Racing Career

Try go carts,its quick and fun and cheap as long as you dont bend the chassis,money,time,a bit of tech knowledge helps,its not going to be two expensive and a good learning thing,
If you can get the budget to jump into a radical or somthing of that kind of budget thats ok just remeber these will bite back, do well in races,the talent will come out if its there, spend all day and all night getting to know you car,how and why it works,
Good luck hope all goes well,

cheers
Dale.

 

Start with Sprint Karts or Super Karts. Then if you're any good, you may get sponsored to race in a junior formula team. Then the usual progression from there is to something like Formula Ford, then Formula 3 / Formula 3000, and then to a top class catagory like Indy / Formula 1. There are deviations from this standard route though (e.g. some drivers spend some time racing sportscars before going to the top catagories).

However, to be honest, if you're 100% serious about becoming a driver for a top open-wheeler catagory, at 30 you've missed the boat by 10 - 15 years. Most team managers like young drivers because they have a long career ahead of them and alot of time for future improvement and development.

Many of the current top drivers started when they were kids or teenagers, and thus racing has been in their blood from pretty much the beginning. Therefore it's not so important to come from a wealthy family (Michael Schumacher didn't), but to start young. At least before you're 20.

Of course there's nothing stopping any fit and healthy person from having some fun with karts, no matter what their age.

 

I know quite a few successful drivers that started as adults. The secrets to their successes can be boiled down to two methods:

1. Determination (and sacrifice).

2. Money.

 

What catagories / formulas / series?

 

I am getting into the racing scene now, hopefully my experiences will help you out.

I just got my road racing license in December and unfort. due to my job, college, and time, I haven't been able to race. I have talked with my instructors from the racing school and still stay in contact with them but it does take determination and money along with talent and dang it if networking plays a large part too. I have a friend that I met at the Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta two years ago when they were racing in that series ( www.teamspencer.com ) and I am hoping that he can give me some pointers and some help. The best advice that I can give is find some already in racing, get to know them and get them to show you around; just like shadowing for a job.

As far as racing, try rentals for the SCCA. I am looking forward to start racing soon after surgery on July 2 ( replacing my PCL in my right knee from a auto wreck, IT WAS'T MY FAULT!!) Just look into the SCCA, lots of different types of racing along with autocross which is fun and cheap.

Joe C.

 

Fangio for one .

While it is great if you start young, if you don't it does not mean you should not give it a go. How pathetic would that be.

Success in any sport requires massive determination and sacrifice. It also requires that it IS your life.

I strongly believe motorsport, in particular, is one of those sports that requires you to be unbelievably hungry for lap time improvement. If you are not looking for that gain every single lap you drive (the only exception should be nursing a car home for a win or championship point) then the driver that is, is improving his ability and will eventually beat you.

Thus every single practise lap you should be constantly searching for the how can I do it better answer. Maybe not in a race, as lap times are not as important as race position, but if you are really hungry for that perfect lap the skill will come, especially if you have any natural ability (or affinity for car dynamics).

This is the thing that amazes me still about MS, he is still consumed by the hunger for the perfect lap, he is still trying to improve ... just amazing.

When I used to club race I was like that, and it would not matter if I had just gone down to a local indoor kart track or whether I was screaming around a proper race track, I was working all the time and extracting the maximum speed from myself, ie. learning all the time how to make the car and driver package work the best. I used to go and do 40 laps in a crappy indoor kart all by myself, with nobody else on the track ... did not even necessarily have lap times recorded, I was just consumed by the quest for the perfect lap (and the perfect technique for a particular corner, etc.)

Then one day during testing, I found that the passion had dimmed ... and I found myself thinking of other things as I was lapping. Not long after that I retired, and have not raced since. Motorsport is an extremely dangerous sport and if you are not concentrating 110% all the time, you are a danger to yourself and the others on the track ... plus what is the point!. Motor racing is not just about going round and round in funny shaped circles, it is the impossible search for the perfect lap ... once that no longer pushes your button, time to get out.

Thus if you are hungry and a little older than the others, who gives a fnck, if you are hungrier you will learn faster and be up there.

I personally think that going to a race driving school is not necessarily required or the best way to become a race driver. If you have again the hunger and the ability to learn then racing in a beginner class should teach you very quickly the art of driving. Now I'm not saying you should not use them at all, but if you have to be told the ideal line, or how to drive then you should not bother persuing a racing career ... you aren't got it. Sorry but this is the truth. All these things should come naturally from the quest for knowledge about your passion ... and following and learning from the quick drivers in your beginner series. No racing school is going to be able to teach you that in a 1 day course. The learning I am talking about is learnt from watching as a spectator, from listen from following from racing and being a sponge. How possibly can a couple of day course enable you to catch up with the guy (or girl) that has the passion bad and has (like most passionate quests) made it their lifes goal to learn and be the best they can at driving a racing car. Thus just about every second of their life they are thinking, taking it in learning from the experts and reading just about everything.

I started racing in my fathers MGB in classic car racing in NZ. Before I could drive, I used to sit behind my father in our family car ... I used to drive him nuts by watching EVERYTHING he did ... taking it all in. Thus by the time at 12 (I think) that he pulled over one day and said you drive, I knew exactly how everything worked ... and away we went! During this time I read and reread, and read again all his fantastic motorsport books. When I had my first race meeting, I had already been a flag marshal for over 5 years (yes my father was high up there and thus as a kid I used to flag on his point), worked in my fathers garage at holiday times and knew the mechanics of a car backwards (er, never as good as Dad ofcourse ). While I was not the fastest I worked all day at following the experts and learning ... and by the end of the day I was fast enough to be asked to join the MG team for a teams race. Trying a little too hard I spun in that race, but was able to continue and I managed to finish on the same lap as the other MGs.

Whoopy you say, I should have given up as I was slow. Well some people do, but I did not mind not winning my first race, I just wanted to get better. Thus my first goal was to complete a race without being lapped ... didn't take long, the next goal was to beat somebody ... I still remember that day (and the pats on the back from many friends, etc. that were watching ), and not long later I was the fastest dead standard MGB! No racing drivers school, no instructing, just an open mind and watching and learning and understanding what is happening under my backside as I work the car through a corner.

I then bought my own car and won a club championship and continued to get faster ... and became a well respected racing driver amongst my peers. I never raced go karts when I was young, but did do a few laps in a borrowed kart after retiring from racing ... and interestingly in 10 laps was only 2 seconds off the lap record. Now that is a long way off, but the track was covered in puddles and thus ruining a couple of important corners ... thus I'm confident on a hotter day with a good track I would have been right in there with the top guys ... with this borrowed kart! BTW: I was faster than the owner ...

Pete

 

Check out RACER magazine. In the last year they have added a very good section in each issue devoted to karts and other forms of beginners' racing.

 

Excellent post PSk. You've pretty much captured the essence of what the motivation is for racing drivers.

I strongly agree with what you say about schools. If you're really interested, passionate and talented in something, you shouldn't need to go to a few day course to have a clue (although it certainly doesn't hurt). As you said, every waking moment you should be consumed by it. A never-ending quest to learn more about the particular subject. I personally like to call it my "insatiable hunger or thirst for knowledge."

If you don't have this level of dedication, you can't realistically expect to make it to the top tiers of motorsport (or whatever field).

 

I wouldn't even try to tell you not to go for it. At 42 I still think when my kids get somewhat older I may get back behind the wheel. I started at 26 in karts and ran all the way through FF2000 and even had some seat time in some GT2 stuff. Was always in the top 5 in the country in karts and did well in inferior equipment when I moved up to cars and open wheelers. I came to the realization that my wallet wasn't thick enough after spending enough in 8 years to pay cash for a 360CS and a trailer to haul it in and I even had help from Dunlop and a Italian engine co. & US distributor of racing stuff. The experiences from Daytona, Road American, Portland cannot be replaced, however the brutality of this sport in the way it treats you is something you need to know if your really serious. I would suggest before you spend a dime you try to hook up as a crew member for a team if at all possible. I was able to crew for a team back in the glory days of IMSA and learned as much as I could. While you work your arse off, you will see it from the inside and it may be a rear eye opener. Guys like the late Phil Krueger whom spent every dime they had and seeing the guys write the check to get the ride is and was a real eye opener and more than revealing how this sport often works. If your full of cash, the varied areas to further your path are endless. Spend wisely and good luck.

 

If you're made of money (read: you've got millions burning a hole in your pocket) you can go race; just about every team in every professional series will take on a paying driver -- Jordan F1 is hiring, as is Minardi (if you've got the aspirations, and, more importantly, the cash.)
I tried to contend for a seat in the U.S. F BMW inaugural season, and as a paying driver, my rookie season would cost me ~ $200-250k depending on how many test days/liability I was willing to take on, or pay for in advance. I couldn't get enough sponsor money, so the ride(s) never materialized and I pursued it any further. The next step down the latter (fiscally) is F Renault which (I was quoted) would cost me ~ $125k for the season. The remaining junior formula teams take on drivers with varying budgets, but I doubt you'd get on a top 5 team for less than 75k / season in FF2000, Formula Mazda Pro and for Atlantics, you'd probably be looking at a season budget of $100k +. (F Atlantic team budgets are in the millions these days.)
Anyway, if you're not looking for the open wheel thrill, look into the other PRO series; i.e., Grand AM, ALMS, etc. Most of the teams in those series take on paying, licensed drivers and are willing to work with you. Forgive me, but I don't know what the budgets there are, as I never solicited any of those teams. Although, I spoke with Realtime racing (years ago) and a testing session/weekend with them was $12k. (That was back in 2002, if memory serves.)
All in all, you've got to really think about this as a business. To do well in pro racing means you've got to have the money. Then you've got to ask if you're really keen on burning away thousands upon thousands of dollars on a heroin like addiction that may well kill you. I don't mean to come off cynical, but there's a great farce associated to becoming a race car driver, and we forgive this farce because we're enamored by the spectacle and grandeur that is the racing. The facts are: not everyone who lives with a passion for motor sport will become a driver; it doesn't even really matter if you "love" the sport; it is brutally unfair; and, lastly, this day and age, you do have to be born (or be able to buy your way) into the upper echelons of motor sport.
In the end, and in my youth (I'm 23) unless I stumble over a bag full of money, or someone bankrolls my way, I won't turn a wheel in pro racing. Fact is: unless you've made a name for yourself at my age, no one is willing to bank on a no name kid who says he can drive a car faster than anyone else. It just isn't going to happen, ever.
I don't mean to come off cynical, or desparaging, but I'm just telling you "how it is."
Good luck to you.
Rdgs.,
Hubert

 

Enzo Ferrari used to laugh at Maserati who used to pull in and out of motor racing due to financial issues. Basically he stated that money is never the issue it really depends on how badly you want to go racing.

I agree with this, if you really, really have the passion and the skill you can get there ... it is just close to impossible NOT impossible.

Nigel Mansell did it, Mark Webber has made it ... it can be done.

Pete

 

So did Michael Schumacher and Ayrton Senna; both from middle-class families.

 

Senna was not from a middle class family. And, he was racing in the late 70's. My comments re: difficulty are made in context of today's racing atmosphere; not the years of yore. Everyone you talk to uses the same cliches "it can be done," "it's not impossible," etc. But when it comes down to it, it's the same old line "Well, good luck to ya." And you're on your way.

 

Yep big mistake . Senna's family was loaded ... no money issues there at all.

Michael Schumacher did have support from a family friend that could see the talent ... but then that is how it probably works with everybody who does not pay.

Pete

 

I think its easier (not easy) to make money, then spend it on motor racing. The difference from other sports in which if you are the best you will accel. in motor racing your result depends too much on other factors. Car capability, mechanical dnfs, crews, etc. In golf, if you are the best, its not too long before everybody will know it. I would also have to agree about the age. Racing is a young mans sport. Even NASCAR is being taken over by the young guns.

 

Agree with that, but real driving ability is noticeable even ignoring all the other factors. Thus you might not get the results, but the people who know will know you can drive ... whether they decide to do anything about it is another thing.

I can think of many wealthy drivers that are hopeless and only get their results because they have by far the best car ... they are never asked to climb the motor racing ladder, they approach the next ladder with a big cheque

Pete

 

Exactly my point. And you don't even mention how in the world (without the check in hand) you're supposed to manage a test session in front of said "people."

 

Really? How were they loaded?

 

"Senna was born on 21 March 1960, the second child of Milton da Silva, a successful businessman and landowner. The family lived in Santana, a well-to-do neighborhood of Sao Paulo, Brazil. Growing up Ayrton was an awkward child and was later diagnosed as having a motor coordination problem. His doting father, who was a motor racing enthusiast, noticed how his serious little son was also attracted to cars. The senior da Silva had amongst his many holdings a car components company and believed that cars would be the key to reach his son’s potential."

Taken from: here.

 

Thanks Hubert.

Well, that certainly contrasts Michael's background; his father was a bricklayer and couldn't afford to fund his son's racing pursuits past the age of 14.