Americans Josef Newgarden (LEFT) and Alexander Rossi (BELOW) have been selected as two of the 19 drivers who will compete in a three-day shootout next month to determine who will succeed to the inaugural FIA Young Driver Excellence Academy. The shortlist is made up of young drivers from all over the world, including competitors from both racing and rallying.
The primary goal of the Academy is to prepare young drivers to compete at the pinnacle of the sport. Of the 19 entrants, only 10 will be chosen to join the program. To succeed they will have to demonstrate their ability over three days of driving and non-driving assessments in Melk, Austria, on Feb. 6-8. Former Formula 1 racer, two-time Le Mans winner Alex Wurz and former World Rally Champion co-driver Robert Reid will lead exercises designed to evaluate fitness and performance, media techniques, teamwork and psychology.
As RACER revealed in this month's special feature on upcoming American racing talent, Newgarden is currently considering a return to the GP3 series for a second season or an Indy Lights campaign (or some combination of both), while Rossi was looking at options to either continue in GP3 or graduate to GP2.
The full list of FIA Young Driver Excellence Academy shootout participants is as follows:
Kevin Abbring, 21, Netherlands
Hamad Ahmed Al Fardan, 23, Bahrain
Paul-Loup Chatin, 19, France
Albert Costa, 20, Spain
Alon Day, 19, Israel
Philipp Eng, 20, Austria
Robin Frijns, 19, Netherlands
Adam Gould, 23, UK
Timmy Hansen, 18, Sweden
Egon Kaur, 23, Estonia
Andreas Mikkelsen, 21, Norway
Josef Newgarden, 20, USA
Norman Nato, 18, France
Alexander Rossi, 19, USA
Jan Skala, 19,Czech Republic
Richie Stanaway, 19, New Zealand
Molly Taylor, 22, Australia
Stoffel Vandoorne, 18, Belgium
Joni Wiman, 17, Finland