FEATURE
“ If instructors want to hold on to that identity, that is great, but I want us to then be able to provide the help to improve what they are already doing in that area. Every good coach needs to have some tools in their toolbox that lean into instructing, but they also need to have some other aspects to help the driver in other areas too.”
Coming from sectors of sport where performance gains come mostly from the individual rather than their equipment has given Hartley a unique take on motorsport – and one of the things he has been most astonished about is the relative lack of focus on improving human performance, even in the top tiers of the sport.
In F1, for example, advances in driver fitness in recent years have been immense, yet Hartley recognises that in some teams only a very small proportion of the workforce is employed to focus on driver performance, despite the fact that in some pressure situations, more could be gained from training the mind than honing the machine.
“ There is so much financial investment into machinery, yet the investment into the human is where I think the most gain can be made now,” he explains.“ Getting the right support around drivers and having a number of different specialists who they can engage with gives them the opportunity to select the right person to help them improve.”
That is exactly what the Academy has been built on, with expertise across the board. Its four programmes – Team UK, Futures, Co-Drivers and the Enhanced Diploma in Sporting Excellence( DiSE) – provide varying levels of access to ontrack training, technical and tactical insights and support for psychology, fitness and commercial aspects.
The talent development pathways integrate key industry experts and practitioners to deliver practical learning through in-person workshops and industry site visits,
Jamie Chadwick is the first woman to win in the LMP2 class race in the European Le Mans Series, and did so on her debut in prototype racing at the 4 Hours of Barcelona
Jamie Chadwick, ELMS driver Graduated: 2022
Chadwick won the British GT4 title in 2015 and hit world stage as the inaugural W Series Champion in 2019, winning again in 2021 and 2022 while in the Academy. She has since been a test and development driver for Williams in F1 and Jaguar in Formula E, spent two seasons in Indycar NXT, and is currently racing in ELMS, where she won on her LMP2 debut.
drawing on a support network that includes Porsche Human Performance, Hintsa, iZone, Williams Esports, M-Sport and Bicester Hotel Golf & Spa, and more.
Hartley sees huge potential in the opportunity to bring his fresh perspective to build upon that base and concludes:“ I was really keen to come into an environment that was quite alien to me, and I genuinely think coaching is a sleeping giant in motorsport that has the potential to make a huge difference to the experience of drivers.
“ This is a brilliant opportunity to apply lots of the work I’ ve been doing in UK Coaching and bring it to life in this sport. I appreciate that what we have in motorsport is ahead of other nations and I feel there is so much opportunity to take that rich history of what has gone before and innovate on that to do something genuinely world leading.
Newspress
>>>>>
56
Revolution- May 2025