Sports and GTs...
Discussion
Last night I was watching the BGTs and I was really enjoying it, you don't get to see the BGTs much unless you stay up till the middle of the night and watch it. I was lucky enough to go to the Knockhill round and met up with a couple of uni friends who work for a GT4 team, I loved being there and seeing it. I know Stewart Roden of Scuderia Ecoss from when he raced at Knockhill in Formula Fords. I know Andrew Kirkaldy who partially owns CR Scuderia. I've been to Le Mans 5 times. I know some Le Mans veterans and winners. I also know a few guys that raced in the British C2 and Thundersports Championships. Anyway I digress.
I was thinking, I love Sports and GT racing, I aspire to race at Le Mans, I've known I couldn't be a professional racing driver since I was about 7 because I was too tall and too broad! My Dad has raced Clubmans and Sportscars most of his 25 year career in racing, he too aspires to race at Le Mans.
I would give either of my testicles to race in top flight GTs or Sportscars but the guys racing in the championships seem to have always been there or they are young drivers who started on the road to F1 but got sucked into touring cars or directly to BGTs, Michael Meadows and Luke Hines are 2 I can pluck out, Michael was in FBMW and Luke was in BTCC and they both went on a tangent to BGTs! Did they realise that the way they were going was the wrong way or did they have a blow in confidence for some unknown reason?
By no means am I making out any of the drivers don't deserve to be in BGTs. 5-10 years ago they had big teams and big names driving them, but it has all seemed to have vanished into thin air. Maybe they've given up and started running teams or just got bored with it all?
Thoughts please.
I was thinking, I love Sports and GT racing, I aspire to race at Le Mans, I've known I couldn't be a professional racing driver since I was about 7 because I was too tall and too broad! My Dad has raced Clubmans and Sportscars most of his 25 year career in racing, he too aspires to race at Le Mans.
I would give either of my testicles to race in top flight GTs or Sportscars but the guys racing in the championships seem to have always been there or they are young drivers who started on the road to F1 but got sucked into touring cars or directly to BGTs, Michael Meadows and Luke Hines are 2 I can pluck out, Michael was in FBMW and Luke was in BTCC and they both went on a tangent to BGTs! Did they realise that the way they were going was the wrong way or did they have a blow in confidence for some unknown reason?
By no means am I making out any of the drivers don't deserve to be in BGTs. 5-10 years ago they had big teams and big names driving them, but it has all seemed to have vanished into thin air. Maybe they've given up and started running teams or just got bored with it all?
Thoughts please.
i think the simple answer is there are far more drivers with single seater aspirations than there are top level single seater drives available. if you tread the single seater path but are prepared to accept this and re-assess your career path, you could make a tidy living from ALMS, ELMS, FIA GT, Grand Am or something. I think there is so much more to getting a top single seater seat than talent that those without serious financial backing have to accept that they are heading down a dead end and its better to get out whilst there can make the most of other opportunities...
GT cars have at least 2 drivers. Sometimes one is the successful middle aged businessman who bank rolls the operation. The other is the hired gun to make him look good.
In single seaters you almost always have to bring the money in, right up to many of the teams in F1. The same applies in BTCC
On that basis it is easier to get paid-for drives in GTs, and for a few, to get paid to drive
In single seaters you almost always have to bring the money in, right up to many of the teams in F1. The same applies in BTCC
On that basis it is easier to get paid-for drives in GTs, and for a few, to get paid to drive
Edited by teamHOLDENracing on Thursday 11th September 08:47
Altrezia said:
absolutely said:
Last night I was watching the BGTs and I was really enjoying it, you don't get to see the BGTs much unless you stay up till the middle of the night and watch it.
It's often on MotorsTV on the same weekend as the actual races, during the day. Great to watch.Forums | General Motorsport | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff