BTCC - How much does a driver get paid?

[nickyf1]

I was wondering how much a top driver gets paid in the BTCC because I honestly dont have a clue!

[Alfa Fan]

I think the paid factory drivers get in the region of £100,000

ie, Giovanardi, Plato, Thompson

Then there's a second group of drivers who's pay comes from sponsorship, and I believe they earn about £50,000

ie, Chilton, G Smith, Neal

And then there's a number of drivers who will be paid nominal amounts (ie, their pay will come from their sponsors)

ie, Shedden, Turkington, Collard

And the rest don't earn a penny, and the vast majority spend their own money competing in the series.

[sceptic]

Originally Posted by Alfa Fan

I think the paid factory drivers get in the region of £100,000

ie, Giovanardi, Plato, Thompson

Then there's a second group of drivers who's pay comes from sponsorship, and I believe they earn about £50,000

ie, Chilton, G Smith, Neal

And then there's a number of drivers who will be paid nominal amounts (ie, their pay will come from their sponsors)

ie, Shedden, Turkington, Collard

And the rest don't earn a penny, and the vast majority spend their own money competing in the series.

Chilton probably falls into the third group - he won't be earning anywhere near as much as £50k in the BTCC.

Gavin Smith is a pay driver, so he belongs in the fourth category.

James Kaye - group 3; Darren Turner - group 1.

[mountainstar]

Far fall from the glory days when some were being paid as much as 500,000 pounds.

[racingdad]

For Seat, Plato is at the top end of the scale, closely followed by Thommo. Darren Turner will be on significantly less as he is only 'part time'. The paid Pickford around £30k, same as Huffy the year before, which is very nice for a young driver's first genuine paycheque. Hufft moved into the top group with Chevrolet and the WTCC. There are some others, such as Jourdan who are earning a good living by running his own team. Matt Neal is actually paid as a director of TD, the company.

[knighty]

now someone correct me if I'm wrong - but I seem to remember hearing a few years back that Chiltons dad is listed in the top 100 rich list - hence he has NEVER had any sponsorship issues - and was the youngest BTCC racer and race winner EVER........if that tru then does he really need a wage - no - because hes always got daddy for the cash........much like mathew wilson and the mansell boys have.

[newoutsider]

If I remeber correctly, Tom was 'paid' when driving for Arena in a conoluted sponsorship deal - i.e. someone (could be closely associated with his family) gave Arena a big cheque that included an amount to be paid to Tom as a "wage"

[Sharp_31]

Whats wrong with that, if Chiltons dads done well enough for himself that he can afford to do that then good on him! He's probably worked his ar*e of for it.

[racingdad]

Originally Posted by Sharp_31

Whats wrong with that, if Chiltons dads done well enough for himself that he can afford to do that then good on him! He's probably worked his ar*e of for it.

I don't think that anyone was saying it was wrong; just you can't really count him among the true professional drivers, that's all.

[newoutsider]

Originally Posted by racingdad

I don't think that anyone was saying it was wrong; just you can't really count him among the true professional drivers, that's all.

thanks RD

[GTRMagic]

Originally Posted by newoutsider

If I remeber correctly, Tom was 'paid' when driving for Arena in a conoluted sponsorship deal - i.e. someone (could be closely associated with his family) gave Arena a big cheque that included an amount to be paid to Tom as a "wage"

A nice way to increase the value of the tax deduction, and keep some of the money in the family

[BootsOntheSide]

At one time I was quite cynical about Tom, but he's proven hismelf as being worthy of a paid drive in the series now.

Easy to forget that Kaye has basically been a Honda factory driver in something or other since 1995.

[touring fan01]

top drivers like gio, plato, chilton etc get between £150,000 - £200,000. plus they get free road cars and other expenses.

not as much as they got in the 90's but still not bad for about 20 days work a year

[newoutsider]

I would be extremely surprised if Vauxhall / 888 are paying Chilton anything like that amount. He does not have that kind of pedigree.

[dj choc ice]

to be honest i dont see what the thing is bout tom chilton, he's been very quick for vauxhall had good results all year and was on course for a second at croft until the car broke on him whether he got paid or not he sure has professional racer pedigree he's one of the fastest drivers out there and in 2005 when he had an uncompetitve car he managed to win 5 races which is pretty damn impressive i just think the vauxhall isnt the car it was last year perhaps outdated compared to the seat's and honda's

[kipper]

Originally Posted by dj choc ice

to be honest i dont see what the thing is bout tom chilton, he's been very quick for vauxhall....

I'm inclined to agree; regardless of how Chilton got into the BTCC, he has since demonstrated through his results that he deserves his paid, works drive. With regard, to Newoutsider's remark of Chilten's pedigree, then I suspect that to be true for although Chilten has the potential to do exceedingly well in the future, his CV is nowhere near as sparkling as Giovanardi's, so it perhaps not surprising if there is a significant pay difference between the two.

[Notso Swift]

Originally Posted by kipper

... his CV is nowhere near as sparkling as Giovanardi's, so it perhaps not surprising if there is a significant pay difference between the two.

Pay is not always directly linked to results, often marketability is more important.

[racer-gal]

Originally Posted by knighty

now someone correct me if I'm wrong - but I seem to remember hearing a few years back that Chiltons dad is listed in the top 100 rich list - hence he has NEVER had any sponsorship issues - and was the youngest BTCC racer and race winner EVER........if that tru then does he really need a wage - no - because hes always got daddy for the cash........much like mathew wilson and the mansell boys have.

why should tom always rely on his "daddy" for cash... Graham made his own way in life and I think he would like Max and Tom to aswell, without them HAVING to rely on him all the time, which I'm sure they do not.

[newoutsider]

Originally Posted by racer-gal

why should tom always rely on his "daddy" for cash... Graham made his own way in life and I think he would like Max and Tom to aswell, without them HAVING to rely on him all the time, which I'm sure they do not.

Sorry but;

Tom Chilton came into BTCC (with noe real experience) with a team fully sponsored and paid for by Bluesure. he investment in Year 1 alone was probalbly over £500k - a lot of money for a company to invest in a completely unproven driver - just check out who the Chairman of Bluesure is....

And it is a fact that his next couple of years were paid for by someone... (maybe he just won the lottery on his own).

That doesn't mean that Tom doesn't deserve a drive or is no good, just that he hasn't had quite as hard a struggle as some, and really doesn't have to try to live off his earnings as others do.

[racer-gal]

Originally Posted by newoutsider

And it is a fact that his next couple of years were paid for by someone... (maybe he just won the lottery on his own).
.

theres no need to get sarcy!

i never said that Tom and Max NEVER had money from their dad, im saying that they dont ALWAYS rely on him fot the cash!!!

[Craner Curves]

Rose-tinted spectacles are a wonderful invention.

[redshoes]

Racer-girl, it's not the fact the Tom has received money from his father than most people have a problem with, it's the way he has used (and abused) that priviledge.

Many driver receive backing from their family. Look at Matt Neal for example - for most of his career his main sponsor was 100+ Wheels, no prizes for guessing who runs that company. Luke Hines runs with Zip Kart backing, Gareth Howell has Club100 Karting, Colin Turkington has Turkington Holdings, the list goes on.

This difference is that those drivers have worked their way through the junior formulae, improving their skills as they go, and have made it to the BTCC through talent. Tom on the other hand decided to skip that part and simply got daddy to wave a big cheque. There's no doubt that Tom would not be where is today were it not for the size of his father's wallet.

When he came into the BTCC a few years ago he was no where experienced enough to be there on merit alone. Sure, he has improced since then and he may be a 'quick' driver, but he still isn't yet what I would call a 'good' driver. Being a regular race winner and eventually a potential champion takes more than the ability to drive fast.

[sceptic]

Originally Posted by redshoes

Racer-girl, it's not the fact the Tom has received money from his father than most people have a problem with, it's the way he has used (and abused) that priviledge.

Many driver receive backing from their family. Look at Matt Neal for example - for most of his career his main sponsor was 100+ Wheels, no prizes for guessing who runs that company. Luke Hines runs with Zip Kart backing, Gareth Howell has Club100 Karting, Colin Turkington has Turkington Holdings, the list goes on.

This difference is that those drivers have worked their way through the junior formulae, improving their skills as they go, and have made it to the BTCC through talent. Tom on the other hand decided to skip that part and simply got daddy to wave a big cheque. There's no doubt that Tom would not be where is today were it not for the size of his father's wallet.

When he came into the BTCC a few years ago he was no where experienced enough to be there on merit alone. Sure, he has improced since then and he may be a 'quick' driver, but he still isn't yet what I would call a 'good' driver. Being a regular race winner and eventually a potential champion takes more than the ability to drive fast.

Tom did T-Cars (and won the title) before he went into Touring Cars, so had more relevant experience than Luke Hines who trolled around at the back of the Formula Ford grid for not even a full season.

So while I agree that for the first year or two he was learning in the BTCC when he should have been doing Clios, now that he is a multiple race-winner not only in the BTCC but also in some major sportscar races, he deserves to be taken seriously.

...And if Vauxhall had a competitive car this year, he would have been challenging for second in the championship.

[redshoes]

Agreed, Hines was probably a bad example. How about James Thompson, Tom Boardman, or many others?

Not sure how you get second. If Vauxhall had been competitive, best he would be 4th behind Neal, Plato and Gio, although not necessarily in that order.

[kipper]

Originally Posted by sceptic

Tom did T-Cars (and won the title) before he went into Touring Cars, so had more relevant experience than Luke Hines who trolled around at the back of the Formula Ford grid for not even a full season.

But then how relevant is T Cars to Touring car success? Being a front runner in a series with single figure grids, plus a medley of club events in order to qualify for a licence does not normally feature as a tried and tested path to BTCC success, which in my view highlights the fact that Chilton has had to rely on family money to get the stage where he is currently at. By means of comparison, a number of drivers have undertaken a much more conventional career path and despite being more suitably 'qualified' have been unable to get into touring cars.

Originally Posted by sceptic

now that he is a multiple race-winner not only in the BTCC but also in some major sportscar races, he deserves to be taken seriously.

It is undoubtably true that Chilton has been able to fully utilise the opportunities he has been given. Also, he isn't the first driver to use family money to progress quickly and significantly in motorsport and he almost certainly won't be the last.