Challenge: Becoming pro.
Discussion
Hello!
I have a challenge for you all:
With 60000 quid, "design" a path for someone to go from completely unknown to paid driver, or to have his racing paid. It can be in anything with four wheels! Not necessarily circuit racing. Karting, Off-Roading, anything really... The total budget, for all the seasons, cannot exceed 60000.
If there is any possibility of this being done, I might just do it.
I have a challenge for you all:
With 60000 quid, "design" a path for someone to go from completely unknown to paid driver, or to have his racing paid. It can be in anything with four wheels! Not necessarily circuit racing. Karting, Off-Roading, anything really... The total budget, for all the seasons, cannot exceed 60000.
If there is any possibility of this being done, I might just do it.
I don't like your chances to be honest. It's a dream to many and there is a lot of good drivers out there.
It does seem for many, is they buy their way to the top.
£60,000 isn't a lot of money to invest in racing to get yourself noticed at a high level to become a paid professional.
Just go racing for the fun of it at a low cost level.
It does seem for many, is they buy their way to the top.
£60,000 isn't a lot of money to invest in racing to get yourself noticed at a high level to become a paid professional.
Just go racing for the fun of it at a low cost level.
If we are entering the realms of fantasy, and can pretend the driver in question possesses skills to be The Most Talented Driver of His Generation (but skint), and also somehow acquiring suitable track experience to Be Any Good, and finally be able to Wheeler-Deal and charm yourself into the affections of a gentleman driver who would be your patron and co-driver.
I reckon there are a couple of routes to Making Your Name that could be done with the approx budget mentioned.
1) Buy a drive in the Formula Ford Festival and the Walter Hayes Trophy. The Who's Who of previous winners is impressive and would get your 'face' in front of People Who Matters for an afternoon and a few column inches of press when our Fantasy Drive wins at a canter.
2) Run something historic but cheap and able to do some Giant Killing (Mini?) on the same bill as the E-types and GTOs of millionaires who would be in the market to hire a co-driver/mentor/coach.
3) Do some Arrive'n'Drives in a multi-multi-driver series such as FunCup or VLN, make everyone else look silly with your amazing speed, and then (as you also the Most Charming Driver Ever) talk 2 or 3 punters into clubbing together to pay for you to join them in their car.
Sadly, back in the Real World you'd be much better off using your £60k to start a business which would enable you to pay to race like everyone else.
I reckon there are a couple of routes to Making Your Name that could be done with the approx budget mentioned.
1) Buy a drive in the Formula Ford Festival and the Walter Hayes Trophy. The Who's Who of previous winners is impressive and would get your 'face' in front of People Who Matters for an afternoon and a few column inches of press when our Fantasy Drive wins at a canter.
2) Run something historic but cheap and able to do some Giant Killing (Mini?) on the same bill as the E-types and GTOs of millionaires who would be in the market to hire a co-driver/mentor/coach.
3) Do some Arrive'n'Drives in a multi-multi-driver series such as FunCup or VLN, make everyone else look silly with your amazing speed, and then (as you also the Most Charming Driver Ever) talk 2 or 3 punters into clubbing together to pay for you to join them in their car.
Sadly, back in the Real World you'd be much better off using your £60k to start a business which would enable you to pay to race like everyone else.
One possible (possibly only) way of getting there for much less than £60k is to become very good at Gran Turismo (the game) and enter the GT Academy, if you win you get a paid seaon in GT racing - show your worth and you could become a factory driver after that.
Other then that, you wont get change out of £60k for one season in a series that might get you noticed
Other then that, you wont get change out of £60k for one season in a series that might get you noticed
AWRacing said:
One possible (possibly only) way of getting there for much less than £60k is to become very good at Gran Turismo (the game) and enter the GT Academy, if you win you get a paid seaon in GT racing - show your worth and you could become a factory driver after that.
Other then that, you wont get change out of £60k for one season in a series that might get you noticed
I was going to suggest this, but unless you’re a student it’s going to cost. When I was at uni I could get on the top 50 or so of GT leader boards, but now I have to work for a living I am useless at it. Other then that, you wont get change out of £60k for one season in a series that might get you noticed
So with £60k I would take time out of work to practice like a full time job for 6 months or a year and see how well I do.
With £60K you'd struggle with the conventional routes, so you would have to have super human ability behind the wheel to get noticed on a one off weekend. Walter Heyes and BH festival are good suggestions, but nobody really pays single seater drivers these days, you need to be in the top half of the F1 grid for that to work.
You could get 2 or maybe 3 British GT weekends for £60k, and if you dominated all 3, beating pro drivers, someone may just back you.
The other way to becoming a pro is the slogging away method. Find a really competitive UK championship, MX5's, mini's, radical's, possibly clios. If you are good at it, it would be possible to become a paid driver instructor from that. Get an ARDS instructors licence and find clients willing to pay, or get employed by an experience day company / trackday company to give instruction. Not that glamorous but spend every day of the year in a car giving instruction you'll become good enough to get paid to share drives in endurance racing and hopefully move up the ladder.
£60k is nowhere near enough cash, £BRDC F4 championship costs £35k for the car a(nd engine lease) alone...
Walter Hayes trophy is a good shout too but assuming you have the £60k in hand and the goal is to be a "paid driver", build something unique and awesome (think V8 Icelandic off road buggy) paint it in Red Bull colours, do something that would appeal to the extreme sports marketing people like drive up cliffs etc, hope you are noticed and get sponsored by Red Bull....
Walter Hayes trophy is a good shout too but assuming you have the £60k in hand and the goal is to be a "paid driver", build something unique and awesome (think V8 Icelandic off road buggy) paint it in Red Bull colours, do something that would appeal to the extreme sports marketing people like drive up cliffs etc, hope you are noticed and get sponsored by Red Bull....
pmvblack said:
Thank you all for the input!
The Challenge is just to create a possible paths. And Truckosaurus understood exactly what I wanted.
About how good I am, that is "my problem". nobody can help me with that. But you can help me find the best way to use my small budget!
get in a kart at a local karting centre first, if you do an arrive and drive championship it wont cost much, plus its a good way of pitting yourself up against others to see if you really stand a chance of doing well or not...before you waste 60k The Challenge is just to create a possible paths. And Truckosaurus understood exactly what I wanted.
About how good I am, that is "my problem". nobody can help me with that. But you can help me find the best way to use my small budget!
About my skills, and since we talked about simulaton:
In the last days, I've been going to a "simulators renting place", since I don't own one, and made some races against experienced guys, and some "real world racers". I already won one, score two more podiuns, and 3 fastest laps. Not God like performance, but not too bad, since my experience in simulators can be measured in hours...
In the last days, I've been going to a "simulators renting place", since I don't own one, and made some races against experienced guys, and some "real world racers". I already won one, score two more podiuns, and 3 fastest laps. Not God like performance, but not too bad, since my experience in simulators can be measured in hours...
Edited by pmvblack on Monday 29th September 18:41
Unfortunately for you alot of the Scholarships have stopped. I did 2 the Ginetta and MX5 scholarship, it was very very competitive. I made the final 10 both times and was reserve driver for the Ginettas. These were run by Speedworks Motorsport. (when I had designs on being a semi pro at 24 - surprisingly enough I pay for my racing now)
The runner up from the first year, went on to win the Clio Scholarship and I believe won a race at brands and has since made it to Ginnetta Supercup, scored wins but has now run out cash. of the 5 people I know who have won Scholarships none are still racing.
If you want a challenge and to prove yourself enter Club 100. It is full of GT and F3 quality drivers who don't have the budget and you will be testing yourself. IF you can rock up and win that you will get noticed as the drivers are well connected.
The runner up from the first year, went on to win the Clio Scholarship and I believe won a race at brands and has since made it to Ginnetta Supercup, scored wins but has now run out cash. of the 5 people I know who have won Scholarships none are still racing.
If you want a challenge and to prove yourself enter Club 100. It is full of GT and F3 quality drivers who don't have the budget and you will be testing yourself. IF you can rock up and win that you will get noticed as the drivers are well connected.
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