HE never achieved a grade A for any of his school subjects.

But today, H. Mathan is one of the brightest students at Motor Image Subaru Academy Training Centre, according to a spokesperson of Motor Image Enterprises.

Located at the Subaru Hub in Toa Payoh, the academy is Subaru's official training centre for the region (Thailand, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Taiwan, China, Philippines and Malaysia).

In his final year with the academy, Mathan was in the team that assembled Asia Pacific Rally Champion (APRC), Cody Crocker's race car.

Said the 25-year-old apprentice: 'I felt so proud of myself when I saw Crocker driving into the service park after he had completed and won the championship in Malaysia last month.

'I never dreamt that I would have a chance to help put together a race car. When I was young, I wanted to be a race driver. Now I am probably too old to do that.

Since 2006, Motor Image Enterprises (MIE) has been an Approved Training Centre under Institute of Technology Education's (ITE) Industry-based Training Scheme, offering apprenticeship training to selected ITE students.

Upon completion of their three-year attachment with the academy, these students are awarded a NITEC Certificate in Automotive Technology (Light Vehicles).

Apprentices with this certificate can become workshop technicians, service advisors or parts co-ordinators.

But for Mathan, he had the rare opportunity to be involved in motorsports and was one of the helpers at the service park (better known as pitstop) during the Malaysian Rally.

Pioneer batch

'I am grateful to Motor Image for the opportunity. It's as good as my dream come true,' said Mathan, who is in the pioneer batch of students at the academy.

'I was assisting Subaru's Japanese team at the service park although I had helped to assemble Crocker's car.'

At the service park, Mathan helped to top up water for the intercooler sprayer, cleaned the mud off the car's body, changed the tyres and tightened the suspensions.

On rally days, Mathan spent about 12 hours at the service park.

He said: 'We would meet at the hotel lobby at 4.45am and make our way to the service park. By 7am, the first car would have already arrived at the service park.

'The race would end around 5pm. Then we would prepare the car for the following day's race.

'We would reach the hotel at 9pm for dinner and it would be close to midnight by the time I got to sleep.'

But it's all worth it, Mathan told The New Paper.

His most unforgettable moment was when Crocker went up to shake his hand at the hotel lobby after winning the driver's title in Malaysia.

Said Mathan: 'He said 'thank you' to me, and I was thrilled.'

This weekend, Mathan will be helping to service Motor Image Rally Team at the service park in Longyou, China, for the last leg of the APRC season of 2008, where the team would aim to contribute points to win the manufacturer's title for Subaru.

Subaru is currently leading with 81 points, ahead of Mitshubishi, with 71 points.

Training day

THERE are currently 30 apprentices at Motor Image Subaru Academy Training Centre under the Institute of Technology Education's Industry-based Training Scheme.

The candidates have to go through interviews to assess their personality and attitude.

Those selected spend three years training at the academy where they would also be attached to different departments like body repair shop, car workshop, service, pre-delivery inspection and rally car assembly at Motor Image Enterprises (MIE).

Apprentices work from 8.30am to 5.30pm, five days a week and on alternate Saturdays. Each of them also receives a monthly salary of $800.

At Subaru Hub in Toa Payoh, these apprentices attend theory classes at the academy and work under the supervision of senior MIE staff for their on-the-job training.

JOYCE LIM