Getting started in racing

[andy29uk]

Hi everyone. At the moment I am 17 and would love to get into motor racing. I have my 'go racing' pack from the MSA but I'm wondering where to go from here. I live quite close to Thruxton so I suppose if I go for a licence it will be at the Ian Taylor school.

My main issue is money – my family is not rich and I just don't have thousands of pounds to spend. My only option seems to be sponsorship. As it is apparently one of the cheapest series, something like Formula Renault BRDC seems to be a good idea for starting out.

I know that my chances of finding sponsorship will be tiny or non-existent, but my only other option is winning the lottery, so I want to try.

I have looked at posts on here and on other forums, and the main question seems to be 'what can you offer the sponsor for their money'. Well, other than something like hospitality or promotional use of cars, what else could the sponsor want? If in the unlikely chance I get some kind of agreement with a team, will they usually arrange that?

Apart from that, will teams usually help or information about getting started?

Thanks for any tips!

[runshaw]

Hi andy. I am in exactly the same position as you! I am 18 and also wondering about how i can start, and have many of the same queries as you about sponsorship etc. What i can tell you to do is get in contact with a series co-ordinater and ask all your questions. It is better to do this at a race weekend as it is likely that they will introduce you to a few teams and you can get so much information out of that. I did this a couple of years ago at Donington with the UKFF zetec teams and it was very helpful as they will talk to you firstly about the costs of testing and how to get started etc. I also obtained a Formula Ford ch'ship information pack which tells you about the series you wish to race in, costs, teams, media coverage and how to obtain sponsorship etc etc.

My issue is also money, as i do not have family money at all. I have had to save £2.5k over the last 2 years and i am now in a position like you to at least start by testing and getting a license. I, like you, will have to go into a 'cheap series' like FRenault BARC or FF1600, as that has gone through a resurgence lately with loads of young drivers racing at very cheap costs (and the racing is brilliant at oulton park from what i have seen!)

But as you say the chances of obtaining sponsorship are tiny, so can anyone help with tips? thanks!

[kickstart]

I am an old git now but I started racing when I was old enough to start full time work at 18 and therefore pay for it. Being honest with you, without a serious pedigree in karting behind you and some very high quality contacts then you are very unlikely to raise any sponsorship.
If you want to race single seaters then the cheapest series I know of is Formula Vee, very big grids and this is about as cheap as racing will ever be. It races within the 750MC and there is some info on the 750MC website. I seem to recall that a few people who contribute on this forum are heavily involved and I think they were quoting about £350 per race plus entry fees which are about £160. For your £2500 you should therefore manage to cover most of the championship.
If you compare that with F Renault or FF1600 I would guess that for a pre-2000 F Renault car or a competitive FF1600 you are talking £750 plus for a test plus testing fee and insurance - say £1200 all in plus you will have to hand over a deposit equal to the insurance excess. I would guess that in comparison you will spend your £2500 on two tests.
The other series to do on a budget would be Stock Hatch or Locost again with the 750MC.
Good luck

[runshaw]

Being honest with you, without a serious pedigree in karting behind you and some very high quality contacts then you are very unlikely to raise any sponsorship.

Yes this is a very well known fact, and I am fully aware of it. However, even though 95% of drivers come from a successful karting background, there are a few who manage to make the jump into racing (which is what i will have to do as i have only done a few pro-kart races). There are drivers such as Stephen Jelley who had no karting experience whatsoever, neither did Julian Yap. And I am also aware that Tim Bridgman only did 9 kart races before stepping up, and also James Walker and James Rossiter have very little karting experience. I admire them becuase of this, and I still hope that I will be able to do it (although as you say it will be bloody hard to get sponsorship!).
Thanks for your comments about Formula Vee and your estimated costs etc, every bit of information for me is helpful.

[woodyracing]

Hi all, I race in Formula Vee which is probably the cheapest form of national single seater racing. I started by hiring cars for tests, it depends who you go with in Vee but a hire test or race should be about 400-500 which usually includes any consumables (tyres/oil/petrol etc), but excludes entry fees and any damage to the car.
Entry fee for half day test at Mallory is £80, or approx £160 for a race - you will need to join 750mc(£40) and the Vee championship(£35?) to do a race though. Or you could do a test a bruntingthorpe airfield where you dont even need a race licence.
Another thing to consider when chosing formula is repair costs, with Vee the parts are relatively cheap compared to others.
As for sponsorship, its very difficult to find anything that really makes a difference, most people in vee pay for themselves or sponsor themselves with their own companies. Even championship winners find it difficult to raise money to move much higher.
Anyway for more info about vee, you should check out http://www.veecentre.com

Andy.

[runshaw]

So are there teams in Formula Vee or just privateers/owner drivers who just run themselves?

[woodyracing]

yea there are quite a few teams in Vee, the largest one runs 10 cars or more but there are lots of privateers who run themselves or with help from friends/family etc. Some of the teams do a basic trackside support too where you do most of the work but if you get stuck they are there to help - this costs about £50.

[chezza]

Blimey woody, you beat Sam to it!
Vee is fantastic. Tis a very friendly set up. Everyone will help you if your stuck.
Main teams are AHS, Gac, Preditor, and now Dunham and then there are lots of privateers. Vee is currently regularly getting grids of about 50-60 cars if I remember correctly, meaning that there is often heats and finals meaning if you are good enough you will get two races for your entry fee (and you don't crash)!
As woody has said, come and visit the vee centre website, theres a forum there and were a friendly bunch so you can feel free to ask as many questions as you like!!

[bradenc]

Originally Posted by chezza

Blimey woody, you beat Sam to it!
Main teams are AHS, Gac, Preditor, and now Dunham

Who is Preditor?

Send me a pm for a "go vee racing pack" this will have info on 9 race hire outfits 7 manufacturers and a list of used cars available. There was a shabby car available with trailer recently for £2,000.

Most people can run the car without support as the padock is freindly enough that help is there when you need it. The Vee Centre is the social part of vee (www.veecentre.com) and we have an "uncle scheme" where an experienced driver will look after you on your first outing. We also plan to run a series of free classes on running your own car.

Braden

[chezza]

Oh ok I'm inventing teams! Blimey if we get Sam to post we could be going for vee overkill!

[DSM]

Originally Posted by runshaw

Yes this is a very well known fact, and I am fully aware of it. However, even though 95% of drivers come from a successful karting background, there are a few who manage to make the jump into racing (which is what i will have to do as i have only done a few pro-kart races). There are drivers such as Stephen Jelley who had no karting experience whatsoever, neither did Julian Yap. And I am also aware that Tim Bridgman only did 9 kart races before stepping up, and also James Walker and James Rossiter have very little karting experience. I admire them becuase of this, and I still hope that I will be able to do it (although as you say it will be bloody hard to get sponsorship!).
Thanks for your comments about Formula Vee and your estimated costs etc, every bit of information for me is helpful.

Yes, but I think you'll find that all those guys have significant family money behind them, much more useful than a successful karting background!!
FR BARC will cost at least £10K a season, once you have a car. Entry fees, test fees, tyres and fuel will be close to £6K, without considering the cost of spares, damage and getting to and from the track and accommodation.

I have no experience of FV and it is cetainly one of the cheapest forms of racing, but from my experience you can't do a seaon in much else for less than about £10K. It's vey easy to spend more.

In my honest opinion, if your budget is relly in the £2-3K range you would be better off going karting. Test and race fees 1/10th of cars, tyres and fuel 1/4 of cars and you can spend more repairing an FR after a relatively minor 'off' than it would cost to buy a brand new kart and engine.

[bradenc]

I couldn't spend 10k in vee if I tried, even with a test for each race. Unless i paid someone to prep and deliver the car/arrive and drive.

Excluding start up costs, (license, car, helmet etc) you'd be hard pushed to spend more than six and could do it on 3-4k

thats 1900 on entries (14 rounds)
400 on tyres
500 on a rebuild
400 on consumables
350 on travel
300 on spares and repairs

I bought my car, trailer and camper for £3,900

I know of people spending less in vee than they did karting.

If you did arrive and drive for a full season it'd be £7000 plus entries excluding any damage. Should still be under 10k.

I doubt any single seater is cheaper, but what do I know.

Vee isn't a good formula to get recognition and work your way up, and has a fair few detractors due to the "agricultural" look of some cars but that is starting to change.

[DSM]

Originally Posted by bradenc

I couldn't spend 10k in vee if I tried, even with a test for each race. Unless i paid someone to prep and deliver the car/arrive and drive.

Excluding start up costs, (license, car, helmet etc) you'd be hard pushed to spend more than six and could do it on 3-4k

thats 1900 on entries (14 rounds)
400 on tyres
500 on a rebuild
400 on consumables
350 on travel
300 on spares and repairs

I bought my car, trailer and camper for £3,900

I know of people spending less in vee than they did karting.

If you did arrive and drive for a full season it'd be £7000 plus entries excluding any damage. Should still be under 10k.

I doubt any single seater is cheaper, but what do I know.

Vee isn't a good formula to get recognition and work your way up, and has a fair few detractors due to the "agricultural" look of some cars but that is starting to change.

I accept that Vee is probably the least expensive SS class but can you really cover your travel costs with £350? That's £25 per round, 6/7 gallons of fuel! and I assume that's one set of tyres per season? Fine as long as everyone else does the same.

I note that you don't test at all? Again, maybe fine in Vee but, in FR or anything else for that matter, if you're new and want to just stay on the same lap as everyone else, you'll need to test, buy tyres and spend an awful lot more than that!

[bradenc]

£350 may be light on travel, probablt closer to £450 buts thats a constant for any national formula.

We have a new tyre cmpound that is very hard, tyres can last a season with testing. The new tyre benefit is minimal.

I was illustrtaing that it can be done sub 4k but 6k is a championship winning budget.

I do 3/4 tests in a year and travel costs are doubled this year because we have one round in ireland (this was requested and voted on by the drivers).

I dont do every round I cherry pick the ones I want to do. You can alos miss a couple without damaging your championship too badly as your best 12/14 count.

Testing always helps and I'd like to do more but that costs time and money, the fact that we have heats and finals is useful if you are unable to test.

[bradenc]

All this being said I could not have afforded to race vee, or anything else in my teens.

[ss_collins]

I started racing when I was 17 - had a big sponsor (but thats another story - covered in my book on startin motorsport) - Ive rallied and raceds and done about 15 disciplines - Vee is the best formula for beginners by such a large margin

[Oaksnaf]

10 years of go-karts try and go as far as you can go both nationally and internationally. Formula Vee is a great cheap way to start your open wheel career, Formula Ford is also up there but lacks competition in certain regions.

Best place, Europe basically everything happens there.

[andy29uk]

Thanks a million for the information everyone.
@runshaw: It's nice to know there's someone out there in the same position as me!

Looks like Vee could be a good idea then. The problem is still money/sponsorship though. At the moment my only thought is just to send out letters... I doubt this is the right way to go about it.

Apart from that, how much do sponsors give out? Surely no one company would pay anything like £10,000 to sponsor you? Though, I suppose it does depend on what series you are racing in and previous results.

[runshaw]

There is nothing wrong with sending letters or emails probably, so just try it.

Sponsorship is very wide-ranging in motorsport, and yes your right it does depend on what series you are racing in and previous results. I have heard sponsorship can be anything from £1k to way above £100k if you are racing in F3 and are backed by a big company.

[andy29uk]

Wow, I didn't think they'd pay that much, but I suppose if it's something like F3 they potentially get a lot of exposure.

Looks like tomorrow I will start trying. I guess it's just a case of picking a company, sending off a letter or email and seeing if you get anything back. Another thing though - who in the company should it be sent to?

[BillyT]

Although I am a bit younger then you guys, I still look as to what I can do in the future. I also don't have very much money and I can't see that changing in the near future, Vee looks good. Would be interested to know how you get on getting sponsorship so try and keep us updated if you can.

[andy29uk]

No doubt I'll tell you what happens, if anything does!

[REALIST]

Sorry to put the damper on guys but get real. Sponsors don't happen like that! There are VERY FEW genuine commercial sponsorship deals out there. Especially in anything below FRUK / F3. And if you did find one the sponsor would want an awful lot in return that's isn't going to be found in Vee, FRBARC or any of the lower Club formulae.
Even at the higher level most runners are backed with family money or deals levered through family / business connections apart from the sport.

[kickstart]

When I was in my teens and wanting to go racing I tried to get some sponsorship without any success. What I did learn is that it is a hard commercial world out there and unless you have a connection to a big cheese in the company or you can offer something that companies really want then you are wasting your time. I remember working out that I had spent something like £500 on postage, envelopes and having presentations made up and raised nothing in sponsorship.

Twenty years later the best advise I can give you both is to try and earn the money to go racing instead. Don't get one summer job, get two and try and get jobs that pay tips. You can get seasonal work with the post office at Christmas. You can probably do most of a season in F Vee for say £4k ish and you should be able to save that in a year.

Good luck

[Slippy Diff]

Originally Posted by andy29uk

Thanks a million for the information everyone.
@runshaw: It's nice to know there's someone out there in the same position as me!

Looks like Vee could be a good idea then. The problem is still money/sponsorship though. At the moment my only thought is just to send out letters... I doubt this is the right way to go about it.

Apart from that, how much do sponsors give out? Surely no one company would pay anything like £10,000 to sponsor you? Though, I suppose it does depend on what series you are racing in and previous results.

Gonna have to burst your bubble. Nobody is gonna bung you 10K, simple! You have to speculate to accumulate i.e. spend your own money first, get the results and then go after sponsorship. Over the years I raced I had some great results (and even won a championship once!) and I was never offered any sponsorship, and I tried to get some.