Skip advert
Advertisement

Watch – Original Caterham Academy footage on series’ 20th anniversary

Video footage surfaces of the series' first-ever race, 20 years ago

Getting into motorsport is difficult. It’s expensive, time-consuming and complicated. If it wasn’t, we’d all be racing drivers.

Thankfully, it’s still easier through some routes than others, and for the past two decades Caterham has enabled more than 900 people to taste the thrill of racing through its Caterham Academy.

Advertisement - Article continues below

To celebrate, the firm has put together a short video of the very first Academy race at Mallory Park in 1995. While not  footage of the whole race, it gives a taste as to what the Academy involved back then and still does today – close racing in evenly-matched cars, for a relatively modest budget.

Today, that budget is £22,995 for a self-built car and inclusion in the series, or £25,995 for a fully-built model. The Academy cars use 125bhp four-cylinder Ford Sigma power, with a five-speed gearbox and open differential.

You could go quicker in one of Caterham’s more powerful road-going models of course, but that isn’t the point – more power would just widen the gulf between drivers more and less able to exploit it, and diminish the appeal of close competition.

Winner of that very first race was Simon Lambert, who works for Caterham as Chief Technical & Motorsport Officer. ‘The Academy… made my childhood dream of being a racing driver become a reality,’ he said – and in his current role, looking after the series, Lambert is now able to make it a reality for others too.

Some series are cheaper of course, particularly given the Academy’s amateurs-only nature, but few boast the Academy’s inclusive ARDS course and exam, test day, car control days and occasional TV coverage.

evo itself has competed in the Academy, notably in 2003 when Jethro Bovingdon took part – and Caterhams themselves have always been a part of the magazine, down to our current Seven 420R long-termer. In fact, we really should get around to competing again at some point…

You can catch further details on the Academy in the series’ introduction video below.

Skip advert
Advertisement

Recommended

The 2025 Carrera 4S is an all-wheel-drive Porsche 911 without hybrid power
Porsche 911 Carrera 4S
News

The 2025 Carrera 4S is an all-wheel-drive Porsche 911 without hybrid power

Porsche adds AWD to the Popular Carrera S lineup, as well as a Targa
2 Jul 2025
Ferrari has no plans to reintroduce manual gearboxes
Ferrari manual
News

Ferrari has no plans to reintroduce manual gearboxes

Ferrari reckons if you want a manual, you should buy a classic, and has no plans to bring back the stick
1 Jul 2025
Best used sports cars – proper performance cars for less than a new Golf GTI
Cheap sports cars
Best cars

Best used sports cars – proper performance cars for less than a new Golf GTI

With the sun shining and fuel prices palatable, now is the time to indulge your used sports car desires
1 Jul 2025
The new BMW M2 CS could be another all-time great M car
BMW M2 CS – front
News

The new BMW M2 CS could be another all-time great M car

BMW has applied the CS treatment to the G87 M2 – if it’s anything like its predecessor, it’ll be sensational
29 Jun 2025
Skip advert
Advertisement

Most Popular

Best used sports cars – proper performance cars for less than a new Golf GTI
Cheap sports cars
Best cars

Best used sports cars – proper performance cars for less than a new Golf GTI

With the sun shining and fuel prices palatable, now is the time to indulge your used sports car desires
1 Jul 2025
Can Lotus survive its latest crisis?
Lotus factory
Opinion

Can Lotus survive its latest crisis?

Lotus’s latest troubles are grabbing headlines, but the writing’s been on the wall for some time.
28 Jun 2025
New 2026 Ferrari Amalfi revealed – physical buttons return in the 631bhp Roma replacement
Ferrari Amalfi front
News

New 2026 Ferrari Amalfi revealed – physical buttons return in the 631bhp Roma replacement

The Ferrari Amalfi picks up where the Roma left off, as a more capable, debugged super GT that’s finally brought back buttons
1 Jul 2025