BTCC drivers jobs

[motorsportbeng]

watching the commentary earlier of all the btcc rounds and other events throughout the day and it was mentioned on more than one ocassion that some of the drivers were struggling with funding etc. i know very few people in britain make money as proffessional racing drivers but ive also been told that there are alot more with big sponsors etc. so do the big boys in the btcc and porsches have a 9 to 5 in the week and take time off for testing & racing etc.? or do they get a comfortable living from sponsorship money?

[bamberwell]

bugger ,i thought it was for a vacancy!!!

[supertouring]

I think that many/most have to suppliment their income by some means or another but having a full time job may be difficult, especially for a front running driver.

I would have thought lots do work as driver coaches or trackday instuctors and the like.

[jamiebae]

BTCC boys, off the top of my head...
Plato, paid by RML, plus TV and sponsorship
MacDowall, family money funds the drive
Neal, family owns the team, does the odd few hours work as marketing director for Team Dynamics
Shedden, works for Knockhill circuit in business development and as an instructor
Chilton, dad has more cash than you can imagine
Neate, director of Ceravision
Jackson, not sure actually
Griffin, MD of Addison Lee taxi company
Onslow-Cole, bit of race instruction, some work in family business
O'Neill, race instruction and odd jobs
George, owns a telecoms company, properly loaded
Collard, big family company
Griffin, not sure
Pinkney, owns a car warranty company
Nash, family money funds the drive
Smith, not sure
Wrathall, don't know

Rather too many people with money and not enough guys there on talent and hunger to win alone.

[MG CHRIS]

Jackson family owns a ford dealership i believe so would think jackson works with them there as always been paying drivers not a new thing we have had some really shocking drivers in the series before and during the good old 90s.

[AndyLB]

How much do you guys think it would cost to "buy a drive" in BTCC?

[MG CHRIS]

Not 100% but up too £350,000 mayby more.

[Altrezia]

I thought it was less than that, nearer £100k? I'd guess that £350k might include buying the car?

[The Moose]

A couple of years ago, I heard from a reliable source - £250,000 for a team to run at the top of the BTCC.

May well be more now.

Cheers

The Moose

[motorsportbeng]

so from the sounds of it they are all born into the money, with the exception of 1 or 2. i guess there are a few more success storys in porsches and lower down then of average joes making a successful career for theirselves and racing because they can now afford to?

[MG CHRIS]

Im sure that macdowel payed close to or around 350,000 for his drive in the chevrolet.

[AndyLB]

MG CHRIS said:

Im sure that macdowel payed close to or around 350,000 for his drive in the chevrolet.

That's crazy money!

[IainW]

Even back in the 90s most of the British professionals in the BTCC had day jobs. Some of them were car dealers - Cleland, Allam, Sytner, Soper to name a few.

[slipstream 1985]

money, contacts, talent. in that order

[1]

jamiebae said:

BTCC boys, off the top of my head...
Plato, paid by RML, plus TV and sponsorship
MacDowall, family money funds the drive
Neal, family owns the team, does the odd few hours work as marketing director for Team Dynamics
Shedden, works for Knockhill circuit in business development and as an instructor
Chilton, dad has more cash than you can imagine
Neate, director of Ceravision
Jackson, not sure actually
Griffin, MD of Addison Lee taxi company
Onslow-Cole, bit of race instruction, some work in family business
O'Neill, race instruction and odd jobs
George, owns a telecoms company, properly loaded
Collard, big family company
Griffin, not sure
Pinkney, owns a car warranty company
Nash, family money funds the drive
Smith, not sure
Wrathall, don't know

Rather too many people with money and not enough guys there on talent and hunger to win alone.

Wrathall, Dad owns Dynojet = properly loaded
Hughes, MD of Hughes safety showers = properly loaded

A season is a minimum of £300k. Macdowell's RML Chevy will be at least £350k, probably over £400k by the end of the season.

No current BTTC driver gets paid to drive. Plato is the closest as he is instrumental in his own/team sponsorship which not only pays for the drive but also pays him a % as a fee/salary.

WTCC is a different matter.

[DiscoColin]

motorsportbeng said:

...or do they get a comfortable living from sponsorship money?

The safe generalization (not absolute, but a viable guideline) in motorsport is that if a driver is seen in an advertisement on the television, billboards or magazines (in whatever country) then they are earning from it, if not then they are paying for it... At all but the top echelons, sponsorship is a subsidy, not a paymaster.

[jamiebae]

You can run at the back of the grid for £150k or so but if you want a competitive car it's £250k plus.

[frodo_monkey]

Soper BMW in Lincoln?

bus pass said:

I agree about Cleland, Jeff Allam and Frank Sytner, (all of which were very handy wheelmen), but I thought that Steve Soper purely raced cars, nothing else?

Edited to add; the odd coloum in Autosport excluded.





Sorry about the speeellinng, but it's late.

[carmarthenf1]

Rob Austin is funded by his father Richard who founded Evesham Micros. He does some classic F1 races as well.

[Jerry Can]

frodo_monkey said:

He didn't get that dealership until he quit racing. He was a full time prof driver from the mid 80's until his retirement.

The Clelands of this world were paid a decent wedge when they were in the BTCC but also had other business interests.

I suspect Plato pays himself an amount for the racing but mostly gets paid for his broadcasting work. He's on here maybe he'll tel us...

I think most professional drivers have either family money, made their fortunes elsewhere or are self employed and earn from various 'driving' jobs. Dave Pinkney for example had enough money to fund the buyout of Luton Town FC. So £350k pa is pocket money for these guys.