Average costs vs Australia.

[Carterracing]

Hi guys,

my name is Sean and I'm from Australia. I'm currently running the v8 ute series in Australia, not particularly enjoying it.. But have raced mini challenge for a year and a half before that which was great. I want to progress in the sport and I'm currently weighing up my options, a) stay in Australia and try to make it in what is probably a difficult environment without many feeder categories and not alot of financial intrest. Or b) go to the uk and try and push through there, or c) try america. What I want to know and I know it's a vague question but what's the average cost in the uk and America to run a series in either a gt or touring car? Things like btcc and grand am catch my eye regularly and I'm keen to know how
to break into those markets as a driver. If anyones tried or knows what it takes to get there let me know.

Cheers

Sean

[Asterix]

Hi Sean - welcome to Pistonheads.

Can't actually help with your enquiry as I've been out of the UK for a while but I can guarantee you'll have some excellent info shortly.

[ascarracinguk]

maybe if you tell us what its currently costing you? what would be your budget in the uk? where are you trying to get to career wise?

[Crafty_]

Read the recent BTCC threads - there was discussions on costs to run that series in those, if you haven't got £100k its probably not even worth considering.

What I would say is BTCC is kind of a road to nowhere really - few drivers get paid (maybe none at the moment?) A few have gone to WTCC and to the Swedish series, but its sort of a dead end in many respects. Paul O Neill told me some time ago that GT driving was better proposition from that point of view.

All BTCC guys have a day job and the racing is a hobby. It all depends on what your aspirations are, if you want to race and would be happy doing corporate PR / instruction work to earn a living then go for it. If you have higher aspirations maybe look elsewhere ?

[belleair302]

Sean welcome. Grand Am in the US is going to be cheaper to enter and run because cars, parts, labour and travel etc within the US are less expensive. However you will be looking at costs well above US $ 400,000 per annum to buy a ride wih a good well prepared team.

BTCC is somewhat different and I would possibly look elsewhere to be honest regarding good racing if coming to Europe. The GT 3 Championship is good value for money....and I would want to race across Europe not just within the UK if looking at spending money on a drive. BTCC would cost you for an average ride well over £350,000 per season and possibly more with a better team if you could find a seat and have the correct racing licence. Would you consider a one make championship ie Porsche or Aston Martins?

[Carterracing]

Thanks for the info guys, i costs 200k aud to race v8 utes, 500k+ for
fujitsu v8's and 800-1mil a year to run supercars over here... So those figures are actually fair.. Haha. I'm looking to head into something like a gt car, but over here we don't really have a good gt setup.. And the reason I asked about btcc is I'm a fan of fwd twitchy cars to drive :P thanks for the info

[EDLT]

A few British drivers go to the Swedish Touring Car Championship because there is a lot of sponsorship available a the moment. I'm not sure how much it costs to race there though.

[jamiebae]

Clio cup is worth a look then, on the BTCC bill and can be done for circa £100k. If you can win there then it gives you a better chance of getting noticed.

[The Moose]

I would imagine to become a paid driver (is that the plan??) you would be best off looking at some single seater racing??

Cheers

The Moose

[MG CHRIS]

What about the ginetta supercup for g50 and g55 not sure on price for a year think around £200,000 a year and if you win get a years paid drive in the btcc Worth a punt if your a good driver.

[Reardy Mister]

I would be inclined to say stay in Oz and build your career and experience there. The talent pool here in the UK/Europe is ten times bigger, there are many more race series, many more drivers with talent, money, or talent and money. Unless youre an amazing talent with lots of time and money to spend on testing, you wont stand out even at Ginetta G50 level.

And whether you make it big there then come here, or come here first, I dont beleive you can come to the UK as an Aussie and make a name for yourself without an enormous amount of cash behind you.

With some Brute experience and a bit of cash, you must some way to an endurance drive with one of the current V8SC teams, surely?

Its the oldest catch 22 in motorsport. To do well in BTCC, you will need cash and/or results to get with a top team. Or you could blow a load of money on racing with a lower end team and have less fun than you are now. And you'll be cold. AND you'll be switching to a completely different platform of racecar from Brutes, so you will need testing a-plenty.

You may find it more rewarding and a more straight-forward path to be looking at GTs. If youre wedged, with some big hp RWD experience, there is chance you could step in as a 2nd driver to a gentleman-driver in a GT3 Corvette or Mosler or similar. They take pretty much anyone if thier pockets are deep enough and class wins with some decent racing is still a possibility.


And You Have Mail.


And Im probably compeletly wrong.

[anonymous-user]

It depends a lot on your goals. If you are seriously looking at making a career as a racing driver then it's going to be a very expensive and very risky path - depending on your age, talent and budget. Perhaps you could give us some more info regarding those parameters?

If on the other hand you would be happy to consider a non-driving career in motorsport eg. technical, marketing etc then there are certainly many more opportunities in the UK than anywhere else.