Toronto, ON (September 28, 2022) — After an intense two-day evaluation of six of Canada’s brightest motorsport hopefuls by a prestigious panel of judges, Jake Cowden and Kevin Foster have been selected as Team Canada’s entries to the 2022 editions of the Formula Ford Festival and the Walter Hayes Trophy taking place this Fall in the UK.
Over the course of two days, six talented young Canadian drivers were judged under the watchful eyes of an esteemed who’s who of Canadian motorsports including IndyCar stars James Hinchcliffe and Robert Wickens, as well as Team Canada founder Brian Graham, IMSA driver Kyle Marcelli, and renowned IMSA engineer Ian Willis. Along with driving challenges, which took place on the CTMP Driver Development Track—a 2.88-kilometre racetrack and advanced driver training facility located at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park—the drivers were also engaged in media training challenges facilitated by REV TV and legendary motorsports broadcaster Todd Lewis. The result was a full spectrum of what the drivers can expect from a career in motorsports at the highest level, and RevTV were there to capture it all in an exclusive TV special that debuted on September 26th.
The winning drivers are:
Kevin Foster 18, from Calgary, AB. Karting
Kevin is an 18-year-old from Calgary, Alberta who began his karting career mid 2017. He came 3rd in the Western Canadian Karting Championship for Junior Rotax in 2018, taking his first ever karting win at the National level in the second round. In 2021 he swept all club events in Senior Rotax and was in the top 5 quickest at the Canadian Nationals for Senior Rotax. In 2022, Kevin went from having no plans for karting, to becoming a sponsored Senior Rotax karting driver for Team Racelab Villeneuve Karting, earning him a ticket to represent Canada at the Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals in Portugal.
In 2021, Kevin started his car racing career when he had the opportunity to test a U.S. F4 car with VRD in Atlanta and immediately was on pace with the other current seasoned drivers.
In 2022, he won a karting shootout, which funded the opportunity to go to Jacques Villeneuve and Patrick Lemarie’s Racing School – “Feed Racing.”
Over 60 applicants were narrowed down into quarterfinals and semi-finals, and Kevin was one of the 6 finalists selected to compete at Magny Cours circuit in Nevers, France for a fully funded 2023 F4 scholarship in France.
Kevin was recently announced as the Scholarship winner for this exclusive opportunity in 2023.
Jake Cowden 18, from Aurora, ON. F1600
Jake is an 18-year-old from Aurora, Ontario, who is focused on achieving his goal of becoming an IndyCar driver. Jake’s racing career began in go-karts at the age of 10, achieving 33 podiums in 38 races.
After two seasons competing in F1600, Jake won the 2022 Toyo Tires F1600 Championship in Ontario while also showcasing his ability to adapt to new tracks in Quebec, earning four 1st place finishes at Trois Rivieres’ and Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, for the Formula 1 Grand Prix support race.
Academically, Jake also shows his commitment. He achieved early acceptance into the Ontario Youth Apprenticeship Program and will become a licenced high performance automotive mechanic adding to his knowledge of race engineering. Jake graduated high school June 2022 and is an Honour Role Student, Ontario Scholar (95% average) and Specialist High Skills Major (SHSM). A certified ski instructor, skate patrol guard and accomplished drummer, Jake balances a busy schedule.
Jake is active in fundraising for Alzheimer’s Society of Canada and Alzheimer’s Society of York Region in honour of his grandmother. In his past two campaigns he has raised $20,000 and his goal for this year was to raise another $10,000 within the generous motorsport community.
The Formula Ford Festival takes place at the legendary Brands Hatch circuit on 22 – 23 October 2022 and the Walter Hayes Trophy Race takes place at the historic Silverstone circuit on 05 – 06 November 2022.
For more information on the Team Canada Scholarship program, please go to https://teamcanadascholarship.com/
About the Team Canada Scholarship
Started in 2011 by Brian Graham of Brian Graham Racing, the Team Canada Scholarship was launched to send young Canadian drivers to battle with the best young drivers in the world at the legendary Formula Ford Festival held at the Brands Hatch circuit in the UK each Fall. The mission of the Team Canada Scholarship is to grow amateur motorsports in Canada by raising the profile of the sport and providing opportunities for aspiring youth racers to move up through the ranks and get international motorsports experience and exposure.
Report from Mark Boudreau LL.B.
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