15 year-old, Tom Gladdis has recently been awarded a scholarship worth £35,000, to drive in next season’s Formula BMW UK Championship.

Following an evaluation by a panel of judges, including former Formula One World Champion Nigel Mansell, Tom, who graduated in the 2005 Karting Championship in Spain, is now amongst five winning scholars, named as the new UK BMW Junior Drivers.

As well as financial backing, Tom will also receive a place on the prestigious BMW Education and Coaching Programme. The aim of the programme is to provide a fully-rounded foundation for a career as a professional racing driver and includes benefits such as driver coaching at each race, media and PR tuition and health and fitness training.

The selected 24 drivers whom Tom excelled against, came from all over the world to enter this prestigious event. Tom had the least amount of previous driving experience than his peers but excelled himself and was rewarded with a placement in the much sought-after place within the BMW scholarship.

Formula BMW is raced around the world within 4 continents. It is now regarded as the world’s leading Formula for up and coming young drivers.

The series within the UK is held over 10 meetings with 2 races taking place at each meeting. Races are held at the top UK circuits: Silverstone, Donnington, Brands Hatch, Thruxton, Oulton Park, Croft and Knockhill in Scotland, plus one round at the Southern Ireland circuit of Mondello Park.

Each round attracts at least 20,000 spectators and is broadcast live on satellite to approximately 53 million homes around 14 different countries across Europe. It is also shown on the ITV Motorsport programme broadcast.

Tom is currently undergoing a significant intensive training programme in preparation for the 2007 Formula BMW season.

With a Master’s degree in Marketing from Madrid and a MBA from Boston, she has a very solid background in marketing.

Over the past years Loreto has worked with major multinationals in several countries within the EU.

Originally from Tenerife, she moved back to Spain in April 2005 after living in Dublin, Ireland, for several years.

“I have always wanted to work on the agency side of things” says Loreto “My previous roles have always been on the client side and I consider this a great opportunity to really see the big picture when it comes to creating and developing new strategies and marketing tools.”