Since 2014 the BMW Race Driver Series, one of the largest and most popular racing series in New Zealand has hosted the E30 scholarship day. Any driver over the age of 16 with at least a restricted drivers licanse can enter and have the chance as getting their first taste of motorsport or getting
Applicants are assessed on their driving skills by some of New Zealand’s top driving instructors as well as their conduct off the track, by BMW Race Series competitors. The winner gets to compete in a full season of the Dunlop E30 Championship.
The Day is structured with a morning session where a race instructor observes 1 out lap, 1 racing lap, and 1 in-lap. This will determine the top 10.
All applicants are taken a tour of the race control room, a technical session on the BMW 320i vehicle and hot laps from other BMW Race series competitors.
The 10 applicants that progress through receive race driver tuition with an instructor driving, evaluation with the applicant driving, 1 out lap, 4 racing lap, and 1 in lap and a panel interview.
The top 3 applicants will receive a presentation and the Scholarship winner is announced.
The Scholarship day is Saturday 15th August 2020 at the Hampton Downs Motorsport Park National Circuit. The cost to enter is $350, more information about the event can be found on the BMW series website http://www.bmwraceseries.co.nz/e30-scholarship-car/ or by contacting e30scholarship@gmail.com
Past winners include, Tom Grooten (2014-15), Robert Hill (2015-2016), Jordan Baldwin (2016-2017), Tim Dawson (2017-2018), Peter Bennett (2018-2019), Josh Donohue (2019-2020)
The scholarship gives drives a chance to compete in a very competitive and respected race series, in an almost fully funded record-setting E30 320i alongside a bunch of great guys and gals. Previous recipients of the scholarship have succeeded in winning the E30 Championship itself, and others have been successful in moving on to the next step in motorsport or joining the BMW race series in their own car.
