World champion steers praise towards Swansea Met

Swansea Metropolitan University has a new champion, racing legend Sir Jackie Stewart.

He has highlighted the success of its motor sport technical courses and their importance for the industry as it struggles in the recession and divisions within Grand Prix.

These are testing times for F1 and aside from the disagreement between the sport's governing body, the FIA, and participating teams, the future of the British Grand Prix has also been in doubt. Following the decision to move the event from the ‘home of British motorsport', Silverstone, to Donnington, it has materialised that the owners of Donnington are struggling to ensure that the circuit will be ready on time.

Despite the initial indication from F1 supremeo, Bernie Ecclestone, that the British stage of the championship would skip a year if Donnington wasn't ready, the resulting backlash has seen him hint that the event could return to Silverstone for another year.

Three-time world champion Sir Jackie Stewart (above), said, "Let's not forget, the reason that [Red Bull chief technical officer] Adrian Newey, [Williams co-founder] Patrick Head and [Brawn owner] Ross Brawn got bitten by the [F1] bug was coming to Silverstone for a British GP. Not by watching these races on TV but by smelling them, touching them, hearing them.

"That's why we've got an industry, that's why we've got aerodynamicists, that's why we've got...Swansea Metropolitan University's courses on motorsport. We've got to try to employ these young people [who] are coming from all over the world to here to get their training. And that's why the government should see this with their eyes wide open. 50,000 jobs could potentially be lost."

Swansea Metropolitan University, then Swansea Institute, officially launched the world's first Motorsport Engineering and Design degree in 1998. Since then, the programme has been praised by the FIA and the industry's leading figures for introducing a programme relevant to the sport. Sir Jackie Stewart visited the University in 2002 to advocate the course.

Over the past ten years, Swansea Met's motorsport portfolio has grown to include Motorsport and Automotive Electronic Systems, Motorsport Manufacturing Engineering, Motorsport Management and , new for 2009, Motorsport Technology. Graduates can be found across the motorsport industry, including F1, World Rally Championship, Moto GP and British Superbike.

Head of Automotive Engineering at Swansea Met, Roger Dowden said: "Sir Jackie knows our programmes well after visiting the university a few years ago, with Welsh Secretary Peter Hain, as we were the first to run motorsport engineering degree programmes.

"Along with many of our students I was up at Silverstone for the F1 Grand Prix this weekend. Having competed at Silverstone on a number of occasions myself and managed the Darrian GT race team in the supporting events for the Grand Prix in past years, I agree wholeheartedly that Silverstone is where the British Grand Prix should stay. The circuit resources are for the spectators and they still love it."

Swansea Met is a Motorsport Academy UK Recognised Educator (HE) and a partner of EEMS (Energy Efficient Motorsport).