Graeme Moore is the Academy Director and Niki Urwin is the Academy Coordinator.
The significant “Stage One” sees the foundation set, coaches appointed and the Explore and Learn level one courses in operation. "Stage Two" is the Hotshots program which now sees competitors at an advanced level learning advanced driving techniques and advanced kart set up.

Overview:

• KartSport New Zealand are developing a quality three tier driver training and development system

• Time frame is three years: One program released each year starting with “Entry’ level, through “advanced”  and finishing with “high performance”

• Entry level program was launched November 2007 and is now up and running

• Stage One is by far the major portion of the three year program and will absorb 70% of effort as all foundation policies, manuals, safety and management controls have been developed at this point and they will flow through to later programs. Stage Two will absorb 10% of overall resource and Stage 3 the Elite program 20%

• Stage two, the Hotshots program, for advanced level competitor coaching was launched on 1st August 2008.

Mission:  EXPLORE – EXPERIENCE - EXCEL

• Kartsport New Zealand is committed to fostering and growing driver pleasure, performance and potential.

• Kartsport recognizes the value of enabling New Zealanders to enjoy the thrill, speed and excitement that Karting offers and wish to provide a pathway to enjoy this sport by developing participant’s technical and personal skills in a safe environment.

• Kartsport are committed to developing a set of programs and coaching clinics to assist all members from new entry through club day racers to aspiring and existing elite international level competitors.

Stage One:

• The “Explore and Learn” product as stage one of the Academy enables new members of all ages and their guardians where applicable to come to grips with the entry level complexities and nuances of the sport.

• Competitive karting has challenging barriers to entry for those without prior experience and this is a step by step program that can be “coached” and supported by clubs throughout the nation.

• Stage One provides a quality improvement and club /competitor feedback process where enhancements can be made to the product on a regular basis.

GOAL:

• Arrest membership fall off and encourage annual growth of 5% and a 50% improvement in first year membership renewals.

Stage Two:

• The "Hotshots" program as stage two of the Academy enables competitors at an advanced level to learn advanced driving techniques and advanced kart set up. In addition the skilled coaches address specialist subjects; mental preparation, qualifying, race strategy, nutrition and fitness.

GOAL:

• Provide the confidence for B rated drivers to step up to A grade competition and allow A grade competitors the opportunity to get the best performance out of themselves and their kart.

Academy Director - Graeme Moore :

Graeme is a member of the KartSport New Zealand Executive and has a wide range of managerial experience, most recently in the travel industry. Graeme is father of Richard and was a key member of the team which attended the 2006 Rotax Grand Finals in Portugal.

Academy Co-ordinator - Niki Urwin :

As the new Academy Coordinator for Kartsport New Zealand I would like to take this opportunity to introduce myself. I have been involved in KartSport as a driver since 2003. I have really enjoyed my experience in the sport and hope that in the future more people will try karting and get hooked as well.

Since 2002 I have been personally coaching athletes at an elite level. I train three athletes at present in two different sports. Katherine Prumm the 2006 World Champion in motocross, Vanessa Quin the 2004 World Champion in downhill mountain biking, and Nathan Rankin 2004 world number 9 in downhill mountain biking. With these athletes and others that I have worked with we have won both world and national titles.

For stage 1 of the Kartsport Academy I would like to get some feed back from the Clubs and all have been contacted in writing. Right now the course content covers,

• Driving skills
• Practical mechanical skills
• Basic chassis set up class
• How to use data to go faster
• A manual containing all the taught information and lots more
• Fun!

The courses are being run over a day at a race track with practical and theory sessions for the driver and their race day helpers. The coaches are top national drivers who have been trained to a level 1 coaching standard by the Academy. The student to teacher ratio is around 1:7 so all students will gets lots of personal attention.

I look forward to meeting representatives from your Club and hopefully your members at a training school in the future.

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