Reimagining Motorsport: MFT x Wavey Dynamics

Motorsport is in a period of transition..

Increasing costs are deterring manufacturers from developing motorsport programmes as marketing tools. At the top level, the engineering complexity means there is a lack of relevance to road car technology. Motorsport programmes are increasingly difficult to justify. The sport as a whole is also struggling to engage with younger and diverse groups.

After being invited to take part in many conversations surrounding diversity and inclusion within the sport and the difficulties that must be overcome, I've been wondering what the new image of motorsport needs to be and what needs to be done to get there.

Aside from being a glamorous spectacle, motorsport is such a valuable platform for developing and incubating technology of relevance to all global technology driven industries.

The scope of engineering and scientific knowledge required to produce a winning car is unparalleled in other engineering fields; structural engineering, materials science, aerodynamics, propulsion, energy storage, fluid and heat transfer dynamics, software engineering - it’s all encompassing.

Combined with the fact that it’s also a form of competitive engineering, where else does technology develop with such pace?

From a management and business point of view it presents challenges that require a level of organisation, clarity under pressure, project management and leadership skill that is rarely seen outside of military environments. Even methods of athletic development are receiving a lot of attention in the capacity of maximising physical and psychological performance.

I’m not sure the industry has fully appreciated its value yet, but it’s certainly something that we should respect more than a simple hobby. For its global importance, it should be open to all of us.

Taking the Initiative

As many of you know, Wavey Dynamics has been working with MFT over the last few months and one of the main objectives for our partnership is to step into the arena of GT racing together, but to do something a little different for the sport and show it in a new light along the way.

Our young driver Noah Andy has his eye on the prize this year.

Recent years of my life have been driven by the challenges I've faced with breaking into the industry from the outside. I have a clear vision and burning desire to make it a reality, so when I didn’t get any movement from traditional routes, I had no option but to break away and create my own opportunities. Needless to say this is partly why myself and Ludovic at MFT get on so well, but this isn’t a path that everyone should have to take.

Being both of Black heritage, Ludovic and I identify with the inequalities of the sport first hand. We also know the importance of appealing to a more diverse work force and fan base, as well as the invaluable role which Black, brown and gender representations play in this.

Between us, MFT and Wavey Dynamics have all the skills and infrastructure of management, engineering and drivers needed to compete at the top. A racing programme to take direct action towards diversity and showcase the value of our sport is an easy decision to make.

Once we’re rolling, our mission will be to change the mood and accessibility of motorsport:

• Champion the relevance of motorsport skills and experience to global tech industries, raising its commercial viability as a business.
  

• Represent the unrepresented and inspire a new audience to both choose motorsport as a career path and to engage as consumers.
  

The ultimate objective is to compete as the first majority Black owned, driven and engineered race team at the Le Mans 24h, generating the exposure and marketing power we need to complete the mission and take advantage of the opportunities it presents to expand further.

Calls for Action

It’s not just about winning trophies for us. We’ve come across countless highly talented individuals from diverse backgrounds with unlimited potential, yet no opportunity to prove their worth. We want to take it past performative trends and actively create an environment where people are given opportunity through their ability to deliver results. Motorsport will be our marketing platform.

Along the way, we want to develop the following initiatives to give back to the sport:

For pre-university and undergraduate students, our professional sim-racing team will vastly reduce the barriers of entry into motorsport; capturing and engaging with the grass roots across previously neglected demographics and providing a stage to develop skills and passions relevant to ‘real’ racing.

1. At university level; an ‘academy’ working with institutions to deploy a number of Bachelor & Masters level engineering and management thesis projects. With direct link to our professional motorsport program, this provides both transfer of expertise from our team to the next generation of professionals and increases their employability as graduates in global tech sectors.
   

2. All this is great and something we’re super passionate about, but it needs communicating with the outside world, so we have a docu-series currently (with a company that already produced some for Netflix) in the pre-production stage ready to capture the journey and plenty of social-media projects to communicate and build on the existing energy people have for the sport.

After a successful and well received test with a Mercedes AMG GT4 and our young driver Noah Andy earlier this year and another planned in June, we’re well underway to getting started with an initial entry into the European GT4 championship.

Testing @ Paul Ricard in an AMG GT4 this February.

Everything is in place to make a success of this mission; we need partners who share our vision to invest in us and take advantage of motorsport in these important times.

Be a Part of the Story

To drive the impact this project deserves, we’re looking for partners on this journey in the following capacities:

Endorsement

• To assist our marketing & communication, we need high visibility brands to stand beside us and endorse our project. With your support, we have a louder voice with which to seek further sponsorship.

Car leasing

• Support with GT4 spec car leasing for our initial season. Manufacturers, we are looking at you.

Sponsorships

• Operational costs for a competition season; logistics, consumables, entry fees etc.

• Sim-racing costs (iRacing/Assetto Corsa/GT championship).

Reach out. We’re waiting to hear from you.

Jahee Campbell-Brennan

Founder; Wavey Dynamics.

Update: Our project has since been featured in the report published by the Hamilton Commission as a case study on projects in the UK targeted at increasing diversity and inclusion of Black engineers in high level motorsport.

Link to the case study is here

.

---

Here's a video we produced echoing our words: