Fifteen-year-old karting racer Harley Young of HY Racing, recently won the children who foster award at the North Lincolnshire Council’s All Stars Awards for his support in a fostering family and for championing foster care in the North Lincolnshire region.
Harley hopes to follow an engineering career in motorsport as well as progressing in his karting career.
To show appreciation for his and his family’s support, Cllr Judy Kennedy, ward member for Axholme South arranged a tour around a Formula One manufacturing facility. She approached the BWT Alpine F1 Team (who her son Daniel works for as a race team technician) and they agreed to provide a VIP visit.
Luca Mazzocco (Head of Partner Experience) at the BWT Alpine F1 Team invited Harley and his family for a guided tour of their manufacturing facility in Enstone, Oxfordshire, which took place earlier this month. Luca took the time to personally guide the family round the facility, providing them with his years of knowledge and expertise. Racing enthusiast Harley and his family also got to witness two race cars in various states of strip down, after recently returning from their season finale races in Abu Dhabi.
The tour went on to visit the various departments in the factory showing how a Formula One car takes shape from the initial computer aided designs, into manufacturing, then on to the thousands of individual parts to make a Formula One car. Harley and his brother Jayden then tried their hand at laser scanning parts to check against the computer drawings and ensure they had been manufactured to the required specification.
Luca also discussed the options and routes into Formula One engineering as a career with Harley, which gives him a great insight into what is required to follow his dreams. The visit then ended with BWT Alpine F1 Team treating the family to lunch in their exceptionally good restaurant facility in the factory. Harley and his family thanked Luca and the whole Alpine F1 team for their hospitality and time taken to show them around their facilities; they had a fantastic day.
Harley said: “This experience day gave me a really valuable insight and was an amazing experience.
“We had an excellent day; I didn’t want to leave. Everyone was so friendly and a credit to Alpine.”
Harley’s family foster children, giving much needed support to young people helping them through often difficult times in their life. Harley has been a fantastic supporter not only to the children in the family’s care but also championing fostering by showcasing the North Lincolnshire fostering service on his race suit and social media as well as speaking about being fostering friendly to local businesses.
Cllr Judy Kennedy, said: “I would like to record their appreciation to BWT Alpine F1 Team for allowing the visit which is a special reward for Harley and his family for their continued support of the fostering network in North Lincolnshire. They went out of their way to facilitate the visit and went beyond anything we could have hoped for in providing and supporting this special day for a special family.
“From all at North Lincolnshire Council we thank BWT Alpine F1 Team and wish them every success for the 2024 season.”
Cllr Julie Reed, cabinet member for children, families, and communities, said: “I am incredibly proud to be supporting Harley and his passion for sharing his story to raise awareness of the importance of fostering, not only in our community but around the UK.
“To enquire about fostering in North Lincolnshire or to find out how your business can become fostering friendly, you can get in touch with the team today via the website, email fostering@northlincs.gov.uk or call 01724 297024.”
To keep up to date with Harley’s racing career, follow him on social media: Instagram and X.
