Sebastian Vettel (GER) is just 19 years of age. Yet the 2004 Formula BMW ADAC Championship winner acts as role model for the Formula BMW UK Championship’s present grid, having achieved precisely the ambitions of all Formula BMW drivers:

through a mixture of massive talent, unwavering commitment and unrelenting endeavour he has achieved a coveted driver role in Formula One. Since mid-2006 the German has starred in motorsport’s premier division as test and reserve driver for the BMW Sauber F1 Team.

Vettel has proved that a similar career for drivers lining up in the Formula BMW UK Championship need not remain an unattainable dream. Before reaching Formula One he celebrated victories in Formula 3, and a similar opportunity awaits the winner of this year’s Championship, who will be awarded the opportunity of a Formula 3 test.

Said 2006 Formula BMW UK Championship winner Niall Breen (IRL) after recently enjoying his reward: "I’m very grateful to BMW for giving me the chance to sample one of the top F3 cars. I’ve had an amazing season and I want to build on that next year. This test has given me invaluable experience in a new car." Even the opportunity of driving in a Formula

One car is not excluded. The winner of the Formula BMW World Final, highlight of the Formula BMW season, will be rewarded with a BMW Sauber F1 Team test.

International Concept, Equal Opportunities.

However, to reach that stage it is necessary for many of the drivers in the Formula BMW UK Championship to take their first steps towards a professional motorsport career. Great Britain is not the only such arena: drivers aged 15 years and up will also be competing in Germany, Asia and North America;

 thus Formula BMW continues its standing as the world’s top entry-level series. In order to afford all drivers identical opportunities of success, Formula BMW’s watchword is "Equality". All drivers are equipped with the tightly regulated FB02 car, and changes to set-up are as strictly controlled as test sessions, thereby reducing costs and possible variables whilst placing pure driving talent at the forefront of the equation.

Without doubt, the young drivers can rely upon a vehicle which sets standards. Producing 140 horsepower and capable of 230 km/h (140 mph), the FB02 includes safety features which are generally only mandated in more senior series.

The car encompasses a modern carbon fibre chassis, which is as light as it is safe and torsionally stiff. Its wheel restraint tethers, an energy-absorbing head restraint incorporating Head-And-Neck Support (HANS) and the specifically developed Formula Rescue Seat (FORS), in fact, base heavily on Formula One’s requirements.

Race Driver School: the BMW Education and Coaching Programme.

That all competitors competing in international Formula BMW series possess driving ability is self-evident. However, in order to ensure consistent long-term success, additional grounding and attributes are required. Here the BMW

Education and Coaching Programme equips the emerging drivers with the necessary tools to perform as convincingly and appropriately off the track as on it.

"This well-founded and solid curriculum provides the foundation through which these future stars can meet the ever-increasing demands placed upon them by progress," says BMW Motorsport Director Mario Theissen. "The BMW Education and Coaching Programme grooms them in professional conduct to enable them to best present themselves, whether at the circuit, while working with team and car, or in their relations with the media."

The curriculum encompasses subjects such as Chassis Set-up and Vehicle Dynamics, Driving Technique and Strategy, Physical Fitness and Nutrition, as well as Sponsorship and Media/Public Relations.

The BMW Education and Coaching Programme provides young drivers with experienced instructors. Double world touring car champion Andy Priaulx (GBR) regularly attends introduction and training sessions at the Formula BMW Racing Center in Valencia, and frequently provides valuable advice and support. WTCC star Jörg Müller (GER) of BMW Team Germany is another experienced racing driver committed to passing on his knowledge and experience, thereby ensuring the success of BMW’s programme for aspiring drivers.

All competitors in the Formula BMW UK Championship are totally assured of individual yet intensive attention throughout a race weekend. Each day at the circuit begins with a Warm Up Programme; right through to the start of the event an instructor stands ready to provide advice on track and data analysis, braking points and the racing line. After practice, qualifying and the race, competitors receive individual but comprehensive debriefs which cover all as pects, including driver performance, race tactics and set-up of the FB02.

The BMW Sauber F1 Team is integrated into the programme. Specialists from the team’s Sponsorship and Engineering departments willingly impart their knowledge and expertise on the participants. Attending a test day with the BMW Sauber F1 Team and a guided tour of the Hinwil factory are also included in the curriculum.

At the end of 2006 the "Circuit de la Comunitat" in Valencia hosted the annual two-stage BMW Scholarship Selection Procedure. Five candidates were selected to participate in the Education and Coaching Programme free of charge, and will, in addition, receive scholarship allowances of £35,000 each. Previously, 34 Formula BMW UK Championship novices had impressed the instructors with their on-track abilities.

At a two-day license course held at the Valencia Formula BMW Racing Center in August, the aspiring drivers were taught theoretical and practical aspects of race driving, including physics of driving, correct behaviour on the track, and handling of the six-speed sequential transmission as fitted to the FB02. Thereafter they were required to demonstrate their new-found prowess on the race track. A selection of 21 talented youngsters made it into the decisive scholarship selection process, again held at Valencia.

These rookies were once more put through their paces. "For us it isn’t as much about lap times as about aspects such as aptitude and age," says Mike Strotmann, who is responsible for driver development at BMW Motorsport. Five drivers particularly impressed the trio of instructors:

Anthony Comas (FRA), Adrian Quaife-Hobbs (GBR), Tom Gladdis (GBR), Henry Surtees (GBR) and Oliver Webb (GBR), all of whom will compete in the 2007 Formula BMW UK Championship as Juniors. In addition, Henry Arundel (GBR) joins the squad after winning the 2006 Rookie Cup.

The promotion of young drivers has long been a BMW tradition. Sebastian Vettel is far from being the first Formula BMW driver to carve a reputation in international motorsport. His colleague in the BMW Sauber F1 Team, Timo Glock

(GER), used victory in the 2001 Formula BMW Championship in Germany as a springboard to senior categories. Nico Rosberg (GER), Adrian Sutil (GER), Ralf Schumacher (GER) and Christian Klien (AUT) – Formula One drivers all – began their single-seater careers in Formula BMW.

The roots of the BMW Junior Programme go even further back. Back to the late seventies, in fact, when BMW supported emerging talents such as Eddie Cheever (USA), Marc Surer (SUI), Manfred Winkelhock (GER) and Bruno Giacomelli (ITA), all of whom celebrated successes in Formula 2 and touring cars.

With its Procar Series, BMW created a particularly suc cess ful showcase in 1979 and 1980 for young drivers. Driving the legendary BMW M1 in curtain-raisers for Formula One grands prix, young drivers raced against the fastest F1 stars of the day in identical machinery. "Equality of Opportunity" has thus long been a BMW watchword.

As with Procar, competitors in the Formula BMW UK Championship events race on classic circuits and within the framework and event programme of popular series. As such, all 2007 rounds are incorporated into the programmes of British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) events. Therefore, drivers will be required to

prove their talents on evocative circuits such as Brands Hatch, Donington and Rockingham. All rounds of the Formula BMW UK Championship will be contested on British soil.

One of the great strengths of Formula BMW is its international flavour and status. More than 80 drivers representing over 30 nationalities took the start in the four Formula BMW championships contested globally in 2006.

"We are particularly pleased that the Formula BMW concept has so rapidly achieved its standing as the premier single-seater series for aspiring drivers in Great Britain, Asia and North America," says Mario Theissen. After its debut in Germany in 2002, the "new" Formula BMW expanded to Asia a year later, arriving in Great Britain and North America in 2004.

Since 2005 the Formula BMW World Final has marked the highlight of the Formula BMW season. To the winner goes a test with the BMW Sauber F1 Team. According to Mario Theissen, "a test in a Formula One car certainly shows a young driver where his journey can lead to, and takes him closer to the main goal."

However, before this coveted prize can be realized, stiff competition in qualifying, numerous heats and an ultra-tense showdown in the final race need be conquered.

Favourites for victory in this prestigious event are, naturally, the winners of the four international championships. However, all drivers who have actively participated in at least three Formula BMW events in any of the four Formula BMW series this year are eligible to enter the prestigious final, proving once again that "Equality of Opportunity" is Formula BMW’s watchword.

The Formula BMW World Final made its debut in Bahrain in December 2005. Winner in the desert was Germany’s Marco Holzer. A year later Valencia, base of the Formula BMW Race Center, hosted the finals, which saw Christian Vietoris (GER), who competed in the Formula BMW Germany, taking the honours.

Mario Theissen is absolutely convinced that continuing successes will follow Formula BMW’s proven talents. "The world’s most talented young drivers compete against each other in the Formula BMW World Final. Whoever proves victorious in these highly competitive arenas is virtually assured of a successful career," explains the BMW Motorsport Director.

- Benjamin Titz -