Student takes the wheel at BMW

A GEELONG College student has his sights firmly set on making a career in motorsport following a unique training experience at BMW M Motorsport in Germany.

Year 11 student Jay Murray was one of 12 young drivers from around the world to feature in a two-day selection course for the academy’s development program of GT4 drivers at BMW’s headquarters in Munich.

The 17-year-old was tested on his mental and physical fitness, while also getting his skills behind the wheel assessed via simulator and driving sessions.

Additionally, Jay enjoyed an in-depth look behind the scenes of the prestigious BMW and BMW M Motorsport operations.

He entered the selection program following a memorable year in the Monochrome GT4 Australia competition.

Making his debut midway through the season, Jay highly impressed during a series of test days with McElrea Racing despite having only just graduated from karting.

The teenager then joined father Nathan in the team’s BMW M4 GT4 EVO for the final three rounds.

Jay said he was extremely grateful for the opportunity to be part of the program and was hopeful of earning overall academy selection.

“It was quite surreal to be part of the 12 to be honest,” he said. “Being able to do it in such a short period of time as well, having had limited experience in the car was incredible.

“There were a lot of cool elements, but some that stuck out for me was the driving experience, where I learnt a lot about myself and car control as well.

“We’ll have to wait and see. I put everything on the table and hopefully that brought me enough to get into the academy for next year, but we’ll just have to wait and find out.”

The shortlist of drivers to make the Class of 2026 BMW M Racing Academy will be announced in the coming weeks.