How are most motorracing teams funded???
Discussion
Hi there guys and galls, you might have seen my posts elsewhere in the forums, but for my dissertation (interior design) I am designing an HQ and workshop facility for a motor racing team.
I am thinking probably a private entry btcc, or Le Mans team ,or something like that due to the size of the place I have to design, ie not something on the large scale of the McLaren technology centre, but not a small outfit that does sunday club racing.
I will then invent a ''ficticious'' team, ''...... racing'' etc who will be my client that I am designing the facility for.
I am trying to find out more info on how most teams are funded as this sort of information is what I have to put into my first presentation in a month or so.
From what I understand, most teams are funded through sponsorship from a major contributor, such as teh AON Ford focus's or the manufacturer, Honda racing for instance.
How do smaller teams work though, for instance some of the btcc entries that are not manufacturer entrances, like the airwaves bmw etc. Are they funded by lots of small sponsors and run the team at cost, and just have fun racing???
Thanks for the input.
I am thinking probably a private entry btcc, or Le Mans team ,or something like that due to the size of the place I have to design, ie not something on the large scale of the McLaren technology centre, but not a small outfit that does sunday club racing.
I will then invent a ''ficticious'' team, ''...... racing'' etc who will be my client that I am designing the facility for.
I am trying to find out more info on how most teams are funded as this sort of information is what I have to put into my first presentation in a month or so.
From what I understand, most teams are funded through sponsorship from a major contributor, such as teh AON Ford focus's or the manufacturer, Honda racing for instance.
How do smaller teams work though, for instance some of the btcc entries that are not manufacturer entrances, like the airwaves bmw etc. Are they funded by lots of small sponsors and run the team at cost, and just have fun racing???
Thanks for the input.
Pay drivers
That is how they are funded, when I was running a British GT car for a team it was around £8k per weekend for each of the drivers.
And that was 6 years ago in a GT3 car.
The sponsor logos on the cars are usually those of the companes that the drivers own, that way the cost of the drive can be chalked up as 'marketing' and written off against tax.
Very few teams recieve any money from sponsors, all they generally receive is free bits or a hefty discount.
Sometimes you get the odd rich dad who'll run a team for his son or a wide-boy who wants to be 'Name' in the business (think The Duke in Layer Cake).
And then there are the one-man-band hobbiests who just want to race and pay for it from there wages.
But 95% of teams are run from the money bought in by pay drivers. That is why so many teams are struggling to race in the recession, less people willing to pay for a drive.
That is how they are funded, when I was running a British GT car for a team it was around £8k per weekend for each of the drivers.
And that was 6 years ago in a GT3 car.
The sponsor logos on the cars are usually those of the companes that the drivers own, that way the cost of the drive can be chalked up as 'marketing' and written off against tax.
Very few teams recieve any money from sponsors, all they generally receive is free bits or a hefty discount.
Sometimes you get the odd rich dad who'll run a team for his son or a wide-boy who wants to be 'Name' in the business (think The Duke in Layer Cake).
And then there are the one-man-band hobbiests who just want to race and pay for it from there wages.
But 95% of teams are run from the money bought in by pay drivers. That is why so many teams are struggling to race in the recession, less people willing to pay for a drive.
Unless you get to the very top tiers of motorsport, racing teams don't really make money. You'll find most cars are run on race weekends on behalf of the driver by a team who do everything on a commercial basis for the driver, who is generally a quite rich man having made lots of money on the financial markets. Usually he'll go GT racing because it means he gets to share the car with a pro driver. A variation on this theme is where the team look around for drivers who are willing to pay to drive the car. This happens quite a lot in F1, certainly at the back of the grid, but the rumour is that one of the race seats at Williams is for sale for 2011 at a cost of $15m.
Also, it could be a privateer team, which tend to be named after the initials of the driver's dad who puts all of his disposable income into his lad in the hope that he'll make it to F1 at some point.
The works teams obviously are bankrolled by the manufacturer, who see it as advertising. They may offer a bit of help in terms of parts and support to the private teams as well.
Then you have Ferrari and Maclaren, who make money out of their brand rather than the racing. Most of Maclaren's cash comes from engineering stuff for other people, and as far as I can tell Ferrari make their money out of selling baseball caps and umbrellas for $500 a pop.
Also, it could be a privateer team, which tend to be named after the initials of the driver's dad who puts all of his disposable income into his lad in the hope that he'll make it to F1 at some point.
The works teams obviously are bankrolled by the manufacturer, who see it as advertising. They may offer a bit of help in terms of parts and support to the private teams as well.
Then you have Ferrari and Maclaren, who make money out of their brand rather than the racing. Most of Maclaren's cash comes from engineering stuff for other people, and as far as I can tell Ferrari make their money out of selling baseball caps and umbrellas for $500 a pop.
davepoth said:
Unless you get to the very top tiers of motorsport, racing teams don't really make money. You'll find most cars are run on race weekends on behalf of the driver by a team who do everything on a commercial basis for the driver, who is generally a quite rich man having made lots of money on the financial markets. Usually he'll go GT racing because it means he gets to share the car with a pro driver. A variation on this theme is where the team look around for drivers who are willing to pay to drive the car. This happens quite a lot in F1, certainly at the back of the grid, but the rumour is that one of the race seats at Williams is for sale for 2011 at a cost of $15m.
Also, it could be a privateer team, which tend to be named after the initials of the driver's dad who puts all of his disposable income into his lad in the hope that he'll make it to F1 at some point.
The works teams obviously are bankrolled by the manufacturer, who see it as advertising. They may offer a bit of help in terms of parts and support to the private teams as well.
Then you have Ferrari and Maclaren, who make money out of their brand rather than the racing. Most of Maclaren's cash comes from engineering stuff for other people, and as far as I can tell Ferrari make their money out of selling baseball caps and umbrellas for $500 a pop.
...don't forget pushchairs!Also, it could be a privateer team, which tend to be named after the initials of the driver's dad who puts all of his disposable income into his lad in the hope that he'll make it to F1 at some point.
The works teams obviously are bankrolled by the manufacturer, who see it as advertising. They may offer a bit of help in terms of parts and support to the private teams as well.
Then you have Ferrari and Maclaren, who make money out of their brand rather than the racing. Most of Maclaren's cash comes from engineering stuff for other people, and as far as I can tell Ferrari make their money out of selling baseball caps and umbrellas for $500 a pop.
davepoth said:
This happens quite a lot in F1, certainly at the back of the grid, but the rumour is that one of the race seats at Williams is for sale for 2011 at a cost of $15m.
Although that driver has also proved himself to be quick in his own right, just like Hulkenburg. Sadly for Hulk he isn't fast AND carrying $15m of state backed oil money.Top F1 teams and top NASCAR/DTM/GP2 team have marketing departments of upto 40 people all involved in generating money from 'selling' partnership opportunities, ie Vodafone and McLaren or Marlboro (Shell) and Ferrari through to pay drivers and TV money. The bigger teams across the world have sophisticated business development strategies to enable them to make money year upon year...not always from sponsorship.
Smaller top tier teams make money from pay drivers and TV revenue alone.
Leading factory Le Mans Teams attract business partners because of the Global TV audiences and media coverage, others sell seats and have sugar daddies....ie GT1 and GT2 Teams.
WRC is a combination of some corporate backing and some TV money.
Most smaller championships are funded by pay drivers / owners and friends / family etc all helping out.
You would be amazed by how many teams operate out of very ordinary garages / facilities and how few teams have the F1 funded superfacilities. Force India and Lotus operate out of very modest HQ's and Prodrive don't have the best of facilities off of the M40 once you get inside.
Smaller top tier teams make money from pay drivers and TV revenue alone.
Leading factory Le Mans Teams attract business partners because of the Global TV audiences and media coverage, others sell seats and have sugar daddies....ie GT1 and GT2 Teams.
WRC is a combination of some corporate backing and some TV money.
Most smaller championships are funded by pay drivers / owners and friends / family etc all helping out.
You would be amazed by how many teams operate out of very ordinary garages / facilities and how few teams have the F1 funded superfacilities. Force India and Lotus operate out of very modest HQ's and Prodrive don't have the best of facilities off of the M40 once you get inside.
retroracing said:
How do smaller teams work though, for instance some of the btcc entries that are not manufacturer entrances, like the airwaves bmw etc. Are they funded by lots of small sponsors and run the team at cost, and just have fun racing???
I think you will find most smaller teams do not have an HQ so to speak, a unit on an industrial estate is likely to as glamorous as it gets and for those teams that are run by the driver for themselves the car may well be prepped at the premises of their main business or in a garage in the grounds of their home.MacLaren pushchairs and buggies are in no way linked to McLaren Racing, who do have a number of spin off organisations but these do not contribute to the F1 Team's income but do contribute to the groups income.
McLaren Cars
McLaren Electronics
McLaren Applied Technologies
Absolute Taste (Aero and Event Catering / organisation).
Vodafone Mercedes is funded by the efforts of the Marketing Team and money from TV and podiums / finishes. Podium money runs into the millions each season as does TV money to each team.
McLaren Cars
McLaren Electronics
McLaren Applied Technologies
Absolute Taste (Aero and Event Catering / organisation).
Vodafone Mercedes is funded by the efforts of the Marketing Team and money from TV and podiums / finishes. Podium money runs into the millions each season as does TV money to each team.
belleair302 said:
MacLaren pushchairs and buggies are in no way linked to McLaren Racing, who do have a number of spin off organisations but these do not contribute to the F1 Team's income but do contribute to the groups income.
McLaren Cars
McLaren Electronics
McLaren Applied Technologies
Absolute Taste (Aero and Event Catering / organisation).
Vodafone Mercedes is funded by the efforts of the Marketing Team and money from TV and podiums / finishes. Podium money runs into the millions each season as does TV money to each team.
I think the buggy part was meant to be tongue in cheek!McLaren Cars
McLaren Electronics
McLaren Applied Technologies
Absolute Taste (Aero and Event Catering / organisation).
Vodafone Mercedes is funded by the efforts of the Marketing Team and money from TV and podiums / finishes. Podium money runs into the millions each season as does TV money to each team.
Its no wonder McLaren can afford to run an F1 team....have you ever looked at the prices the Electronics division charge? I phoned up asking about a quote on some sensors....and thought I had a good price for 20....but it turned out it was each!
RobinSherwood said:
I think you will find most smaller teams do not have an HQ so to speak, a unit on an industrial estate is likely to as glamorous as it gets and for those teams that are run by the driver for themselves the car may well be prepped at the premises of their main business or in a garage in the grounds of their home.
Of the GT and Historic racing teams I've worked for / driven for The majority have worked out of farm units next to the team owners house, and the rest out of random industrial units. more of a case of working in what they've got rather than a custom design.one team has just moved into a big new industiral unit ( again on a fram)
its a big rectangular unit, and they've simply put a mezannine floor at one end with stores above, in one corner an office and a kitchen. 3 car storage bays under the mezannine. and then the rest is open with a couple of 2 post lifts.
They also all seem to conform to the model of one or two clients with money that funds the team, a couple off odd sponsors that provide services or a discount etc.. then they fill the gaps with other bits of race prep.
You also tend to see the same race engineers pop up with different teams as the majority seem to be freelance.
Edited by Graham on Wednesday 27th October 10:51
Not talking from direct experience here but for the type of teams you are talking about i imagine the important bit from an interior design P.O.V is how the team is presented at the circuit in terms of the garage, the team truck(s) and any associated hospitality.
What goes on back at base, as others have stated appears to need to be functional as opposed to "flashy".
I'd kind of put it in terms of back of house, front of house at a decent restaurant. What the client sees is the bells and whistles and the back of house that no one sees is clean, clinical and functional.
As such would your dissertation be more suited to possible alternatives or improvements for what is done at the circuit side of things from a presentation P.O.V for a team but still taking into consideration the temporary set up nature, spped of erection and dismantling required, functionallity, durability etc? (or do interior designers not concern themselves with such trivialities!!!?)
For e.g If you go to a typical BTCC paddock i would venture that most of the teams current set ups (both BTCC and supporting categories) would all look very similar if you were to remove the sponsors logo's and colours.
Just a thought.
What goes on back at base, as others have stated appears to need to be functional as opposed to "flashy".
I'd kind of put it in terms of back of house, front of house at a decent restaurant. What the client sees is the bells and whistles and the back of house that no one sees is clean, clinical and functional.
As such would your dissertation be more suited to possible alternatives or improvements for what is done at the circuit side of things from a presentation P.O.V for a team but still taking into consideration the temporary set up nature, spped of erection and dismantling required, functionallity, durability etc? (or do interior designers not concern themselves with such trivialities!!!?)
For e.g If you go to a typical BTCC paddock i would venture that most of the teams current set ups (both BTCC and supporting categories) would all look very similar if you were to remove the sponsors logo's and colours.
Just a thought.
having visited a privateer BTCC teams HQ the figures they quoted for two seasons ago was somewhere in the region of £300,000 for one race seat for the year for in a two car team.
Add in equipment and other bits and easily £500,000 taking into account new engines bumps and repairs.
That is just for one season in a championship winning team, most likely it could be done for less, but as has been said the majority of the money in the lower type of racing formulas are funded privately for the race seat part and then you have a split of full pro teams / and smaller outfits that do something else to generate the income.
Chances are the pro teams will support other teams in someway with some area of expertise of do engineering work etc.
Add in equipment and other bits and easily £500,000 taking into account new engines bumps and repairs.
That is just for one season in a championship winning team, most likely it could be done for less, but as has been said the majority of the money in the lower type of racing formulas are funded privately for the race seat part and then you have a split of full pro teams / and smaller outfits that do something else to generate the income.
Chances are the pro teams will support other teams in someway with some area of expertise of do engineering work etc.
onemorelap said:
As such would your dissertation be more suited to possible alternatives or improvements for what is done at the circuit side of things from a presentation P.O.V for a team but still taking into consideration the temporary set up nature, spped of erection and dismantling required, functionallity, durability etc? (or do interior designers not concern themselves with such trivialities!!!?)
For e.g If you go to a typical BTCC paddock i would venture that most of the teams current set ups (both BTCC and supporting categories) would all look very similar if you were to remove the sponsors logo's and colours.
Just a thought.
Although that seems like a nice idea, we have to have a fixed,real site. It is very much working and adopting current buildings to suit the needs of the client. So naturally I have chosen a large disused old storage shed on a palls industrial park.For e.g If you go to a typical BTCC paddock i would venture that most of the teams current set ups (both BTCC and supporting categories) would all look very similar if you were to remove the sponsors logo's and colours.
Just a thought.
Functionality is key to the process, and then the surface finishes etc are secondary to that. However as the client is ficticious and we do not have to take into account a budget, my design can be slightly more glamerous , and F1'esk, than it would be in reality if it where for a real client on a more realistic budget. Then it would probably be more like my workshop at home, painted floor, white walls, some nice pics or racing cars about and some descent tools, a seat and a kettle !
However, we get marks for innovation as well as good use of space you see, so they like it to be a bit wacky!
Ah ok, in that case dont forget space for chassis jig and the diff / gearbox and suspension shop / test cell etc.
Expensive equipment but stuff you would expect to see in a decent smaller outift.
Also I think you will find Tom Chiltons seat in the AON Ford is paid for by his dad of which Grahame his father is the Chairman !
Expensive equipment but stuff you would expect to see in a decent smaller outift.
Also I think you will find Tom Chiltons seat in the AON Ford is paid for by his dad of which Grahame his father is the Chairman !
Edited by The Walrus on Wednesday 27th October 12:47
It would seem that Superleague is one of the few places drivers of sub F1 standard can earn some money then? Surely not all those teams can exist on Sonangols prize money though? Can't be sponsorship as the cars are merely covered with football teams colours? Or are many of the Superleague drivers payers also?
I quite like Superleague (The format is interesting race wise, with some good drivers and fantastic engines, could lose the football gimmick though), but don't quite understand how it survives cash flow wise.
I quite like Superleague (The format is interesting race wise, with some good drivers and fantastic engines, could lose the football gimmick though), but don't quite understand how it survives cash flow wise.
retroracing said:
onemorelap said:
As such would your dissertation be more suited to possible alternatives or improvements for what is done at the circuit side of things from a presentation P.O.V for a team but still taking into consideration the temporary set up nature, spped of erection and dismantling required, functionallity, durability etc? (or do interior designers not concern themselves with such trivialities!!!?)
For e.g If you go to a typical BTCC paddock i would venture that most of the teams current set ups (both BTCC and supporting categories) would all look very similar if you were to remove the sponsors logo's and colours.
Just a thought.
Although that seems like a nice idea, we have to have a fixed,real site. It is very much working and adopting current buildings to suit the needs of the client. So naturally I have chosen a large disused old storage shed on a palls industrial park.For e.g If you go to a typical BTCC paddock i would venture that most of the teams current set ups (both BTCC and supporting categories) would all look very similar if you were to remove the sponsors logo's and colours.
Just a thought.
Functionality is key to the process, and then the surface finishes etc are secondary to that. However as the client is ficticious and we do not have to take into account a budget, my design can be slightly more glamerous , and F1'esk, than it would be in reality if it where for a real client on a more realistic budget. Then it would probably be more like my workshop at home, painted floor, white walls, some nice pics or racing cars about and some descent tools, a seat and a kettle !
However, we get marks for innovation as well as good use of space you see, so they like it to be a bit wacky!
Take it the way this fictitious team will be set up will be around the space of the shed you have selected e.g will they be designing / building their own chassis etc or will it be "off the peg"? Big difference between the two required set up's for this alone (as you probably know anyhoo).
Also like the line about not taking into account a budget, setting you off on the right path for a career in interior design on that one!!
Driver's own pocket earned from their job.
Driver's own pocket gifted from relatives, loans and credit.
Driver's property equity.
Driver's friends and family support.
Driver's own company's advertising sponsorship.
Driver's family's own company's advertising sponsorship.
Driver's family's friend's own company's adverting sponsorship.
Driver's personal corporate sponsorship.
Driver's team's personal corporate sponsorship.
...... some individuals are employed as a driver.
Driver's own pocket gifted from relatives, loans and credit.
Driver's property equity.
Driver's friends and family support.
Driver's own company's advertising sponsorship.
Driver's family's own company's advertising sponsorship.
Driver's family's friend's own company's adverting sponsorship.
Driver's personal corporate sponsorship.
Driver's team's personal corporate sponsorship.
...... some individuals are employed as a driver.
mat205125 said:
Driver's own pocket gifted from relatives, loans and credit.
Credit is never a good plan!Saw this at the Combe Championship...kiddy comes along with a brand new M3 on credit, stripped and ready to race! Had a big mouth too....saying he was going to win his first race, as it had the most power. He was warned that given the weather maybe not a good idea to go balls out....but sometimes, actually majority of times, you cant tell some people! Anyway, he arrived at Quarry on the roof!
So 3 years of payments for something that wasn't worth a lot!
JontyR said:
belleair302 said:
MacLaren pushchairs and buggies are in no way linked to McLaren Racing, who do have a number of spin off organisations but these do not contribute to the F1 Team's income but do contribute to the groups income.
McLaren Cars
McLaren Electronics
McLaren Applied Technologies
Absolute Taste (Aero and Event Catering / organisation).
Vodafone Mercedes is funded by the efforts of the Marketing Team and money from TV and podiums / finishes. Podium money runs into the millions each season as does TV money to each team.
I think the buggy part was meant to be tongue in cheek!McLaren Cars
McLaren Electronics
McLaren Applied Technologies
Absolute Taste (Aero and Event Catering / organisation).
Vodafone Mercedes is funded by the efforts of the Marketing Team and money from TV and podiums / finishes. Podium money runs into the millions each season as does TV money to each team.
Its no wonder McLaren can afford to run an F1 team....have you ever looked at the prices the Electronics division charge? I phoned up asking about a quote on some sensors....and thought I had a good price for 20....but it turned out it was each!
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