Master mechanic and self-confessed “gear head” Fernando Oliveira has racing in his blood.

The man behind Noble Auto garage at CedarBridge Academy has spent years building cars and bikes, and racing them on the amateur circuit in Canada.

After a 12-year hiatus he is back behind the wheel and will be racing in Bermuda Karting Club’s newest category — the L206 masters class — at the Noble Auto Trophy Day at the Rubis Southside Raceway on Sunday.

Not content with sponsoring a raceday, he is also nurturing the next generation of drivers and pit crew through his garage’s Sykk Motorsports team.

Noble Auto teaches an automotive apprenticeship programme where students can work part-time for the business, which has grown rapidly to 14 staff and 4,000 clients.

Students with the discipline and enthusiasm can also get involved in the karting team. Oliveira has seven young pit crew mechanics and drivers all learning on the job.

Robert Saraiva, Aaron Famius and Summer Sareno-McGlynn are full-time apprentices.

The drivers include Corey Lewis, who is an apprentice teaching assistant on tech and driving, and CedarBridge students Nicholas Fletcher (pit crew and driver), Christopher Pacheco (pit crew and driver) and Shaddai Williams (paint apprentice, pit crew and future motocross rider).

Devonte Fox (pit crew and driver) and Kalib Grant (pit crew and driver) make up the crop of young talent.

Whether it be in the garage or in the classroom, however, Sykk Motorsports is no place for slackers.

“Students are pulled from the racing if they don’t do their homework,” Oliveira said. “They’ve got to do their work.”

He added: “The students have to earn their stripes; they have to work on the karts before they race.

“There’s a lot of scientific and mathematical things that they have to figure out because the karts have to be modified and tweaked. We lease the building in the school and the principal Kalmar Richards and Stewart Crockwell from the school have been fantastic.

“We’ve spent $280,000 on equipment — it’s a state-of-the-art facility and we work seven days a week.”

Noble Auto brings students to the track only if they are deemed ready for the pressures of race day.

“There’s a lot of things they have to learn but the guys down there like Scott (Barnes) and David (Barbosa) are really good at helping the students.”

While he oversees his team down at the Southside track, Oliveira is also relishing being back on the grid in the L206 sealed engine class.

His past amateur experience includes racing out of Shannonville, Ontario, on Supersport 600 class bikes, being involved in drag racing for seven years, driving in 24-hour General Motors endurance races and being a mechanic and driver in Corvette and Porsche Club races.

So how does a veteran of North American race tracks deal with getting in a go-kart?

“I sucked,” he admitted. “You don’t forget anything, it’s like riding a bike, but it’s still a learning curve.

“I tried to apply my road racing skills but a lot of that really doesn’t apply to karting!”

He added: “It’s a lot of fun, I’ve met some great people and my children have made sone great friends.

“I want to see the club expand and see different demographics try it out — I want it to grow.”

Oliveira is also bracing himself for extra competition on the track in the new year when his wife, Sonia Oliveira, who also works at Noble Auto, starts racing.

“She will become the first lady of the class,” he said. “She’s really hands-on. Can I say I want to kick her ass?”

Races at the Noble Auto trophy day start at noon. It’s free entry, $5 to get in the pits. Fun karts are available.

For more information, e-mail bermudakartingclub@yahoo.com or go to the club’s Facebook page.