11 participants from around the world. 3 complete training days. 8 workshops with experts. 250km to 300km in Formula 4. This first F4 Summer Camp edition allowed young talents to take their first steps in motorsport success.
Discovering a new environment, new working methods, new racecar… Leaving the high-level kart discipline to begin this transition to single-seaters is a significant challenge for all kartmen.
To meet this demand, a new programme conceived and created by Frédéric Garcia, Winfield Group President and Anne-Charlotte Remy, Managing Director of Winfield Racing School, is created: the F4 Summer Camp. The aim of this comprehensive training course is to introduce participants to Formula 4 racing, with the support of Winfield Racing School’s experts. As a bridge between karting and single-seater, this programme helps young kartmen to have a better understanding of what it takes to be a racing driver and aspects they need to work on. Frédéric Garcia says: ”With our experience, we try to give these young drivers all the keys to prepare themselves for their future professional driver career. We want to make them aware of all the important aspects to succeed in our sport. We have imagined this programme as a total immersion in motorsport, which takes place over 3 days, with an increase in intensity on each day.”.
A career is not built just on pure driving, but it also integrates the capabilities for a driver to become a complete champion, physically, professionally, and mentally. The various workshops organized on the first Summer Camp day allow the young talents to have a better understanding of the qualities required to be a racedriver: physical assessment, simulator sessions, driver-engineer relationship presentation, marketing introduction, etc. The day ends with a trackwalk on the 1.8 km track of Circuit Paul Ricard. The same track used 50 years ago by Winfield Racing School to train the world greatest motorsport champions.
On the following two days, all the drivers meet directly at the track for a morning warm-up, rocked by the song of Provencal cicadas. Once bodies and minds prepared, each participant gets equipped and joins their car and mechanic. During the driving sessions, the drivers are constantly under the supervision of experienced instructors, all from professional motorsport world.
Back in pitlane, it’s time to debrief. Brake pressure, turning point, steering angle, throttle application… There is only one watchword: performance seeking! Datas and onboard videos are essential tools in the racedriver progression. The Winfield engineers and instructors help the participants to analyze these different information. Cyrille Sauvage, WINFIELD instructor, says: “This is an excellent first experience for these young talents. They are disciplined and apply the coaches’ advice. There is a lot of progress being made in car control and braking. They are also aware of the physical work to achieve in the near future to gain endurance behind the wheel of a single-seater. They are proud of their evolution, without forgetting the most important thing: continue to work hard and enjoy driving their F4!”
The young talents who participated in the F4 Summer Camp now have all the keys to enhance their maturity as a driver but also a human, whatever the future they choose. Proud of the success of this first edition, the whole Winfield Team is now preparing to host the FIA Girls On Track – Rising Stars event, an innovative programme that promotes the female talents of tomorrow.
Photo Credit: © WRS – Alexis Miclo
