TEAM CANADA - Scholarship to the Festival

Canadian FF1600 racers now have a new and exciting goal to strive for in 2011 with the introduction and launch of Team Canada, Scholarship to the Festival!

The new Brian Graham racing Sports & Entertainment,(BGRS&E), backed by Grote Industries of Canada, award, will provide a talented up and coming Canadian racer, with the opportunity to compete in the world renowned Formula Ford festival in England this fall.

After a couple years debating on how to launch the program, BGRS&E, in partnership with Grote Industries of Canada, (manufacturers of vehicle lighting and safety systems), announced the creation of Team Canada Scholarship to the Festival at the 2011 during a press conference at the 2011 edition of the Canadian Motorsports Expo January 22nd. The new program will witness one driver, from either the Ontario Formula Ford Championship, (OFFC), or the Quebec-based Formula Tour 1600 series being awarded a funded ride in the 2011 Formula Ford festival held at Brand's Hatch in the UK this fall.

BGRS&E principals, Brian Graham, Gerry Merz, and Dave Matkovich will keep an eye on the talented young racers, contesting both series, throughout the 2011 season, ultimately creating short-list of candidates who will vie for the prestigious award early fall. That select group will then take part in a shootout where raw speed, technical knowledge/feedback, media/sponsor skills, and personality will be evaluated by a panel of judges which will include Canadian motorsports legend Ron Fellows. One driver will then be selected as the Team Canada scholarship winner and driver for 2011.

Canadian FF1600 series have given up and coming motorsports stars such as Kyle Marcelli, Conor Daly, Joseph NewGarden, and Spencer Pigot a spring board up the motorsports ladder. In fact, Daly and NewGarden parlayed their runs with Brian Graham - Team Grote Racing, contesting the OFFC, into victories for Team USA Scholarship program at both The Formula Ford Festival and Walter Hayes Trophy fall of 2008. Given our country's junior development series and teams have been a training ground for top US up and comers, BGRS&E and Grote Industries of Canada, felt it was time to send our country's best to contest!

With the addition of the Team Canada program, which could expand to two drivers with increasing support from corporate Canada, it is hoped that our young up and coming talent within the country's high-performance Karting series, will now see Canadian FF1600 competition as the logical "next step" into junior formula car competition.

Further details to come as Team Canada Scholarship to the Festival develops.
For more information on how you or your company can help support Team Canada, call Gerry Merz at 416-708-1278, or Brian Graham at 705-718-3182, as well, keep up to date as the official Team Canada web site develops at www.teamcanadaracing.org For more information on Grote Industries of Canada see www.grote.com