive tuition from the team at NMA alongside GKL’s bespoke learning that will prepare the students to eventually study Motorsport Engineering to degree level with ourselves.”
