Cams Rising Star driver Jack Le Brocq has returned from Europe from an FIA Institute Young Driver Excellence Academy workshop in Teesdorf, Austria.  The workshop focused on enhancing the 18 young drivers from around the world’s skills and understanding of driver specific influences on the vehicle. They travelled to a nearby road safety training centre to teach the young drivers the basic physics behind car control before an advanced driving workshop later in the year.

3 days were spent solely in the cars which consisted of RWD and FWD Lexus’s. The drivers were looking at the effects of braking, steering and sudden weight transfer on the cars via various exercises, as well as the significance of their driving technique on the vehicle's balance.

“I really enjoyed the FIAI YDEA workshop and I have learnt a great deal which I can bring back to Australia with me and will give me a much better understanding on how far I can push the car in various circumstances.  Also to get the chance to do some pretty difficult challenges such as drifting on the skid pan, has given me a greater understanding of what the Rally drivers face.”

Jack Le Brocq has just taken part in Round 2 of the Australian Formula Ford Championship at Symmons Plains in Tasmania. He went into the weekend on a high after taking out the round victory at the Australian Grand Prix and straight out the gate showed good pace in Practice 1 after being 2nd fastest on the time sheets. From there Jack went on to score a solid bank of points finishing 4th overall for the weekend with two 4th and one 5th placing. This has left Le Brocq 3rd in the Championship standings only 7 points behind the leader.

“After such a good first round, this wasn’t the best round for us after the dramas that we had over the weekend with a mystery brake vibration and we all pulled together and did a very good job to score the points we did. It was great to have all the guys around me in the Team and everyone stayed very positive as we know we will come back bigger, better and stronger for the rest of the season.”

“Qualifying was ok for us as I qualified in 4th position after working with Macaulay Jones (Cams Rising Star Team Mate), we were able to get a half reasonable time together and it will be good to work with him again further down the track where a tow is really important. Race 1 for No. 49 was really just about survival as the brake vibration got quite bad and I struggled to brake where I needed to be.”

Jack Le Brocq has started his 2012 campaign close to the best possible way he could taking 56 of the 61 points on offer in front of the huge Australian Grand Prix crowd! After having some dramas with braking of the car early in the weekend, Jack and the team pulled it all together and came home strong to take out the top step of the Podium. Jack claimed two wins and a second place finish on his way to round honours with Race 1 being held in very difficult conditions and one that will stick with the 19 year old for a long time to come.

“I was absolutely rapt with the weekend and under the circumstances that we achieved these results, I feel we are only going to be stronger as the rounds go on.”

“The Minda Motorsport Team and I came to Albert Park knowing what this place can be like and knowing that we just had to bank some good points and get our Championship run off to a good start. We then walked away with the round win and Championship lead so really we have got off to an excellent start which is always a great feeling to have!”

After taking part in the first FIA Young Driver Academy workshop, Jack has walked away with a wealth of experience and this was only the beginning of what the program has to offer throughout 2012! The workshop was predominantly fitness based and gave Jack and the rest of the crew a good understanding at what level they need to train at to achieve the required fitness to race in Formula 1. After taking part in several tests across the three days which included a heat chamber test, lactic acid build up in the blood testing, circuit training and many other gruelling sessions it gave Jack even further feed back as to his fitness levels.

“I have completed six fitness camps back in Australia through the CAMS Rising Star program and what we completed in the circuit training is very similar to what I have done before. It was very interesting though to see a few more ideas on how they train and the different methods they use. There was the heat chamber, core strength testing and also the lactic acid build up test which was very interesting and I have never completed anything like that which was a great experience!”

After facing a very intense testing program on and off the track, Jack was selected in the Final 18 to take part in the 2012 FIA Institute Young Driver Excellence Academy. Jack will also be joined by fellow Australian Brendan Reeves who competes on the World Rally Stage.

Le Brocq faced many challenges throughout the gruelling 4 day selection process which was held in Melk, Austria. After completing set challenges in Fitness Testing, Team Challenges, an Interview Process, Psychology and Computer testing and also many driving tasks on the track which involved obstacles from a bump pad and skid pans to completing a lap around the Circuit as quick as you could in the 350hp BMW M3’s provided. Jack topped the overall fitness testing and was also looking very good for the Race of Champions honours before a small mistake had him miss the cross over and exit the challenge.

"The FIA Young Driver Excellence Academy was a great experience and I would like to thank CAMS for nominating me for selection. I have learnt a great deal during the selection process, where we were faced with many different situations on the track, and also really came to appreciate that there is so much more to racing success. The Academy’s main focus is on areas of track and road safety which helps the drivers further refine their racing skills and respect of changing track situations.”

After a very challenging weekend in central Tasmania at the final round of the Australian Formula Ford Championship, Le Brocq was strong enough to secure 2nd place in the Championship standings to top off a stellar year that has seen him secure 2 round wins, 4 race wins, 12 podium finishes and a lap record at Eastern Creek.

“I am ecstatic to walk away with 2nd in the Championship. It has been a hard year for us all in the Cams Rising star/Minda Motorsport squad as it was our first year with the Mygale chassis and with the small amount of testing we completed, we have all done an awesome job! To also walk away with 2 round wins on top of that with all the wins and podiums along the way is a huge credit to the guys.”

Le Brocq and the Cams Rising Star/Minda Motorsport squad started the weekend off on a high with Jack topping the time sheets in Practice 1 before being 5th quickest in session 2. From there the Team worked hard at trying to improve the setup of the Mygale Chassis for Saturday morning’s Qualifying session.

Jack Le Brocq will compete against 29 other young motorsport hopefuls in the FIA’s Young Driver Excellence Academy selection in Melk, Austria.

Le Brocq is part of the FIA Institute’s announcement where 30 young drivers from 26 different countries will compete for 18 places in the 2012 Academy program. The FIA Institute Young Driver Excellence Academy is a project to develop young driver talent worldwide. It offers a fully-funded training programme that helps drivers develop their motor sport careers, whilst increasing safety skills and actively promoting the principles of safety, fairness and responsibility on and off the track.

The selection process will be led by former F1 driver and two time Le Mans winner Alex Wurz and 2001 World Rally Champion Robert Reid.

At the selection event in Melk, Austria on the 15-18th November, Wurz and Reid will evaluate driving ability, fitness and performance, media techniques, team work and psychology.

Jack Le Brocq has yet again impressed the Australian Motorsport scene by taking a very comfortable round win up on the streets of Surfers Paradise at the Gold Coast 600 for Round 7 of the Australian Formula Ford Championship. Jack went into the round on a high after racing at the British Formula Ford Championship in the UK where he took pole position in qualifying and a race win. This showed throughout the weekend as the walls and close racing around the circuit didn’t faze the Melbourne driver. Jack’s speed and consistency gave him 2 race wins and a 3rd position for the weekend, giving him the round win by a clear 12 point margin.

“I am stoked to get another round win under my belt and at the moment we just seem to be getting better and better as the season progresses. I didn’t get off to the best start with a 6th in qualifying, but being only 3 tenths off 2nd place it was very tight and it provided some very close racing throughout the three races over the weekend. I finished 3rd in Race 1 and then I was able to hold onto the win in Race 2, taking my third win for the season which was great and that really helped with the Championship side of things.”

After spending 6 days at the famous Brands Hatch circuit, Jack Le Brocq has walked away with a pole position, a race win and a bucket load of experience to take back to Australia with him. After completing close to 500 laps around the 1.9km circuit, Jack came to grips with the UK spec Formula Ford quite quickly being right on the pace on Tuesday’s 1st day of practice. Jack soon found out as the days went on just how technical the circuit can be and every lap has to be millimetre perfect to get a consistently good time out of it.

“I was very pleased with how testing went and it was a lot of seat time which was exactly what I was after to try and get the most out of the trip over to the UK. The cars are quite different with the tyres and this being the first time I had really completed any real laps on a slick tyre it was definitely an eye opener! It was totally different to what I was used to as with the grooved tyre used in Australia the cars are a lot more forgiving when the tyre lets go but with the slicks it really bites hard and it takes no prisoners as I found out a couple of times during the week. I was able to get my times down and very consistent by Friday and this left me in a very good position to attack it head on Saturday morning with Qualifying.”

Having shown consistent development and ongoing achievements in his racing so far, and with both race and round victories this year to sit third in the Australian Formula Ford Championship, 19 year old CAMS Rising Star Jack Le Brocq is about to take his career to the next level, taking the first steps to an international career this week as he heads to the United Kingdom with the Jamun Racing Team.

Taking on this year’s Australian Formula Ford Championship, the young star was already aware of the challenges of the series, and the challengers in the field, but took the step up to become one of the senior faces of the Minda Motorsport team, a role model and an achiever. Securing eight top three finishes so far this season, along with race wins, a lap record and a hard fought round victory in relentless conditions at Sandown’s round five, Le Brocq has proven that he is ready to take on the next big thing, all the while maintaining a focus on moving to the next rung in the Australian Championship this year.