This has been an incredible year for the Motorsport UK Academy, with the current cohort and recent graduates securing a record-breaking 19 champions – and a few vice-champions – across the country and further afield.

The Academy is a performance pathway for the UK’s future stars, offering opportunities to learn, develop, thrive and ultimately unlock their full potential. Through the years, it has supported hundreds of young drivers in their quest to be the best, with stars such as Lando Norris, Tom Ingram and Elfyn Evans among its alumni. Across the four distinct and separate programmes, expert coaches, partners, and staff work together to prepare drivers and co-drivers for the world of highperformance motorsport and beyond. It provides these programmes independently at no financial cost to the athlete and with no vested commercial interest. The only goal is developing the sport’s best talent.

The Team UK programme brings together a national squad of elite competitors and offers each a bespoke one-to-one programme to help them compete at the sport’s top levels.

The Futures programme focuses on competitors aged 15-24 and has sections for drivers and co-drivers. It offers industry insight, workshops and camps, education sessions, bespoke online and in-person events and one-to-one support.

The Enhanced Diploma in Sporting Excellence (DiSE) programme, open to 16-18-year-olds, is a two-year course that combines motorsport and education Operated in collaboration with Loughborough College, it offers sporting and academic support for talented drivers and co-drivers, and includes physical and psychological development, media and sponsorship training, and one-to-one coaching sessions.

Enhanced Diploma in Sporting Excellence (DiSE)

Henry Howarth – Airtec Motorsport Fiesta ST240 Am Class Champion

Facing an intense contest in the Amateur class in his first motorsport season, this JamSport Racing driver took the title at the final round having started the season-ending weekend with just three points separating him and rival Archie Johnson on dropped scores.

Ethan Jeff-Hall – Ginetta Junior Champion

In his rookie year, this 16-year-old certainly made a name for himself. As well as taking the Ginetta Junior title in a pulsating season-finale, he also won the FIA OK World Kart Championship Finals at PFi and will step up to British F4 in 2025.

Oskar Dix – Porsche Sprint Challenge GB Clubsport Pro Champion

This 18-year-old was in remarkable form this season, finishing on the podium 16 times out of a possible 18. He sealed the title after securing an impressive double win at Brands Hatch in front of a sold-out crowd.

Finn Leslie – Fiesta Junior MK7 Champion

In his first year of racing, this rookie secured the Class crown by a single point on dropped scores. He closed out his success at Silverstone in October after a tight battle with strong rival Jacob Hodgkis.

Futures

Freddie Slater – F4 Italian Champion and F4 UAE Champion

This double Champion cemented his credentials as one of the world’s hottest young prospects this season. He sealed the Italian crown with his 13th win of an extraordinary campaign, equalling the record set by Mercedes F1-bound Kimi Antonelli.

Zac Meakin – British GT4 Champion

Four wins across nine rounds of the season helped Meakin and team-mate Jack Brown secure the title for Optimum Motorsport, winning the season finale at Brands Hatch to overturn a 3.5-point deficit.

Theo Micouris – Ligier JS P4 European Champion

Victory in the first two races gave this former Radical Cup champion a strong start and he racked up an impressive tally of three wins, nine podiums, seven fastest laps and six lap records across the 11 races to take the title and become the latest Ligier Rising Star.

Max Hall – MINI Challenge JCW Rookie Champion

An impressive season saw this first-timer take five wins and five other podiums on his way to securing the rookie crown as well as claiming the runners-up spot in the overall standings in the final round of the season.

Marcus Littlewood – Radical SR1 Champion

This former Academy Driver of the Year continued to make his mark in a hard-fought title battle with Sam Shaw that went beyond the final chequered flag. Shaw won the last race, but his 20-second penalty for exceeding track limits gave Littlewood the win, and the crown.

Team UK

Abbi Pulling – F1 Academy Champion
This 21-year-old dominated the F1 Academy with a record-breaking nine wins, sealing the title with a double victory in Abu Dhabi. She also competed in British F4 and became the first female to win a race in that series when she triumphed at Brands Hatch in May.

Adam Smalley – British GT3 Silver-Am Class Champion

This talented 23-year-old won his fourth British motorsport title this season, his latest crown coming after winning a sixth Class victory in July, and with two race weekends still left to run. He also won the Silverstone 500, securing the prestigious RAC trophy.

Patrick O’Donovan – British Rallycross Champion and European Rallycross Champion

The class of the field in British Rallycross, this 20-year-old secured his third straight title on home soil and enjoyed a successful campaign overseas, winning the European crown with three victories from four races.

Louis Foster – Indy NXT Champion

Just two years after moving to the USA, Foster secured the Indycar feeder series title in the penultimate race of the year, with seven race wins and 12 top-five finishes. He will now compete at the top level in 2025, joining the Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing team.

Graduates

Deagen Fairclough – ROKiT British F4 Champion

This former sim racer dominated in his second season of F4 and secured this coveted title at Silverstone, not only becoming the first driver to wrap things up before the season finale, but also winning an unprecedented number of races.

Ricky Collard – British GT3 crown

Alongside his dad Rob, this talented GT debutant played a crucial part in becoming only the second father-son pairing to ever take the title. The pair headed into the finale with a commanding 24.5-point lead and held on to finish the job.

Harry Hickton – Vertu Motors Mini Challenge Champion

This 18-year-old driver started off with a double win in the opening round of the year and took the season to a thrilling finale at Brands Hatch, overhauling a 31-point deficit to team-mate Sam Gornall to secure the title by just two points.

Seb Hopkins – Porsche Sprint Challenge GB RS Pro Champion

This Team Parker Racing driver got the better of rival Max Coates in a championship battle that went down to the final weekend of the season. His third place in the final race was enough to secure the title by a single point.

Chris Ingram – British Rally Champion

This well-known Rally star and former European Champion added his name to an illustrious list of British title winners including Colin McRae, Richard Burns and Elfyn Evans. He and co-driver Alex Kihurani secured the crown with a season-ending victory on the Cambrian Rally.

Ronnie Smith – Mini Challenge Trophy Rookie Champion

This first-time Cooper Class racer immediately marked himself as one to watch, with an impressive performance in the opening race of the season at Snetterton, and then went on to secure the rookie title with two races to spare.