Arrive and drive racing, Which one?
Discussion
pagejobe said:
Sponsorship
Brave man in this climate. Politely I think you'll struggle unless you have some particularly good 'ins' to companies with considerable spend. Realistically (by the time you've 'done a few corners' which you'll no doubt do in your first season if you are on the pace) you can look to double the budget for a season of competitive FF1600 I reckon. Sponsorship unless you have a really savvy agency acting for you hardly exists in club racing. If we can't sell coverage for a car with terrestrial tv coverage, a decent above the line and integrated campaign with product sampling at 20,000+ spectator events for not a lot more money than you're looking for I think its going to be a tough call - but if you are going to find it you'll need to remember that and just keep picking up that phone to more companies.ive already got the sponsorship sorted, its with the company my mother works for, and its looking positive just in the final stages, and im doing global lights not ff1600 and the prices have been agreed. so i no what i need which is what i should be getting. Cheers for the help anyway Tom
alfaholic75 said:
I think the chance of getting noticed at any level is very tricky. But what would you hope to gain by being noticed? I assume you are thinking of being noticed and then driving for people for free or being paid? or just to get your name in auto sport?
Assess what you really would like. To have fun? or to be known in a specific series? to have people in other series talk of you? Personally when I started only last year I had the dreams of being in formula one but with out £300 million in my sky rocket im never getting close. I have even looked at other avenues but as people have said the budget you need to get any where high profile even if you are good is huge. I got told I could drive a car for a privateer in the BTCC this season but they wanted me to stump up £20k per meeting and they provide the car! i only spend 7k per season!
Your budget from when I did my research for clubbie stuff is huge unless you race in modified classes.
I would spend a year trying stuff trying different series and different type cars including open and closed wheel and FWD and RWD etc. Firstly establish if you are actually any good instead of pumping loads of your hard earned cash into something to only find perhaps doing something half the price and spending some of whats left over on tuition to improve your self would be far better for you and cheaper. Even world class paid drivers do this by getting a fellow competitor to sit in with them for a few laps to highlight things so please dont think im putting you down or suggesting you need it but with a lot of people they think I know ill spend 5k on new suspension to go half a second faster when they could spend %£500 on a days tuition and go 1.5 seconds faster.
As an example, for my series i bought a middle of the road car all ready built with no results to take note of. I went out testing thinking I was quite fast but I was well off the race pace accross a whole lap because i was very messy. it felt fast but wasnt. I got some tuition from a well known guy and he said yes your fast but so inconsistant and all over the show that it was slowing my overall pace down. Before the tuition i thought the car must be wrong. After the tuition I had my first race. It was a production class so very limited mods but some where running 30bhp more than me and when I only had 130bhp it makes a big difference. I applied everything I learnt and came away from the race with a class pole, win, and a new lap record! since then I have raced in 2 series and done 17 races. I have won 16 and finished 2nd in the other after a novice mistake running into the back of someone and having to limp home. In the main series I now hold every lap record bar 1. This was due I believe to playing in Formula fords, alfa romoes, ginetta's and an escort cosworth on various track days and learning about each car and how to drive them differently according to what they are and the conditions but most importantly getting someone who knew what they where doing and talking about to impart some of thier knowledge on to me. The difference it made? 3 seconds per lap in the same car.
I have had a couple of offers for things like i got asked to drive for a team in teh britcar 24hour last year which I thought was absolutly amazing but they still wanted my season budget for the seat!
So my advice is firstly go out and race in something cheap and see where you stand. Just because your fast on a track day doesnt mean your fast in a race, if its only arrive and drive you want then experience different cars and different styles needed, ( some can drive FWD very well but are useless in RWD and vice versa, you wont know untill you try) you may have a talent and be awesome in anything. If so with a varied CV that shows you are competitive in anything you stand a chance of being noticed, or even like me get offererd a subsidised drive in something a bit more special than just the clubbie scene.
What ever you do good luck and remember there are many of us in the same boat as you!
You are the stig AICMFP Assess what you really would like. To have fun? or to be known in a specific series? to have people in other series talk of you? Personally when I started only last year I had the dreams of being in formula one but with out £300 million in my sky rocket im never getting close. I have even looked at other avenues but as people have said the budget you need to get any where high profile even if you are good is huge. I got told I could drive a car for a privateer in the BTCC this season but they wanted me to stump up £20k per meeting and they provide the car! i only spend 7k per season!
Your budget from when I did my research for clubbie stuff is huge unless you race in modified classes.
I would spend a year trying stuff trying different series and different type cars including open and closed wheel and FWD and RWD etc. Firstly establish if you are actually any good instead of pumping loads of your hard earned cash into something to only find perhaps doing something half the price and spending some of whats left over on tuition to improve your self would be far better for you and cheaper. Even world class paid drivers do this by getting a fellow competitor to sit in with them for a few laps to highlight things so please dont think im putting you down or suggesting you need it but with a lot of people they think I know ill spend 5k on new suspension to go half a second faster when they could spend %£500 on a days tuition and go 1.5 seconds faster.
As an example, for my series i bought a middle of the road car all ready built with no results to take note of. I went out testing thinking I was quite fast but I was well off the race pace accross a whole lap because i was very messy. it felt fast but wasnt. I got some tuition from a well known guy and he said yes your fast but so inconsistant and all over the show that it was slowing my overall pace down. Before the tuition i thought the car must be wrong. After the tuition I had my first race. It was a production class so very limited mods but some where running 30bhp more than me and when I only had 130bhp it makes a big difference. I applied everything I learnt and came away from the race with a class pole, win, and a new lap record! since then I have raced in 2 series and done 17 races. I have won 16 and finished 2nd in the other after a novice mistake running into the back of someone and having to limp home. In the main series I now hold every lap record bar 1. This was due I believe to playing in Formula fords, alfa romoes, ginetta's and an escort cosworth on various track days and learning about each car and how to drive them differently according to what they are and the conditions but most importantly getting someone who knew what they where doing and talking about to impart some of thier knowledge on to me. The difference it made? 3 seconds per lap in the same car.
I have had a couple of offers for things like i got asked to drive for a team in teh britcar 24hour last year which I thought was absolutly amazing but they still wanted my season budget for the seat!
So my advice is firstly go out and race in something cheap and see where you stand. Just because your fast on a track day doesnt mean your fast in a race, if its only arrive and drive you want then experience different cars and different styles needed, ( some can drive FWD very well but are useless in RWD and vice versa, you wont know untill you try) you may have a talent and be awesome in anything. If so with a varied CV that shows you are competitive in anything you stand a chance of being noticed, or even like me get offererd a subsidised drive in something a bit more special than just the clubbie scene.
What ever you do good luck and remember there are many of us in the same boat as you!
pagejobe said:
Sponsorship
Crumbs - well done I wish you the best of luck with the racing
I've had quite a bit of success in racing, but even so haven't found sponsorship. I'm currently running on the lower end of your budget in arrive and drive funded entirely out of my salary, and I'm not sure how long I'll be able to manage it!!
If it's any consolation to the posters, there are plenty of other people out there (me included) with that budget who are keen on club racing, and we benefited from the advice that you took the time to write. I'm happy with the team I'm with now, but it's interesting to read about what's out there.
carl_w said:
Rob, what series are you racing in? Would be interested in hearing about your arrangements for about £10k/year -- does that include insurance, accommodation, etc?
I race in a club level slicks and wings single seater series called Formula 4, organised by the 750MC. That budget gets me five races and five tests. All but one circuit is local, so that's not including accomodation. Feel free to email me if you'd like more info.Gassing Station | UK Club Motorsport | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff