The Future of Motorsport at Myerscough College
It’s me, Mark Stone, and in this episode of the Backseat Driver Podcast, we take a deep dive into the world of motorsport education at Myerscough College. After a strong recommendation from rallying expert Ronnie Sandham, I head over to meet Simon Moss, Lecturer in Motorsport Technology, and Danny Cowell, Lecturer in Vehicle Technology and Motorsport.
We explore how Myerscough’s unique programs combine hands-on experience with real competition, preparing students not just to work on cars, but to excel in motorsport engineering and management. From building and racing BMW 116 Trophy cars to working alongside professional teams like M-Sport, students here are exposed to everything from historic rally cars to the latest data-driven race technology.
Simon and Danny also discuss the college’s involvement in the North West Stages Rally, their new electric rally projects, the strong ties with major motorsport employers, and how their students are now making their mark at Red Bull Racing, McLaren, and Haas F1.
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Transcript
Foreign.
Speaker B:Yes, it's me, Mike Stone, and this is the Backseat Driver podcast.
Speaker B:It's the fastest, it's the friendliest, and it's for all the family.
Speaker B:The gas shocks, 116 trophy and 120 coupe cup are the fastest growing race series in the UK, taking in six one hour races and eight sprints at all the top circuits.
Speaker B:Visit 116triportunet.com to find out more and get yourself behind the wheel.
Speaker B:From a pot of tea to TT motorbikes, from a classic English breakfast to a full serving of classic cars, Bridge House Tearooms is the northwest premier classic car meeting location for coys, bikes, tractors and owner's clubs.
Speaker B: -: Speaker B:A few weeks ago, I had Ronnie Sandham as a guest.
Speaker B:Ronnie's background in rallying is unbelievable.
Speaker B:One of the places she was very, very actively involved with was Myerskoff College and their motorsport section.
Speaker B:And she insisted that I came and interviewed them.
Speaker B:So here I am and I'm joined by Simon Moss, Lecturer in Motorsport Technology, and Danny Cowell, who has a far more 08 title, Lecturer in Vehicle Technology and Motorsport.
Speaker B:Gentlemen, welcome to the Backseat Driver.
Speaker C:Hello.
Speaker A:Welcome to O.
Speaker B:Yes, thank you very much.
Speaker B:I must say, on the approach to this place, it's very well hidden.
Speaker B:You can't see it, can you?
Speaker A:We are a very well kept secret and have been for many, many years.
Speaker A:130 years.
Speaker B:Now, tell me about the multisport part of the college, the motorsport course.
Speaker A:You can start with Danny with the level three and level two.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:So we offer level two sitting guilds in motor vehicle.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker C:And a level three City and Gilsy motor vehicle running alongside a BTEC in advanced manufacturing and engineering.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker C:So the idea is that we have, from school leavers, so 16 to 19 years old, they can opt for like a vocational course on the City and Guilds.
Speaker C:They learn their craft in motor vehicle, but which they can study at lots of places.
Speaker C:But what we do very, very different is we put a huge slant on motorsport, on the motorsport aspect of it.
Speaker C:So rather than working just on standard road cars, they'll be working on competition cars.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker C:And we'll go through that sort of technology of a competition car as well as the basic road.
Speaker B:So in a roundabout way, not, no disrespect to it, it's learning how to become a mechanic.
Speaker B:But at a far more in depth and intense level.
Speaker B:Because the cars they're working on aren't designed to go from home to shopping, home to school, they're designed to go out and race or ral.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:It's trying to get them that hopefully job in the future of working in the world of motorsport.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker C:So by giving them the tools and resources that we have here, we can prepare them for working in the world of motorsport, which is completely different to what anyone else does.
Speaker B:I was going to say.
Speaker B:Do you also tell them that working in multisport, they'll be all over the world.
Speaker B:The hours will be incredible.
Speaker B:They'll probably never see the family.
Speaker B:You'll end up spamming on a car at half past three in the morning, trying to make it work and everything else.
Speaker B:Do, do they appreciate what motorsport evolves when they come here?
Speaker C:Certainly, because we, we endeavour, we push to make sure they are involved, even at the level that they come in from school.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker C:For example, you know, we've just been away to do the Manx National Rally.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker C:In a car that was built, prepared and maintained by students.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker C:So, yeah.
Speaker B:So I conclude this also puts quite a lot of pressure on them when they get told not only will you be learning your skills, but the cars that you'll be working on will go out and they will compete and it will reflect back on you guys a hundred percent.
Speaker C:And the, the batch of it is that we are introducing them to potentially, you know, 130 plus prospective employers.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker C:That are watching what they're doing.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker C:So we'd love to be able to open the doors and push them in, but that.
Speaker C:It's the, it's the initial.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker C:This is what it's like in this, in this industry.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker C:You know, it's hard work.
Speaker C:You know, it's a lot of hours, it's a lot of preparation.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker C:We're going to try and prepare you for that.
Speaker C:And you know, that.
Speaker C:That is.
Speaker C:We've had some really great success over the years.
Speaker B:I mean, walking around the workshops.
Speaker B:I mean, Simon showed me around, then you show me around.
Speaker B:There's a.
Speaker B:Quite a.
Speaker B:Interesting and an eclectic selection of rally cars and racing cars, isn't there?
Speaker B:I mean, quite a few.
Speaker B: I mean, there's the Triumph: Speaker B:There's your little Talbot Sambo, because you're quite fond of those, aren't you?
Speaker B:Subarus.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:Nissan Micros.
Speaker B:Now even by Simon's admission, an obsolete Formula Ford that, like we were saying, though, it can't compete in anything would make an excellent track day card.
Speaker A:It's.
Speaker A:It is still eligible for the Formula Ford Championship.
Speaker A:It just probably wouldn't be competitive.
Speaker A:But, yeah, yeah, we're the.
Speaker A:Getting students to the level where they can step into work in the industry is.
Speaker A:That's really important.
Speaker A:It's our usp.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:And giving them experience while they're here means that they are eminently more employable than somebody who has learned just from a book or learned just on automotive.
Speaker A:Because the other thing that we are very, very good at is, is we do.
Speaker A:So Danny competes, I compete, Polly Bart competes.
Speaker A:In fact, if this were tv, we'd turn the camera, look out the window at two of our colleagues who are going to Cadwell park competing this weekend.
Speaker A:We all compete.
Speaker A:All of the lecturers are involved, actively involved in motorsport.
Speaker A:So that rubs off.
Speaker A:But it also means that we bring a huge amount of experience, our own experience, to help guide the students.
Speaker B:But it's practical experience, not theoretical experience in that.
Speaker B:I mean, you turn your practical knowledge into theory.
Speaker B:But you, you know, one best term to use the old phrase, you know what you're talking about because you've done it.
Speaker A:I think if we totted up our.
Speaker A:Our joint experience across the department would be into hundreds of years and Moses.
Speaker A:But it means that the students, do they get a real experience.
Speaker A:And even if even those students who for whatever reason can't or don't go on events, we're still relevant, we're still up to date with our knowledge of motorsport events.
Speaker A:So the first event that I've been on as a racing driver was this weekend and that will feed into our teaching next year.
Speaker A:Something that I've never experienced before.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker A:And it adds to the depth of knowledge that the students are party to.
Speaker B:Because you, you become one of the Ramney Remney boys.
Speaker B:Because there's always been this thing between rally drivers and racing drivers where you talk to, oh, racing drivers just go around in circles all the time.
Speaker B:But I mean, you've.
Speaker B:You what, you now have one car in my friend mark's Gas Shocks 116 trophy.
Speaker B:I mean, Mr.
Speaker B:Bait has brought on a phenomenal race series and you guys have got involved.
Speaker B:How did this come about?
Speaker B:Why?
Speaker B:Because between you and Danny, it's quite obvious the direction has been rallying, but all of a sudden you've gone circuit.
Speaker B:I mean, has Danny got over it?
Speaker A:No.
Speaker A:As soon as we came back, I said, danny, Danny, get a race license, get a race license.
Speaker A:We've got to go racing.
Speaker A:The money is in circuit.
Speaker A:The money is in circuit.
Speaker A:And whilst if you cut both of us, most of the people in our department cut them in half and it would.
Speaker B:Well, Rock says blackpool cut your arm off.
Speaker B:He says killed it.
Speaker A:It says rally.
Speaker A:It says rally.
Speaker A:But we have to instill in the students that most of the money and the big money is in circuit.
Speaker A:It just is.
Speaker A:So we offer the levels 2 and 3 courses for the 16 to 19 year olds.
Speaker A:We also offer a foundation degree and a top up degree to the 18 plus students.
Speaker A:They said to us last year, the first year students said you do a lot of rally stuff, why don't we go racing?
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker A:And we said it's a good point.
Speaker B:We don't really get just putting in.
Speaker B:Did you find that because you were very rally orientated, did it put any students off?
Speaker A:I wouldn't say it put them off but I think some, they would prefer to be working on race cars.
Speaker A:They would prefer to be at race events.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker A:I think most of them realize that the experience in the sport is experience in the sport.
Speaker A:The little tweaks, the little differences they can adapt to.
Speaker C:Racing is like more in the spotlight.
Speaker C:It's easier to access on terrestrial tv, Formula one, btcc, the likes of that.
Speaker C:Rallying.
Speaker C:We are seeing it come back with the BRC this year being televised.
Speaker C:So because that's at the forefront of what they're seeing.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker C:The racing then.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:I mean we've been involved in Formula Ford for quite a number of years.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:Those contracts have sort of came to an end with COVID Yeah.
Speaker C:So we've been just looking for that avenue to get back in for ourselves.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker C:And doing this, the BMW 116 trophy, I mean that's, that's fitting in with us really well.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker A:We put a capital bid in over summer to buy two donor cars and two kits to build two cars.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker A:With a view to hiring them out.
Speaker A:So the second year foundation degree students who asked last year, they got.
Speaker A:Yeah, they've done a fantastic job.
Speaker A:They've built us a car and because we don't want to hire the car out, not knowing the series, not knowing about racing.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker A:My colleague and Bart and I both got our race licenses and we, we've gone and raced them and we'll do two, maybe three events.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker A:And then we're looking for customers next year.
Speaker A:The second years we'll build a second car.
Speaker A:We'll have a two car team hopefully.
Speaker A:But the experience that we've gained, as I said before, it will make a huge difference to Their learning.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker A:And when the first, first years come in in September, we have a decent number of first years applied this September.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker A:They'll have that.
Speaker A:Our experience to share.
Speaker D:Right.
Speaker A:And we've, I mean we've, we've done a good job.
Speaker A: We've been doing this since: Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker A:We were the first educational establishment outside St David's Cardiff to deliver motorsport at all.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker A:We were the first to deliver motorsport at further education level and we've got alumni working at the very, very top level.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker A:For example, he's in his 40s now.
Speaker A:Peter Croller is the day to day team Manager of Haas F1.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker A:Studied at Markska.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker A:More recently, Emmy Jones is now working for Red Bull Racing on the Heritage.
Speaker C:Program and Verstappen's car.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:And we have a student who did the management degree who is now the team coordinator for McLaren's Formula E team.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker A:And that was within two, three years of leaving.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker A:University Center Motorskip.
Speaker A:So we know we're doing the right thing.
Speaker C:Well, we've got, we've got Will Durdle who was part of the, the latest record.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker C:For the Formula One pit stop.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker C:So 1.8 seconds.
Speaker C:I think it was ex student there on a.
Speaker C:On a wheel.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker C:So tools that's like job done.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker C:They're there at the pinnacle.
Speaker B:I mean when they actually before we come back to the racing etc, when these guys go out there, your students go out there, do you help.
Speaker B:Do they find these jobs themselves or do you guys help them find these jobs?
Speaker B:Is there a grapevine that tells you.
Speaker B:To me this is coming up and you think, well A or B could be suitable for that.
Speaker A:Both.
Speaker C:Yeah, a bit of those.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:We, we have links with industry.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:So we'll approach those links in industry and say, you know, what are you looking for?
Speaker C:So they're giving us the remit of.
Speaker C:And we, we're trying to tailor.
Speaker C:Make the course to, to help with that.
Speaker C:But Simon Hill, we've, we've got a.
Speaker A:Really good program with M Sport.
Speaker A:So M Sport, Ford World Rally Team based in Cockermouth and for the degree program we've put.
Speaker A:Working with M Sport, we've got an academy working with them.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker A:So in September, October, they take a number of students, whoever applies and they go through a number of different trials at M Sport.
Speaker A:They will take on a number of students who will work for M Sport and be paid all right.
Speaker A:In law thing as well.
Speaker A:Indeed.
Speaker A:So Christmas, Easter over summer and that's a three Year rolling program for the degree students.
Speaker A:So the first year they work in I think eight departments.
Speaker A:The second year they.
Speaker A:They can drop the three that they least like.
Speaker A:Yeah, we go to five departments and in the third year they drop and they go to three departments.
Speaker A:And one of the students who's actually, he was a further education student, he comes from a motorsport family.
Speaker A:But Connor Sisson did level two, level three, three years of the degree and he's working with them.
Speaker A:Working for M Sport now.
Speaker A:Three weeks ago.
Speaker A:Yeah, he was.
Speaker A:Went to Monte Carlo with M Sport on their test team while he was still a student with us.
Speaker A:So we've.
Speaker A:We've got a program.
Speaker A:I think there's three third years, three second years and there'll be three first years.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker A:That are part of that program.
Speaker B:Well, this is a regular thing with M Sport and Malcolm Wilson.
Speaker A:It.
Speaker A:It has become a regular thing over the last three years.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker A:And it's now, if you go on their website, they have a section for the Myersca University Center Academy.
Speaker B:Does Malcolm ever come down here at all or anybody from M Sport?
Speaker A:Malcolm is actually one of our honorary fellows.
Speaker B:All right.
Speaker A:He was him.
Speaker A:Dave Richards, Lena Gade, John McGinnis.
Speaker A:John McGinnis are honorary fellows of the.
Speaker B:College and they do come down here from time to time.
Speaker C:We see John from time to time.
Speaker D:Yes.
Speaker A:Yeah, we see John.
Speaker A:We've not seen Lena since we.
Speaker A:She had the honorary fellowship.
Speaker A:But certainly Dave Richards, because of what he does with O uk.
Speaker A:I bump.
Speaker A:Bumped into him.
Speaker A:We had a government.
Speaker A:An injection of government money a couple of years ago, which was a skills accelerator and we were.
Speaker A:We bought a number of electric vehicles.
Speaker A:So we have an electric.
Speaker A:There's a picture of it behind you.
Speaker A:An electric Corsa rally car.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker A:And we worked it.
Speaker A:A lot of work.
Speaker A:We rallied Herodigian.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker A:To get electric car to do.
Speaker A:Just running a car 50.
Speaker A:Not a special, you know, special treatment.
Speaker A:And we knew we couldn't do all the stages, but we worked really hard with them and it helped Rally Caridigian get his European FIA Credential.
Speaker A:Green Credential.
Speaker B:Because they're hoping that that event will become like a WRC event, don't they?
Speaker A:CRC is already.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:European Rally Champions.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker C:This.
Speaker C:This time.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker C:And I think.
Speaker C:Yeah, that is what the.
Speaker C:Their aim is.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker A:So we.
Speaker A:We were fortunate that we were invited to go to Silverstone as guests of.
Speaker A:Of Musfoot UK and chatted with Dave Richards and Hugh Chambers and the guy that I've been dealing with, the technical director who we'd worked on to try and get the car through the scrutineering element of it and the passport side of it.
Speaker A:So, yeah, we are still in touch with some of our college fellow fellows.
Speaker D:Thank you.
Speaker B:I mean, because of your work with M Sport or Ford, do you find that you can still work with maybe some of the other manufacturers or the teams?
Speaker B:Because these days the top end of rallying, there's not a lot of teams, but if you come down the ranks in rallying, it opens up a lot more.
Speaker B:But regrettably it doesn't get the coverage that the top NWIC cars get.
Speaker B:Are you still able to work with these guys?
Speaker C:Yeah, we, obviously we can do.
Speaker C:Yeah, we don't want to put any barriers in, in the way, but one of the things that we do need to remember is UK based World Rally Teams.
Speaker C:Yeah, we've got, we've got one.
Speaker C:Yeah, essentially.
Speaker C:But we know a lot of the teams have people from the UK working for them.
Speaker C:We all know people within the industry so we'll try to contact them and make those bridges.
Speaker C:But one of the things, because we do get out on events and people are noticing our students and how they're preparing cars, looking after cars and everything else.
Speaker C:If we can get them into either, you know, smaller teams or different avenues.
Speaker C:So we've got people that work in btcc.
Speaker C:Yeah, you know, so that's another avenue.
Speaker B:Because I mean like when BTCC everybody says, oh, the works cars.
Speaker B:Actually, invariably they're not works cars.
Speaker B:They appear to be and they have work support from the works.
Speaker B:So you, it's the, the privateers will be extremely important to you as well.
Speaker C:Yeah, getting bigger and bigger, aren't they, the privateers?
Speaker C:I mean there seems to be a thing, you know, the, the R5 Fiesta.
Speaker C:So rally two cars.
Speaker C:I mean they're like popping up now like they are 20 grand cars.
Speaker C:Yeah, there's loads and loads of them.
Speaker C:They all need looking after.
Speaker C:Yeah, you know, building, preparing and maintaining by people, you know.
Speaker C:Why can't that be our students?
Speaker B:Well, the usu.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:We were fortunate that we host the Northwest Stages Rally which was the first round of the British Rally Championship.
Speaker B:Of course it was the first, I think in like the first clause drilled for a long while.
Speaker A:It was the.
Speaker A:Since the deregulation, it was a second Clacton tendering beat them to it.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker A: In: Speaker A: I think we ran seven cars in: Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker A:But the event approached the college and said would you host the event?
Speaker A:So Raleigh HQ scrutineering the service area because the closed roads that they use are around the hills.
Speaker B:So they use.
Speaker B:They use here as the.
Speaker B:As the base.
Speaker A:This is the base for the northwest stages, right?
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A: So: Speaker A:I think we had two or three cars out that were college cars.
Speaker A:Covid kicked in so we missed 20 and 21, 22.
Speaker A:Sadly Dave Reid passed away in the lead up to the event so everybody picked up the slack and the event was really successful and we ran I think four cars this year we had students involved in running seven cars again including two of our own and the degree students, the second year degree students they manage these award ceremony it's prices, it's part of their event management module.
Speaker A:So they design it and deliver it and review it afterwards.
Speaker B:So in many ways they actually you taught them how to host a full rally.
Speaker A:It's so.
Speaker C:It end up being a small cog, you know.
Speaker C:Yeah, you know it but without it and without the students doing what they.
Speaker C:They.
Speaker C:Yeah the event you know would struggle.
Speaker B:Just like others come as a shock to them.
Speaker B:Exactly.
Speaker B:What goes into putting on a rally.
Speaker C:It comes a shock to.
Speaker C:To even me and Simon in Verrettes season that it.
Speaker C:I mean Simon did a massive, massive amount of work for Northwest Stages and promoting it and through Myers GO and Garstang Centre.
Speaker C:Yeah that is the man responsible really.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:We have a ceremonial start for the event that was a.
Speaker A:Would your students be involved.
Speaker A: as the award ceremony back in: Speaker A:And they said that's fine.
Speaker A:So the assessed element was still the.
Speaker B:Even though they would know they would be being closely watched.
Speaker A:They were close to watch.
Speaker A:They did such a good job that the event gave me a chunk of cash to take them out for a meal afterwards.
Speaker A:It really, really.
Speaker A:It worked really well.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker A:And for the three years that we've hosted it whilst the ceremonial start falls predominantly on me to organize it's the shoot without the shoot I couldn't do it.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker A:Obviously as Danny said we are only a small cog because the amulet organization behind any motorsport event.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker A:Race or rally is just immense.
Speaker A:It's huge.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker A:The behind the scenes thing particularly closed roads but again that's another really good Thing because we host it, because we're involved in it, we are learning.
Speaker A:So all the time we're learning new things, we're learning things that we didn't know before that we can then impart to the students.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker B:I think the other thing is especially Danny, I mean I think you rally a bit more than Simon, don't you?
Speaker C:Yeah, just a bit.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:I think like last year did the NWCC Road Rally Championship and a few stage events.
Speaker C:So I think The NWCC added 16 events.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:Plus three stage rallies.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker C:So it was a really busy year last year.
Speaker C:Really busy.
Speaker C:Really busy.
Speaker B:And I conclude the students.
Speaker B:Because the students look after you, help you look after your car.
Speaker C:So obviously we want to give them that hands on experience, what it's like looking after cars in real life terms, not just in our workshop.
Speaker C:So.
Speaker B:Because they'll have to do.
Speaker B:I mean the rallying you do is very much like what you call old school rally into you.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:You go and do a couple of stages or whatever and come flying back in maybe under a gazebo and under an umbrella.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:Lads that wants doing by the way.
Speaker B:You will be led in a load of mud.
Speaker B:But get out of the.
Speaker B:How do they react to this when they suddenly discover all stroll on.
Speaker C:So I, I always explain to him that most of the winning, if you will.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker C:Is done in the workshop.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker C:So the preparation beforehand is key.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker C:If you prepare a good car you can potentially go out and do, do well.
Speaker C:Don't get me wrong, I have moments where I knock stuff off the car or you know, it was.
Speaker B:I said, did they ever criticize you?
Speaker B:We've done all this for me.
Speaker B:Look at it.
Speaker C:It's, it's when they come back mucky because we present them really, really clean and pristine to, to scrutineering.
Speaker C:It comes back after a two stages and it's mucky.
Speaker C:They're like, oh, you've got it dirty, you know.
Speaker C:But yeah, we like to keep him busy and because in the stage events we've been running like an historic spec car, they take a little bit more looking after in some ways.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker C:A bit more tlc.
Speaker C:So they're getting a good spread of things that may go wrong.
Speaker C:You know, little fueling issues or little misfat.
Speaker C:Just, just little things at these older cars.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker C:They do present to you and you know, we don't just do older cars but we have seen there's a huge gap.
Speaker C:Well not a gap but there's a huge section of the market.
Speaker C:Historic rallying is getting bigger and Bigger.
Speaker B:I was just going to say historic is growing and growing and growing and.
Speaker C:And the money involved in it.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker C:You know, I mean the RAC rally, for example, you know, one of the biggest events on the, on the calendar in the uk.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker C:We usually go and look after two vehicles on that.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker C:So we take students away for five days looking after two cars on, on that event.
Speaker B:You've got round this quite nicely.
Speaker B:It's called the Roger Albert Claw Rally.
Speaker B:So.
Speaker B:But of course, watch.
Speaker B:Roger, Albert Clark's initials, the rac.
Speaker B:So in a slight.
Speaker B:We say slightly around the houses where the RAC's made its return.
Speaker C:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker B:And from what I, from what I saw, what I read and following and everything else, I mean it, the, the following of it and the enthusiasm for it was Finn, I think he put the, some of the WIC events to shame.
Speaker C:Well, you know how you were saying how, you know, at the end of a long day.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker C:The students we've been driving all around the country from Wales up to Scotland.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker C:It's been a long day.
Speaker C:That car comes into service, absolutely filthy bits hanging off it.
Speaker C:They are buzzing.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker C:They want to be.
Speaker C:Get stuck in.
Speaker C:All of a sudden all those feelings are being tired and worn out.
Speaker C:They go, yeah, full, full attack, full enthusiasm for what they're doing.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker C:And that is what we're trying to instill in them because in, in industry that essentially is what, what it's like.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker A:We've been very, we've been.
Speaker A:Well, the students have been successful.
Speaker A:So Danny and I went to the Mall rally in October.
Speaker A:Danny competing and I was there helping look after the students who were looking after the car.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker A:And this, the four students that were looking after the Danny Samba came away with a team award.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker A:Which was really fantastic.
Speaker A:Testament to them.
Speaker C:You got.
Speaker C:These are 16 and 17 year old, 18 year old young people who are in a world full of adults with lots of experience.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker C:And they're pulling out.
Speaker B:Not be having in the wonderful world of rallying and things like that.
Speaker B:Us old adults at times don't hold back with what we might say to them because I conclude you also teach them, don't be delicate, don't.
Speaker B:You will get things said to you in the heat of the moment.
Speaker B:Don't take offense at all.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:They know, you know, industry can be tough.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker C:They are fully aware of that.
Speaker C:But the experience that they're getting, I mean imagine you going, going back to being.
Speaker C:Yes, he's in School.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker C:16, 17 years old and being offered a course that is like that.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker A:You know, it's something.
Speaker A:It's one of the things that when we have parents come around with the, with their kids.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker A:And quite often dads will say, I wish there was a causal.
Speaker A:The thing is there probably was back in, you know, we've been doing it since 97, so there probably was.
Speaker A:Cuz some of the, you know, the parrots are in the 40s now.
Speaker A:In the late 30s, early 40s there probably was.
Speaker B:Well, back in my day it were.
Speaker B:If you knew a mate who were a mechanic.
Speaker B:You fancy having a free day out at Alton Park?
Speaker B:Why?
Speaker B:Well, go bring your toolbox.
Speaker B:One thing has to be asked.
Speaker B:How many women, how many girls do you get on this?
Speaker B:I know it's probably politically incorrect now because there's no such thing as men and women, apparently.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker C:We al.
Speaker C:We do have a really good sort of spread of male and female students.
Speaker C:We currently have seven on the level two.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker C:So it's.
Speaker C:And it's increasing every year.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker C:So which is really good.
Speaker C:And let me tell you something, they usually do the best.
Speaker B:I'm just going to say, is there a competitive element for girls to do a better job than.
Speaker C:Well, let's face it, they can multitask a little bit better than us.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker C:But as well, the organizational side.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker C:You know, they phenomenal.
Speaker C:The, the work that they produce.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker C:Is always really well presented and really good.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:Of the 23 applicants for this September's degree program, 10 are female.
Speaker B:Well done.
Speaker A:So, yeah, the, the balance is shifting, which is really good.
Speaker A:And the graft is hard.
Speaker A:Why wouldn't they.
Speaker A:If they've been taught.
Speaker A:If they've all been taught the same.
Speaker A:They've all had the same experience.
Speaker A:And that's something that we do try to offer the same experience to everybody.
Speaker A:Not all the students take the opportunities that are given to them.
Speaker A:It's a percentage game.
Speaker A:We know that.
Speaker A:And not all of them will work in the industry.
Speaker A:We know that as well.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker A:But that's the same with.
Speaker A:We offer courses in animal studies and equine studies and golf and football and rugby.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker A:And not all of the people that study on those vocational qualifications will go and work in the industry.
Speaker A:They've studied.
Speaker A:Because at the end of it, if you've got a Level 3 qualification, it means that you can study to that level.
Speaker A:If you've got a degree, it means that you can study to that level.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker A:What you specialize in afterwards is up to you.
Speaker A:And we do find that the ones that are passionate and the ones that volunteer for the after hours clubs that we run.
Speaker A:Those are the ones that go work in the industry at the top level.
Speaker B:I mean, one of the interesting things is to just return to the historics.
Speaker B:Your students like 16, 17, 18, 19, all of a sudden are being presented with cars that you can't plug a laptop into.
Speaker B:Laptops haven't been invented.
Speaker B: of you, like the old Triumph: Speaker B:How do you find the reactor?
Speaker B:Do they enjoy working on old cars where you need a spanner and you need to know what you're doing to make it work rather than rely on your latest MacBook to tell you?
Speaker C:Yeah, well, they, they study.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker C:For example, from points and condensers and carburetors.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker C:Right up to modern mapping fuel injection systems.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker C:So they get taught the fundamentals of it.
Speaker C:And sometimes the older cars, at first they're a little bit of a harder sell.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker C:Until they're actually there working on them, seeing the others.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker C:You know when they've seen that and got a taste of that.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker C:That is then becomes their, their little thing.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker B:Because I conclude like the heady whiff of petrol and a screwdriver and a Weber or an Su.
Speaker B:If we gently turn that screwdri driver, you can suddenly hear the engine.
Speaker C:They were stripping Weber carbs down in the service area on the Isle of Man.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker C:That.
Speaker C:You know, they were doing that.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker B:So.
Speaker B:And enjoying themselves doing it.
Speaker C:Oh, yeah, yeah.
Speaker A:Something that we have been asked about before, why we still have a rig with an old A series engine on it.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker A:Because the rig with the A series engine you can see and hear as you just pointed out, the changes that, that your modifications to the ignition, like.
Speaker B:Turning it, turning an entire dizzy and listening to it all alter, which with.
Speaker A:A computer screen you.
Speaker A:It's more difficult to understand what's going on and why it happens.
Speaker A:And I think those, those basic skills are okay.
Speaker A:If you go work in a main dealer these days, you plug a laptop in.
Speaker A:If the laptop says no, then there's nothing wrong with it.
Speaker B:Well, I'll be quite honest.
Speaker B:I mean, it's one of those things.
Speaker B:The garage that I used to look after my cars, I'll give them a plug.
Speaker B:Specialized automotive services, they're having difficulty finding a mechanic.
Speaker B:They can find numerous fitters who'll come complete with his U let Packard under his arm.
Speaker B:It's getting somebody who can work on what you might call a proper car with a proper engine.
Speaker B:They are, shall we say, they're becoming an increasingly hard to Find asset.
Speaker B:They're a day species.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Diagnosis is a, is a key thing, isn't it?
Speaker A:You know, having a fault and diagnosing it and understanding what might be causing that.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker A:I think that's a really critical.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker C:We, we've had students that, I know they've come away from our time here.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker C:Knowing more about diagnosing electrical faults.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker C:On modern engines than someone that's maybe been in the trade for 30 years.
Speaker C:It's a little bit scared of it.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker C:Because we're, we're bringing through from the old technology that those people have been in the trade 30 plus years.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker C:Right through to the modern stuff.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker C:With the latest technology to help them diagnose it.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker C:And the ways and means.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker C:So the, yeah.
Speaker A:As a, as a forward movement.
Speaker A:Moving on from that this weekend, Bart and I were with one of our students who was recording the data and we were looking at our data traces from the laps that we'd done from our best laps for when where the best point to brake was and brake pressure and steering angle sensor and things that are new to me because I teach on the management side, not the technical side, but we're a student basically teaching us how to drive a race car based on the data that's been.
Speaker B:I mean that's something I was never used to.
Speaker B:Get it and drive it.
Speaker B:And I dare say you.
Speaker B:Simon's the same and Danny's the same.
Speaker B:Get behind the wheel and drive the thing.
Speaker B:Now you look at the young drivers and the being taught you said where, where to break, how hard to break, when to turn in or anything.
Speaker B:It's all very good.
Speaker B:I'd never remember that.
Speaker B:It took me long enough to remember summit circuits.
Speaker C:It's a hugely disciplined area, isn't it?
Speaker C:You know, being a driver at top level in modern times.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker C:It is a very disciplined thing.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker C:Got, we've got students that are competing top level now and it's great to have them there cuz they are feeding back to us at sometimes a level that we, we don't.
Speaker B:So basically though you don't like to admit it, you are learning off them.
Speaker A:Every day is a school day.
Speaker C:Every day is a school day.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:No matter how old you are, every day is a school day.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker B:What, what's next for Maya Scoff Motorsport?
Speaker A:Crikey.
Speaker A:T levels, the technical levels that the government's been pushing.
Speaker A:We're hope to welcome those this September.
Speaker A:But I think more of the same.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker A:We, we are, we're different.
Speaker A:We are different.
Speaker A:And, and we've attracted.
Speaker A:There are a hundred and eighty students on the application list for this September for, like, two and three courses.
Speaker A:We're doing something right.
Speaker A:We keep doing the same thing.
Speaker B:Simon Morse and Danny Cowell, it's been a pleasure chatting to you here at Myerscough College and it's nice to see what's going on.
Speaker B:And we have young people keen to learn across what you might call the Technical Board.
Speaker B:Both the latest technology without.
Speaker B:I suppose I'm a dinosaur.
Speaker B:Our proper car still works, but, gentlemen, it's been a pleasure chatting.
Speaker B:Thank you very much indeed.
Speaker C:Thank you.
