Caterham announces 2023 Academy Championship media partnership with OVERDRIVE

• OVERDRIVE announced as Caterham’s 2023 Academy Championship media partner
• Callum McIntyre from Overdrive will take part in all eight rounds of the 2023 Championship in a road-legal Caterham Academy race car
• The challenge for OVERDRIVE begins immediately as the team attempts to build its race car in just 24 hours
• Caterham Academy is a popular all-inclusive ‘introduction to motorsport’ package created exclusively for novice drivers

Caterham® has partnered with OVERDRIVE as its media partner for the 2023 Academy Championship.

OVERDRIVE’s Callum McIntyre will race in all eight rounds of the championship, taking place between March and September. Venues for the race weekends are at some of the UK’s most well-known circuits including Oulton Park, Thruxton, Snetterton and Donington Park GP.

Over the coming months, OVERDRIVE will document its experience and progress throughout the series on its YouTube and social media channels.

As with the other competitors, McIntyre will race in a Ford Sigma powered road-legal race car. Producing 125bhp and weighing just 550kg, the Academy race car has the power-to-weight ratio to match a Porsche Cayman; and unique ‘Caterham Academy’ tyres to help teach car control.

With a highly competitive season ahead, the test for OVERDRIVE has already begun with the challenge of building its race car in just 24 hours. Check out the team’s video to see how they did:

Callum McIntyre, Head of Production at OVERDRIVE, said: “We’re delighted to partner with Caterham and take part in its Academy Championship. It’s always been a dream to go racing, after hundreds of hours in the simulator, and this year I get to do it in the best way possible: in the Academy Championship with a grid of other novice racing drivers.

“Building our car in 24 hours was a lot of fun and a great way to understand how the car works, even if we were exhausted by the end! We know the competition will be fierce, but we can’t wait to take part in our first race at Curborough Sprint.”

The Caterham Academy is a unique series for drivers completely new to racing. It’s an all-inclusive ‘introduction to motorsport’ package that includes a road-legal Academy race car, ARDS course, competition licence, exclusive track and test days, and a full season of competition with an introductory sprint and seven races, all with ongoing support and guidance from Caterham. Since its launch in 1995, nearly 1,300 people have become racing drivers from the Caterham Academy.

The eight rounds of this year’s Championship consists of one sprint race, five single-header race weekends and one double-header race weekend. It will kick-off at Curborough Sprint Course near Lichfield on 25^th March, followed by:

• Cadwell Park: 15^th April 2023
• Croft: 20^th May 2023
• Oulton Park: 8^th July 2023
• Thruxton: 29^th July 2023
• Snetterton: 19^th – 20^th August 2023 (double-header)
• Donington Park GP: 2^nd – 3^rd September 2023

The final race of the season at Donington Park will be a special celebration, as Caterham will host its 50^th Anniversary Festival on the race weekend. More details about the event will be announced later in the year.

Find out more information on the Caterham Academy Championship here.