Auto Sport Academy (also known as La Filière and La Filière FFSA) was created in 1993 by Elf Aquitaine to promote French drivers at the highest level, in line with its marketing approach and its commitment to Renault in F1. It is located at: Technoparc des 24 Heures, Chemin aux Boeufs, 72100 Le Mans, France.
It was taken over in April 2001 by the FFSA (Fédération Française du Sport Automobile), becoming one of its subsidiaries.
Its main objective remains unchanged – to train young drivers and promote the best to give them access to a professional career; 40 to 50 drivers are trained every year in its two main disciplines, competition karting (Formula Kart) and single-seater racing (Formula Campus Renault Elf).
Its unique feature is that its concept includes the only motorsport "Pole Espoirs" (promising young drivers' section) in the world.
In effect, until its creation, budding drivers thought that they had to systematically choose between studies and motorsport. The Academy puts the situation in another light: in view of the few successful candidates in motorsport, it offers potential drivers the option of testing their sporting talents while continuing their studies.
Little girl this world turns quick
And fast enough to make you sick
And it takes away the best years of our life
Leaving us to wonder if we'll ever find another
When there seems to be so very little time
And we give our hearts too often
And we often have them broken
In exchange for all the effort that we give
We never learn our lesson
It's a curse and it's a blessing
It's the price we pay and the reason that we live
Little girl I've held true love
The kind that poets all speak of
And I've found my self just broken and alone
And I know you'll do the same
And you will taste the bitter pain
The kind that only comes with having to let go
Little Girl can break your will
When the night is cold and still
And you wonder when that damned old son will rise
Bring with it some better days
And maybe ease a little pain
Just long enough for you to rest your troubled mind
At times you will seem lost
But when you add up all the cost
You'll think the pleasure can't be worth all the pain
And you'll curse the day you fell
And you'll drink too much and tell
All your friends that you could never love again
Now I don't know a lot, just enough to write a song
But this much that I can tell you is the truth
There'll be a thousand heart aches before the sunrise and the night breaks
And the shadows fade and release their hold on you
Little Girl I have found love
The kind that old folks all speak of
And no poet can dress it up with fancy words
Cause it is patient
It is kind
It forgives
And it is blind