What does it take...

Thank you very much for your kind words Ian, to be honest i've not really read much into the team and such because, it's not for deffernate that they will phone me up and tell me they want me to drive and if they do it will most likely be in like a years time so i don't see the point in getting my hopes up too quickly. But if anything comes up and it might be looking likely then i will start to do homework on the team etc such as who runs it, main sponsers and so on. As for as knowing the track i've only ever raced on it in computer games and not done any "real" racing on the silverstone circuit. So doing something like 60mhp into Bridge corner will be quite an experience for me (thats just a educated quess i don't know how fast they can actually go into Bridge corner, but i know they're not super quick).

As far as "dodgy" pics are concerened i didn't even think of that, but i don't think i have any on my myspace so i should be ok with that lol.

 

Alex, I too wish you the best of luck for your racing career! Get your hands on a decent racing sim and start practising the track, rFactor afaik even has a F3 mod. Good luck!!

 

Alex, good luck with your test you may have soon with the formula renault. Hope you can get the seat for next season. i'm looking to return to england (south east again) next year for a little while, drop me a line when you're racing on brands hatch or so, i'll come and watch.

 

Cheers guys your words mean alot, I'll remember that Bas yeah I will as long as I get the seat of course.

 

I've heard about this game alot, but how do i get it?

 

http://www.rfactor.net/

Download the trial version (which doesn't have any use, only featuring some fantasy touring cars), you can buy your key to unlock the game on the website. Tracks and cars can be found at rfactorcentral.com

 

Ok i'm on the website and i've clicked try/buy, which patch do i download because theres loads of them?

http://www.rfactor.net/index.php?page=downloads

Or would it be better if i just bought the DVD game from amazon? would the extra cars and tracks be on the DVD game?

Thanks!!

 

Ahh - The Casey school of getting to F1.....

Seriously, it sounds like you're racing in a series next season with a "prize" (for winning the championship?) being a Formula Renault test? If true, that's pretty cool in and of itself but you're going to be up against some serious competition..... Did you run the series last year? How'd you do?

Realistically, the chances of doing well in your first season at these levels of the sport are very low. But, if you're returning and "know the ropes" etc you may have reason to feel confident.

I would say your #1 priority is to make sure this coming seasons racing is very well funded (not easy!) - Work on "sponsorship opportunities", pitch yourself as a "winner" and WORK at it - Study the tracks, study your competition and never, ever, say "I could have won if I had the $!" [Probably true, but no one wants to hear your whining as to why you failed.....]

Again, good luck, please keep us informed as to progress.

Cheers,
Ian

 

That's not loads of patches, just different download locations (for either the patch or the full install) you can select from! You'll want the full install. I don't know about the DVD, but all the tracks and cars are made by modding groups and fans, so I doubt they're on the official DVD. Downloading them is better anyways, there's something new and better just about every week.

 

Thank you for the info, i'm currently downloading it on bittorrent from the rfactor website, so i'llsee if that works.

 

No i didn't do the series last year, and i'am in it to win it. You say that the #1 priority is money, no supprise there then. Right now i'm not sure what kind of or how big a problem it will be, if at all so i'll just have to see how that goes. I'm not expecting anything really (one of the down sides of being a natural pessimist).

If i do hear anything or there is any development at all then you guys will be the first to know.

 

Actually Alex, they will be looking for you to smash the track record--and keep the car in one piece-and give them 100% accurate technical feedback--and a bundle of money to come with you. I am not being a jerk-I have run with some pretty good race teams-not as a driver-but as the technical director/track engineer/consultant and what all teams want is what I just wrote. The nature of the business. The teams will tell you they are only looking for good consistency and "intelligent"driving but if you go 1/2-1 second quicker then everyone else but have a few offs that is better than being "clean" but no faster than everyone else (unless you have $$$$$) - best to be fast and clean, of course-but speed before all else-save $$$$$$$$.

But good luck-as long as there is racing and racing teams-somebody will be needed to race the cars-and they have to come from somewhere-so why not you?

 

Well yeah!......

That does surprise me. In this (hypothetical, for now) scenario of a "single test to impress day" I'm not sure I'm going to be impressed by a "few offs".

Sure, once the guy's signed (most likely as the result of the most $ of course!), then we'll "tolerate" a few offs. [And that # gets lower the "higher you go it seems.]

OK - so the answer is - Bring many dinero, go quicker, drive cleaner, be the perfect engineer and promotable personality. No problem.

+1

cheers,
Ian

 

At a young(er) age I expect the driver to have some over-enthusiasm now and then. He (she) still has to learn how to control their talents (if any.) What I want to see is raw speed at an early age. I can teach the race craft, the tech stuff and the "stay on track stuff" (to the good ones) but I can't teach them how to be naturally fast-and that's what I want (need.)

For the experienced driver-I don't expect to see any offs-and be quick.

 

That's pretty much true, unless you have wealthy parents. Tiago Monteiro didn't start racing until he was 22, and that was in the Porsche Carrera cup. He made it to F1, because his Dad owned hotels, and paid for all his seats in F3 and World series by Nissan etc. Sato didn't start until he was 19, but again, thanks to his wealthy parents, he was able to immediately start racing in European jr formula.

So if your parents are filthy stinkin rich, and you're still in your early 20's, you could have a legitimate shot at F1 if you have some talent. Money talks, just ask Hiroshi Oshima(Honda CEO).

 

Out of curiosity, why would you want to drive in F1? (besides the glamour) You can have just as much if not more, out at your local club karting track or in the scca. There is a lot of talent out there, and not always does it want to become "discovered" or be found.

 

That's how they keep it FUN!

 

Hmm...I found this post on SurgeonChat.com:

 

Never knew that about tiago. Wealthy parents or not, still impressive that he even could keep up with the other guys (teammate Albers anyone? been racing most of his life, and he still got beaten by his teammate who was in the game for a mere few seasons). Sato impressive as well. His first few seasons (up to and including 2006 season actually) where, well terrible. But 2007 he did some good racing.

 

Actually lets give F430GB some advice...


A couple of recent threads by him:

'Any neurosurgeon ferrari owners?' (trying to find out who makes more money, a plastic surgeon or neurosurgeon)
After reciecing a fairly negative response on this thread this was opened:

'Salary of Massa or Raikkonen?'
$50 million > cool!

'what does it take to be an F1 driver'
...


G.B., you're 16. If you want to make lots of money find something you enjoy doing and makes for a decent living. If you're going to do something you HATE doing (performing plastic surgery on a fat womans hairy ass for instance) you wont last long. If you're not interested in the whole doctor side of things, dont do it because going to uni for that stuff takes long and you'll probably drop out.

Yes, an F1 driver can make a crap load of money, for the likes of raikkonen, alonso and hamilton the money is coming in by the truckload...But for guys like Sutil last year, he had to bring sponsors to even get a seat (and dont think that with 100K worth of sponsors you're going to drive, you're not).

Maybe you're good at golf. Look at tiger woods, IIRC he was the highest paid sportsman world wide last year (...waits for thread 'how much does tiger woods make' to open). And thats by just wacking a little white ball across a large garden.


But to try and think 'F it, im going racing/golfing/surfing for the rest of my life, hope im good at it and wait for money to flow in', isnt the best of starts...

Pilots make good money to, around 150K a year IIRC (not sure about america though, could be more, could be less). Then you can easily buy a ferrari, if you dont spend all your money on coke and hookers. As an added bonus, you get to screw all the hot stewardess'

 

LOL! Fine line of difference there.

 

there is a slight fault in my system....

 

I think it was on "fab life of..." that he earned $100 million last year