Prospective students attending the school leavers open evening at the Grimsby Institute on Thursday 16 November will get the chance to meet Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship racer Martyn Bell, who will be present with the BMW 320i he raced in Britain's premier race series this season.

The Institute was one of Bell's backers for his first year in the BTCC and it was there that he launched his campaign back in March. His relationship with the Institute saw him open its Automotive Technical Training Centre, which recently underwent a £250,000 expansion, and work together with students from the centre throughout the year.

A major part of the relationship between Bell and the Institute was the launch of a special achievement award, given to someone who has made considerable progress in their chosen career route within the automotive sector. The inaugural winner of the award, John Taylor, was able to spend the weekend with Martyn and the Geoff Steel Racing team at Silverstone during the final race meeting of the BTCC season.

“Because of the close relationship I have with the Institute, I want to go along and share my experience of the BTCC with prospective students,” Bell explained. “People coming along will get the chance to see the BMW as it finished the season at Silverstone before we start work on it over the winter, and I'll be there to talk to people about my debut season.

“The Achievement Award in particular has been a huge success this year and now I'd like to thank the Institute for its support all year and show my appreciation for the help they have given. It is one of the best colleges that I know and the facilities that they have are second to none, especially now that the new workshop has been opened. Hopefully at some point in the future, they might have a motorsport course, which is something that I would love to be involved in.”