The UK’s Loughborough College has teamed up with Williams Esports and Motorsport UK to deliver new opportunities in the esports sector to budding drivers as part of a unique education partnership.
The initiative will enhance Motorsport UK Academy’s performance pathway programmes delivered from Loughborough College. The governing body for UK motorsport has recently opened up its Academy programme to include esports drivers.
Williams Esports will assist Motorsport UK with the identification of drivers and provide industry expertise and coaching. Loughborough College will in turn give greater structure with a dedicated qualification aligned to DiSE, the Diploma for Sporting Excellence.
The partnership will form the Motorsport UK National Sim Racing Performance Centre supported by Williams Esports at Loughborough College.
Jo Maher, Principal & CEO at Loughborough College, says: “This partnership is a fantastic opportunity for the College to further strengthen our esports pathway programmes by collaborating with the experts in the field, to benefit both staff and students alike.
“We prioritise using specialist driver coaching and simulators to improve talent, enabling students to transfer skills from esports to conventional racing. We are already starting to see the success of this, with one of our students winning a race in the British F4 Championship this summer.”
Katie Baldwin, Motorsport UK Competitors Pathway Manager, added: “Esports is experiencing a massive surge in popularity, with more than 150 million users now registered.
“As a serious performance discipline, esports needs structure to bring it in line with other motorsport pathways. We are confident that our Academy members will see marked improvement in how esports can lead to a successful career.”
Williams Esports, formed in 2018, is the professional esports team of Formula 1 team Williams Racing.
