Inspired by the Red Bull Junior program, the Grove Racing Junior Team aims to assemble an initial roster of three drivers to nurture young Australian and Kiwi talent.
Teenage Porsche ace Matt Payne is the first driver to join the program and is the front runner to get a full-time spot on the Kelly Grove Racing Supercars team when it becomes Grove Racing next season.
Two more drivers will join Payne on the junior team and may be involved in a range of programs from karting to the Carrera Cup and Super2.
Applications are now open to anyone aged 12 or over who can apply.
“The Grove Junior program was created to identify young drivers in Australia and New Zealand who have the potential to build racing careers who may not have the resources or expertise to follow this roadmap,” said Grove Racing boss Stephen Grove.
“In Australia and New Zealand we have identified an area where young children have the opportunity to make progress. One of the models we use is the Red Bull Junior Global Program, which has been able to discover and nurture some of the world’s best drivers.
“Grove Racing has a variety of racing programs, from the Carrera Cup to Supercars, and when we joined the Supercars team earlier this year, we realized that getting young drivers through a development program was really important .
“There’s nothing like it here in Australia and New Zealand.
“We had a pretty close relationship with Scott McLaughlin through long term sponsorship and we’ve seen him go from Super2 to Supercars and now to IndyCar, which makes us all proud in the US.
“These are the types of drivers we’re looking for – the next generation of young drivers who can get through and be entertained in supercars by all of us.”
Grove added that the program will offer drivers more than just one seat during the season.
“When we sat down and developed the program, one of the very important points the team made was making sure we had the resources to teach riders all of the components that go into becoming a pro,” he said.
“This included training young drivers about fitness requirements, media training, the commercial side of the business, working with sponsors and ensuring they got a return on investment.
“This is the basis for the young drivers that we select for our program.”
