For the 12 Hours of Misano in early July, Buggyra ZM Racing will hand over the reins of the race management for the first time to its three junior engineers. Part of the Buggyra Academy program, the three youngsters – Czech brothers Jakub (22) and Matej (26) Hadascok together with Dubai-born Yasmeen Koloc (19) – will handle all aspects of the race including preparing the strategy and strategy management during the race.
Since 2019, Buggyra has been helping youngsters find their way in motorsports with the Buggyra Academy program. Unless most other racing academies, the focus is not solely on race drivers but also race personnel like engineers and mechanics.
A new challenge
22-year-old Jakub Hadascok is a little bit nervous thinking about the first time he will be in charge with Matej and Yasmeen. „It is a bit of a challenge for me but we have been doing this job with the senior engineers for some time now, so overall I feel confident.“ 19-year-old Yasmeen Koloc, whose sister Aliyyah will actually be driving the team’s car, feels similar. „I am a little bit nervous to be taking on more responsibility but I've learned a lot throughout the season working with the more experienced engineers, so I'm not worried. And it is exciting!“ To make sure that everything goes as smoothly as possible, Yasmeen will be particularly meticulous. „For Misano, I want to be even more prepared than usual, so I will be reviewing all our races this year which should help me to anticipate any kind of situation, so I can react fast.“
At 26 years old, Matej Hadascok is the oldest of the three junior engineers. Last month, he successfully completed his university engineering degree. With more experience under his belt –he made his first steps in motorsport at just 15, working as a mechanic assistant during his summer holidays – he is looking calmly ahead to Misano. „It's definitely a new challenge, not only for me but also for Yasmeen and my brother I think. However, this is the second year we have been actively participating in endurance races with Buggyra and I believe we can use the experience we have gained.“
Many ways lead into motorsport
Just like his brother, Jakub made his first steps in motorsport at 15 working during his summer holidays. He is currently studying Materials and Technologies for the Automotive Industry and has just completed his bachelor’s degree. „I started to work in motorsports because I like fast cars and I really enjoy the sport. I like the technical aspect of it as well because motorsport is basically a development area for production cars. That‘s maybe why nowadays many manufacturers are involved on the highest level of motorsport competition,“ Jakub explains his connection with the sport.
19-year-old Yasmeen Koloc also started motorsports at 15, but she went straight in as a driver, racing initially in the Renault Clip Cup, switching to GT4 races the year after. However, for the last two years, Yasmeen has had to pause her racing career due to an injury sustained in a race. As she loves racing and wanted to stay involved while she gets her health back, she has passed her Motorsport MBA in the meantime and is now one of the junior engineers of the team.
A new challenge
22-year-old Jakub Hadascok is a little bit nervous thinking about the first time he will be in charge with Matej and Yasmeen. „It is a bit of a challenge for me but we have been doing this job with the senior engineers for some time now, so overall I feel confident.“ 19-year-old Yasmeen Koloc, whose sister Aliyyah will actually be driving the team’s car, feels similar. „I am a little bit nervous to be taking on more responsibility but I've learned a lot throughout the season working with the more experienced engineers, so I'm not worried. And it is exciting!“ To make sure that everything goes as smoothly as possible, Yasmeen will be particularly meticulous. „For Misano, I want to be even more prepared than usual, so I will be reviewing all our races this year which should help me to anticipate any kind of situation, so I can react fast.“
At 26 years old, Matej Hadascok is the oldest of the three junior engineers. Last month, he successfully completed his university engineering degree. With more experience under his belt –he made his first steps in motorsport at just 15, working as a mechanic assistant during his summer holidays – he is looking calmly ahead to Misano. „It's definitely a new challenge, not only for me but also for Yasmeen and my brother I think. However, this is the second year we have been actively participating in endurance races with Buggyra and I believe we can use the experience we have gained.“
Many ways lead into motorsport
Just like his brother, Jakub made his first steps in motorsport at 15 working during his summer holidays. He is currently studying Materials and Technologies for the Automotive Industry and has just completed his bachelor’s degree. „I started to work in motorsports because I like fast cars and I really enjoy the sport. I like the technical aspect of it as well because motorsport is basically a development area for production cars. That‘s maybe why nowadays many manufacturers are involved on the highest level of motorsport competition,“ Jakub explains his connection with the sport.
19-year-old Yasmeen Koloc also started motorsports at 15, but she went straight in as a driver, racing initially in the Renault Clip Cup, switching to GT4 races the year after. However, for the last two years, Yasmeen has had to pause her racing career due to an injury sustained in a race. As she loves racing and wanted to stay involved while she gets her health back, she has passed her Motorsport MBA in the meantime and is now one of the junior engineers of the team.
Supporting young talent
Martin Koloc, Buggyra ZM Racing’s CEO and team principal explains the reasoning behind giving his junior engineers this unique opportunity: “One of our team’s targets is to develop our own young engineers and mechanics. The Buggyra Academy program is destined to give them as much hands-on experience as possible, so letting them run a race by themselves is a logical next step and an integral part of our success measurement. It also means that we are prepared to take a calculated risk as with less experience the risk of making mistakes is obviously higher. But we accept this risk in exchange for the personal and professional development of our crew. However, our experienced and skilled senior engineers will be literally just behind them, ready to step in should this become necessary.”
Since 2019, Buggyra Academy – which is an integral part of Buggyra ZM Racing - has helped young talent reach their targets in motorsport, both on and off the track. Today, the Academy has five poles: Offroad-Rallying, Endurance Racing, Karting, Formula 4, and Truck Racing. Selected on merit, racers and race personnel are given the opportunity to learn on the task with experienced drivers and coaches.
The 12 Hours of Misano will take place from 5-6 July with the team entering their Mercedes AMG GT4 with the usual driver crew of Aliyyah Koloc, Adam Lacko, and David Vrsecky.
Martin Koloc, Buggyra ZM Racing’s CEO and team principal explains the reasoning behind giving his junior engineers this unique opportunity: “One of our team’s targets is to develop our own young engineers and mechanics. The Buggyra Academy program is destined to give them as much hands-on experience as possible, so letting them run a race by themselves is a logical next step and an integral part of our success measurement. It also means that we are prepared to take a calculated risk as with less experience the risk of making mistakes is obviously higher. But we accept this risk in exchange for the personal and professional development of our crew. However, our experienced and skilled senior engineers will be literally just behind them, ready to step in should this become necessary.”
Since 2019, Buggyra Academy – which is an integral part of Buggyra ZM Racing - has helped young talent reach their targets in motorsport, both on and off the track. Today, the Academy has five poles: Offroad-Rallying, Endurance Racing, Karting, Formula 4, and Truck Racing. Selected on merit, racers and race personnel are given the opportunity to learn on the task with experienced drivers and coaches.
The 12 Hours of Misano will take place from 5-6 July with the team entering their Mercedes AMG GT4 with the usual driver crew of Aliyyah Koloc, Adam Lacko, and David Vrsecky.
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