South African teenage racers Keagan Masters and Sisa Ngebulana were recently accepted into the renowned McLaren Young Driver Development Programme and last week left to start their training with one of the world’s foremost racing teams.
Masters (14) and Ngebulana (16), from Hartebeespoort and Fourways in Gauteng, respectively will now participate in a gruelling development system that will provide them with the physical training, nutritional advice, media and PR communication skills needed to compete at the very pinnacle of motorsport, Formula One.
Current drivers enrolled in the programme include karting ace and Formula Renault 2,0 rookie of the year Nyck de Vries, Stoffel Vandoorne (Eurocup Formula Renault 2012 champion), and current Formula Renault 2,0 champion Ben Barnicoat.
The programme’s most notable success is Lewis Hamilton, who joined the programme at 13-years old and went on to debut in F1 in 2007, claiming his maiden and only title so far the following year with the Woking-based outfit. Recently another programme graduate, Kevin Magnussen managed to work his way onto the podium in his debut F1 race just a few days ago.
CAR wishes Keagan and Sisa all of the best.
