MTA Queensland Racing Team gets the Green Light

The MTA Queensland is about to mark a new chapter in its long history by taking to the track with its own motorsport team.

The newly-formed MTAQ Racing Team will field a Hyundai Excel in the upcoming 2017 Queensland Hyundai X3 Series Cup – a series that has exploded in popularity across the country thanks to its focus on creating an entry-level, grassroots competition.

The MTAQ team will be a part of each race of the six-meeting series which will include five in Queensland and one in Victoria where a national race meeting will be held.
For the MTA Queensland, taking a place on the starting grid of a motorsports competition has been a long-held ambition and the Hyundai X3 Series Cup offers the perfect mix of grassroots involvement, fierce competition, training opportunities and the chance to forge new relationships across the state.

Formed in November 2016, the MTAQ Racing Team is a partnership between MTA Queensland and the man who will be the team’s driver, David Wood. A fixture of the motorsport scene in Queensland and Australia for nearly 20 years, David raced in the Gemini Series in the 1990s before successfully competing in the Queensland Improved Production Car Championship, the Formula Ford series and the Australian Production Car Championship in which he took part in the Bathurst 12-hours race.
He brings a wealth of experience to the team and is hungry to get behind the wheel and take part in what will be a very competitive series.

“The Hyundai X3 Cup is growing rapidly in every state,” he said. “It has been running for only four years but is already on the verge of being the biggest category in Queensland.

“We will also have the opportunity to test ourselves against the best from across the country at the national event. It’s going to be very competitive!”
Importantly, the decision to establish a motorsport team was not all about the racing. The MTA Queensland is committed to advancing the automotive industry and one way it does this is by offering the very best training opportunities to students of the MTA Institute.

The MTAQ Racing Team is a fantastic vehicle for the Association to give apprentices a truly unique and rich training opportunity. Apprentices who come to the MTA Institute will have the chance to work on the car throughout the race season and students of just about every trade – including mechanical apprentices, panel beaters, spray painters, auto electricians, tyre fitters – will be involved. This is a race car, after all, and there will be plenty to do!

“This is a really exciting project,” said Dr Brett Dale, CEO MTA Queensland. “It is a great community venture, an opportunity to expand the profile of our brand and, for apprentices, offers the opportunity to get involved with a legitimate motorsport venture, all while knowing that we, as a training organisation, have apprentices who have gone on to work with 888 Racing in the V8 Supercar Championship. The MTAQ Racing Team will serve as an inspiration to them, and to everyone who is part of MTA Queensland.”