Students team up with Bateleur Motorsport Team

Experience has taught that the practical side of a course is just as important as the theoretical side. This was especially true for a group of Motor Mechanic students from Eastcape Midlands TVET College.

Twenty of them were invited to participate in the 2017 Young Motorsport Engineers Skills Development programme.

The programme took place from 12 to 14 October, at the Aldo Scribante Racetrack in Port Elizabeth, Eastern Cape Province.

It was hosted by the Bateleur Motorsport Team and funded by MerSETA, the Manufacturing, Engineering and Related Services SETA. The programme covered the basic principles of a race car setup, as well as the preparation for races, and maintenance.

The programme started with an information sharing session, where the students were given a close-up look at the race car, while learning some of the skills required to engineer this specific type.

This session was facilitated and overseen by the Bateleur team’s Chief Engineer, Alan Kernick. Each student was awarded a signed certificate of achievement.

For the day of the race, seven of the 20 students were nominated to form part of the Bateleur team.

This gave them the opportunity to get hands-on experience in staffing pit-stops, refuelling the car, changing wheels and participating in any necessary repairs. This was all done under the supervision of Mr Kernick and the Bateleur team.

Two of the students came from the Charles Goodyear Campus, and five were from the Brickfields Road Campus in Uitenhage.

The College’s Assistant Director: Marketing and Communications, Elmari van der Merwe, spent time at the racetrack with the team and thoroughly enjoyed the event.

At the end of the weekend’s programme, the seven College students received a gift from the team’s associate tool sponsor, Gendore. It was a well-organised event and the College was very thankful to receive the hands-on training.

Source TVET College Times