Factory Drivers

[997 brakedust]

Have always been curious as to how the factory driver process works? For example I assume that Porsche pays it's driver's a salary.

From a team owners perspective, how does one obtain a factory driver? A few year ago at Le Mans just about the entire GT2 grid were 911s, how does Porsche decide what team to place it's drivers? Do they have to meet some type of minimum performance requirements? Does the team pay for the services of a factory drive to Porsche? Does Porsche also supply technical support when agreeing to supply a factory driver?

Last year, Audi had 2 Porsche factory drivers, did Audi pay Porsche for their services?

[Parramatta_Power]

Depends on which Team the Manufacturer aligns itself with... Then the contractual obligations dictate which team the drivers must race for.

[Atle Gulbrandsen]

Very interesting topic.

As a racingdriver with ambitions myself I have always wondered how this works. Even though I work as a motorsport journalist besides my racing I have never really figured out how this works.

1. Porsche
Porsche has 7-8 factory drivers, but no major factory team. I guess the drivers get a salary from Porsche, but what about the teams? Do the teams that hire a factory driver get money from Porsche as well? Or do they just want a proffesional driver?

2. How much
How much do the factory drivers for Porsche, Audi etc. in sportscar racing get paid?

3. How many?
How many of the sportscar drivers (and racing in general) gets paid? How many gets to drive for free, and how many has to bring money/sponsorship? The more I get to know about this I understand that a lot more drivers than I first thought brings sponsorship.

Take the AMLS, for example. How many of those drivers are really professional racing drivers that gets paid? I don't want to mention any names but what about all the European drivers that drives GT-cars in AMLS and Grand Am. Do they geit paid or do they bring money?

4. The selection
And how to the proffesional teams select their drivers? It's so many good racing drivers out there, but it's very difficult to see the difference. Some are in good cars, some are unlucky, some have a lot of money and some don't.

How is it really possible for a driver without a lot of money to ever be selected by a top team?

Best regards
Atle Gulbrandsen
www.atlegulbrandsen.com

[The Badger]

Im curious about Dirk Werner . He wasnt exactly a works driver , but he certainly seemed to have a level of Porsche support ?

[cmk]

I think both Porsche and Ferrari helped set favoured non-factory drivers up with appropriate teams by making introductions etc. which Dirk Werner, Marcel Tiemann and Marc Basseng among others benefited from. Since they were not official factory pilots I would reason they did not receive their pay cheques from Porsche.

[Atle Gulbrandsen]

Some of the GT-drivers today don't have the most impressive CV's. I understand that a lot of very good drivers can lack the best results because the didn't have the money to race in the most prestigous series, race for the best team etc.

But anyway. How many of the GT-drivers are really proffesional, or are they just rich people paying to drive - and pretending to be proffesional?

In single seater/open wheel almost everyone has to bring money until they are in F1, and just a handful get paid in IndyCar these days.

But what about sportscar racing. Is it possible to become proffesional, or is it just a sport for rich people and/or a competition in getting sponsorship?

[Speed-King]

From what I gather, a lot of the faster GT-drivers race (basically) for free and make their money with performance driver educations and the like. For example, GT-Masters pilot Nicholas Armindo is a driving instructor at the Hockenheimring.

But rich or at least very dedicated and somewhat well-off parents are almost a must to even get through karting and the various junior formulae.

[WMUCarGuy]

Originally Posted by cmk

I think both Porsche and Ferrari helped set favoured non-factory drivers up with appropriate teams by making introductions etc. which Dirk Werner, Marcel Tiemann and Marc Basseng among others benefited from. Since they were not official factory pilots I would reason they did not receive their pay cheques from Porsche.

Don't forget Westbrook!

[old man]

Atle Gulbrandsen asks some good questions and we do not appear to have firm answers, here are my thoughts:

For Porsche teams there are always certain teams who are "supported" by the factory and the drivers are sent along free but the team pays all their expenses. Same applies to Ferrari drivers. Porsche will also provide some spares and loan a factory car to their favoured team but again the team has to maintain it at their own expense. It used to be that the factory Porsche team also got factory Michelin tyres but that has gone now

Most of the drivers in GT pay their own way and very few get paid to race. Apart from the factory drivers there are a handful in GT1 and some in GT2 that can command a fee. Then there are some that bring other benefits, tyre contracts for example often follow a driver.

Driver factory fees are less now than a few years ago and less in GT than WTCC or GTC but I believe 100,000 Euro would be about the figure these days, a driver that can command a fee would be happy with $5 - 10,000 per race, (some very happy!) In the US there are lots of guys who make a living coaching and do well out of it but in Europe the daily fee is lower and in these days of recession there is less of that sort of work about.

Very few teams have the financial clout to select all their drivers these days, or select all other parts of the deal but where the team can race without compromise they can be very successful. It gets very difficult for a team to set up and go racing and make it pay these days and you only have to look how often teams come and go to realise that is the case. Look at how many teams have had the factory deal from Porsche or Ferrari in the last few years and, despite doing well have pulled out after one or two seasons when the team owner has realised how much of his own money has gone into promoting a multi National company without recognition.

Running a factory backed team works best if your own business is race based or you have a big sponsor that can gain from the profile of the series.

In answer to your last question, extremely difficult because you need enough money to race in some capacity to prove your ability and if that does not start with Karts you are struggling IMO

Any driver without personal finance that keeps going for many years in racing at any level is a talented driver and brilliant deal maker it seems to me. Success breeds success of course and we can all think of drivers at the very top who have had some good breaks and made the most of them to build a name that endures. Whatever else, total dedication is required

[Atle Gulbrandsen]

Thank you for the answers.

I race myself in the German VLN Endurance Series, and I have driven for free the last five years, because of my talent! It's not in the fastest class, and VLN is not the most prestigous championship in the world, but I'm very satisified.

Of course I have ambitions, but I understand that it will cost me money to climb the ladder towards Le Mans, ALMS etc. - and you know what? Then I would rather drive for free in the VLN than to use all my money (and more) to drive something else...

Atle Gulbrandsen

[Porsche PR]

I will try to answer Alte's questions from a Porsche Motorsport standpoint (in red):

1. Porsche
Porsche has 7-8 factory drivers, but no major factory team. I guess the drivers get a salary from Porsche, but what about the teams? Do the teams that hire a factory driver get money from Porsche as well? Or do they just want a profesional driver?

For instance, in the American Le Mans Series, Porsche is keen on placing factory drivers with competitive team to help the car company win the GT championship. Porsche pays the driver's salaries, and give the team rules to follow on how the drivers are to be integrated into the team, both on and off the track. The team shares travel expenses, etc., with Porsche, and Porsche then offers, on a team by team agreement, both engineering and parts help to those team. The team also ends up with a world-class driver. The disadvantage for a team might be they lose a seat that they might have made money on by renting it out.

2. How much
How much do the factory drivers for Porsche, Audi etc. in sportscar racing get paid?

This varies widely as the contracts with each driver are privately negotiated and individual. In general, you might charachterize the the contracts as low-to-mid six figures (dollars) with a company car thrown in.

3. How many?
How many of the sportscar drivers (and racing in general) gets paid? How many gets to drive for free, and how many has to bring money/sponsorship? The more I get to know about this I understand that a lot more drivers than I first thought brings sponsorship.

Take the AMLS, for example. How many of those drivers are really professional racing drivers that gets paid? I don't want to mention any names but what about all the European drivers that drives GT-cars in AMLS and Grand Am. Do they get paid or do they bring money?

This is also an individual item, and the negotiations are private between the team and the driver. In ALMS GT, the factory BMW, Ferrari, and Corvette drivers are all professionals, and get paid by their factories. In 2009, Wolf Henzler, Patrick Long, and Joeg Bergmeister were Porsche factory drivers, and were paid by Porsche. Others in the class brought sponsorship to a car, and earned a seat, or they paid seat rentals to buy a ride for the weekend, which costs anywhere from $20 - $35,000 (more for the longer endurance races).

4. The selection
And how to the proffesional teams select their drivers? It's so many good racing drivers out there, but it's very difficult to see the difference. Some are in good cars, some are unlucky, some have a lot of money and some don't.

The veteran scouts at Porsche Motorsport are very good at spotting talent from all over the world. Porsche itself has a good breeding ground in the Cup series (Supercup, Carrera Cups and Challenge Cups). Patrick Long came from the Red Bull Formula 1 search - others have success in formula car series. Porsche will bring young drivers to Weissach for "interviews" - a on and off track excercise - and try to pick a driver or two when looking for a Porsche Junior team candidate.

How is it really possible for a driver without a lot of money to ever be selected by a top team?

Many of our factory drivers had 12 years experience (mostly karting) by the time they were 18. Not unlike some of the Olympic sports, you have to start early.

[Parramatta_Power]

Does Karting & Lower Level Formulae form a great base from which Sports Car drivers emerge from or Small-Time Touring Car challenges???

[old man]

The advantage that karting gives is that a driver learns things like overtaking skill and race strategy from a very young age so that by the time he is old enough to race a car these things are alomost second nature. Inate abilities such as balance and co-ordination are obvious from the early days in a kart and are honed by racing up to 4 and more races each weekend when young so that they too become automatic reflexes.

If a driver comes to racing at say 16/17 he has lot of catching up to do and whilst not impossible my opinion would be that the natural skills must be good and obvious to the coach so that the learned skills can be worked on. At this stage many coaches put a driver into karting just to build up race experience and skill

The Porsche PR man confirms the experience point. Personally I regret the move that started with Kimi whereby very young drivers are taken into F1 so that now if you are not there by 22/23 you have no chance. This has shortened the ladder to the top and whilst it is good for those that make it others feel like failures when this is not the case. With F1 pulling in so much money from manufacturers, sponsors, TV and spectators, saloon and sports GT racing have fewer opportunities for aspiring drivers with little or no funding

The Porsche ladder of Carrera cup racing is an excellent thing with decent (?) prize money and the annual Porsche Cup awards offer reward to drivers of non factory cars and is also a very real contribution to the career of professional and amateur drivers alike. In the last 2 or 3 years these awards have not had the publicity they deserve and I would like to see the other big GT manufacturers following the Porsche example to encourage drivers. Aston Martin look as if they are going to do something but there is nothing like a driver development programme from either Ferrari or Corvette.

When I raced, European sportscar racing had start and prize money that allowed amateur teams to run but those days are gone with the loss of spectator income to circuits and the competition in TV so a driver with little funding has a bigger battle to make a living, not impossible, but hard work.

[Bentley03]

Fascinating thread, very 'educational'!

[rich07]

Originally Posted by Bentley03

Fascinating thread, very 'educational'!

Yes very much so.

[cmk]

Indeed! Thanks, Andy, for being willing to explain a part of our favourite sport that adds a lot of value without being well-understood. The tacit factory support from Porsche and Ferrari sustained the GT2 class almost completely in the period between BMW factory teams and yet we did not really know how it worked!

I hope we see both soon-to-be-current and soon-to-be-past Porsche factory drivers putting in another competitive year in Weissach's finest.

[997 brakedust]

Thanks for the insight! So what about the 2 Porsche works drivers that drove for Audi last year? I assume it's "spelled out" in their contracts but curious as to who is compensated by Audi - would it be both Porsche Motorsports and the drivers?

[Alex Hodgkinson]

Fantastic thread. As another driver with ambition to reach such a level with my racing I'll continue to pay close attention.

To add to the question that was asked before, how much do works drivers get paid I know of one driver who seems to always be in Porsches and has mentioned a few times that his drives are paid for by Porsche. Does that make them a Porsche driver, just very lucky, or maybe in the frame to become a factory driver in the future?

Atle Gulbrandsen, your position in racing interests and inspires me equal amounts. It may be rude of me to ask, but how do you manage to drive for free for 5 years? Do you have to find the sponsorship, or are you asked first hand by team(s) to drive for them?

[TWK]

Originally Posted by 997 brakedust

Thanks for the insight! So what about the 2 Porsche works drivers that drove for Audi last year? I assume it's "spelled out" in their contracts but curious as to who is compensated by Audi - would it be both Porsche Motorsports and the drivers?

Bernhard and Dumas at Le Mans? Undoubtedly a deal between the two companies (or one, if you want to look at it that way). Likely treated as a "loan."

[Atle Gulbrandsen]

I'm happy to inspire.

How did I manage to drive for free for five years? No, it's not rude to ask. And if you bother to read my long post I will try to explain.

If racing was like any other sport it would be obvious that the athlete (at a certain level) didn't need to pay. I have a friend playing ice hockey in Norway and he gets paid to play in the Norwegian league. He doesn't understand that most racing driver has to pay to race. It doesn't make sense, and I think this is by far the biggest problem in motorsports.

Well, anyway. I'm not rich, and I'm not very good at finding sponsors. But I love to race cars, I have done quite well in some minor series and my will to race is very high. So I understood early in my career that I if I wanted to continue with racing I had to find somewhere to drive for free - or I had to retire.

My history is this: After some years in karting and some amateur racing in Norway I headed to the USA in 2003 (I was 24 at the time). There I raced the Skip Barber Southern Series, which is quite cheap compared to other series. For me it was still a lot of money to spend approx. 50 000 dollars from my own pocket, but I had saved the money for years.

The Skip Barber Series doesn't always get the recognition it deserves, but it's a good stepping stone. I won some races and finished fourth in the championship, and had some good fights with Marco Andretti and others.

My results in the USA was noticed in Norway, and then one day I got my lucky break. A big Audi dealership in Norway was starting a team in the German VLN Endurance Series, and they wanted me as one of their three drivers.

In addition to my results in the USA, I had also been in contact with some of the key personel in this team for years, when they raced with a Honda in the VLN. I knew they were quite professional, and I was thinking that maybe one day I could race with them. That of course helped as well. They knew how much I wanted to race with them, and after my season in the USA they had noticed my talent.

But I had never imagined that it turned out to be a semi-professional Audi Dealer Team...

I call myself "semi-professional" today, and that means that I don't get paid to drive (I need a job to pay my bills), but I don't need to bring any money/sponsorship either. My job in the team is to race the car (and I also update the team's web site). And I have proven my speed at the Nürburgring Nordschleife for five years, so I'm still a part of the team.

Some of the key personell in my team doesn't have a background in motorsports, and I think that is a huge benefit. They have their background from other businesses and sports, and for them it's obvious that the drivers don't need to find the money. If they were motorsports-people, maybe they had been thinking that it is the drivers task to find the money (like a lot of team bosses do)...

As I have mentioned before, the VLN is not the most prestigous championship in the world, and I'm not driving in one of the fastest classes (my Audi TT is a 2,0 liter turbo). We don't drive all the races either (we do 5-6 races a year), but what the heck? I'm driving a very fast and professionally-build race car at the World's most demanding race track, the level in our class is high (with factory teams from Volkswagen) and we have some good results. And it's for free!

This is of course how it should be, and today I'm not willing to use my own money to race anymore, because it's just too expensive everywhere. If my team stops racing, I guess it's a big chance that I will retire as well, because I understand that the chances to drive for free are so few - although I have become a very fast driver during all these years. (But I will of course try to find something else before I give up...)

I have got some offers to drive in more prestigous championships the last years, but they all cost too much money. I don't want to be a part of that business. It should be the teams task to find the money, and then they should pick the best drivers. The trend of today where the driver needs to find the funding has to stop. Or else many of the best drivers will dissapear.

I think I'm better than a lot of the guys in AMLS, LMS etc., but unfortunately I don't think I will ever get the chance to prove myself in those championships.

But I'm very happy with where I am today, and I'm quite proud of what I have achieved (I have some good results in the US, several victories in the VLN, a Norwegian Championship title, so my next goal is a class win in the 24 hour race at the Nürburgring).

As you understand I was lucky in one way, but my results and my will to race, also helped me. But I know a lot of racing drivers that also deserves to drive for free, but they don't get the break. So it's difficult for sure, and the chances are very few as I understand.

So my advice is: Try to find a cheap championship with a high level (such as Skip Barber). Get some good results and promote those well. And contact teams in various series and just ask to prove yourself. Maybe you get the chance.

But remember this: Don't expect to get any recognition if you manage to land a free drive in for example the VLN. The media just seems to care about the rich kids paying themselves up the ladder... One time I wrote to Autosport and asked why they called the 24 hour race at the Nürburgring (and the VLN) a "club race" for "amateurs". I personally feel much more professional than a lot of the "rich kids" that are paying to race some "professional" championship...

I'm sorry for the length of this post...

Best regards
Atle Gulbrandsen

[Gil Abobeleira]

Lovely post Atle!

[old man]

Atle brings up an interesting point when talking about Skip Barber and spending time in the USA. I think many aspiring drivers could do worse than that. I met a young man at the Autosport Show who had done some Skip Barber, initially he got a year in their series as a prize for winning a UK competition and then had more help from the organiser towards a second year which he mostly paid for out of savings. Good results again encouraged another go with some help and now he has moved to the States, found a job at a kart track and hopes to do another series over there with sponsorship from contacts he has made. Before he entered the competition this guy worked on the checkout at a supermarket, he has personality and the drive to make a go of it IMO.

The comparison you make Atle with hockey is interesting and the difference is that people will pay to watch in sufficient numbers that it is profitable. The same applies to lower league football and rugby here in the UK, not so sure about the higher echelons but that is another subject.

For motorsport the day was that teams/drivers could command start money and prize money that organisers could afford because of the crowd that come to see an event with a good field. Frankly now most of the money has been drawn to F1 and it is rare for any other race to bring the organisers much, if any profit. Circuit hire costs are very high which is why even our best sports/GT races are moving away from some classic circuits like Monza and into the new places like the Algarve and Adria. With 40,000 Euro entry fees and the cost of running a car the economics of running race teams forces them to take the paying drivers just to make the books balance.

[joeb]

There is a thread about the Porsche factory drivers for 2010, but does anybody know about Ferrari's support? Who are their drivers for 2010?

[dxk1]

Originally Posted by joeb

There is a thread about the Porsche factory drivers for 2010, but does anybody know about Ferrari's support? Who are their drivers for 2010?

Looks like at least Bruni and Melo for both AC Corse and Risi in LMS and ALMS for 2010 are Factory drivers for Ferrari.

DK

[joeb]

Originally Posted by dxk1

Looks like at least Bruni and Melo for both AC Corse and Risi in LMS and ALMS for 2010 are Factory drivers for Ferrari.

DK

Those are the only two I could come up with as well.