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CATERHAM ACADEMY GOES UNDER STARTER'S ORDERS

Next Saturday also marks the start of The Daily Telegraph Caterham Academy season. This year's crop of 55 motorsporting novices, ranging in age between 22 and 56, will start their track careers at Aintree, Liverpool, with a sprint event. After more sprint events and a hillclimb they will race for the first time in July at Oulton Park.

Telegraph reporter Erin Baker is among those contesting the series. Like the other 54 competitors on the Academy grid, 29-year-old Erin is a complete motorsporting novice. She and her rivals have been guided through the racing licence 'ARDS test' and on to the track at the wheel of a road-legal 1.6-litre Caterham Roadsport. She will be writing about her Academy exploits in the paper's Motoring section and online at http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/

Since it was launched - also with Daily Telegraph support - in 1995, the Academy has introduced in excess of 600 competitors to the sport, and this year's grid was fully booked nearly five months ahead of round one. Places on the 2009 grid are filling fast.

This season's competitors come from backgrounds as diverse as it is possible to find. Among those on the grid are an airline pilot, a musician, a silicon chip sales manager, an NHS trust chief executive, an advertising agency director and an accountant.

Backers for Caterham Motorsport's UK and European race series include Bilstein, Brian James Trailers, Cooper-Avon Tyres, The Daily Telegraph, Demon Tweeks, evo, HSBC Insurance Brokers, Mitchell Cotts, Motorsport News and Stack.

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