In this week’s edition of The Business of Being a Race Driver, you’ll discover how to build partnerships with brands, delve into the race driver’s mindset, and explore strategies for activating sponsorships. I’ll also cover how to connect with potential sponsors and secure the funding needed to fuel your racing career. All this and more awaits!
The Business of Racing
From the Driver’s Point of View
In the video above, Enzo Mucci interviews about both driver psychology and sponsorship. “We have a fantastic interview here with Oran O’Kelly. Here is a guy (a sports psychologist) who is walking the talk. Oran compete in the Paris Dakar race whilst on his pursuit to both mental and business success. Today, I pick his brains.”
Motorsport sponsorship is a great way for companies to reach a large audience of potential customers. But before a company decides to sponsor an athlete, they will need to consider a number of factors. MotiV8 Training explains what they are.
The video above from Autofluencer chats with Alex Striler, a recognized expert in motorsport sponsorships! He’s got practical tips for racers, teams, drivers, and sanctioning bodies on how to form partnerships with brands.
Alex shares his “Aha!” moments, pointing out that “exposure” is outdated in sponsorships. For racers, the real value lies in becoming part of a brand’s marketing arm through content creation— seriously, all you need is a smartphone and a thumb! He also recommends reaching out to big companies and their competitors, using connections with partners like Polaris, who team up with brands like BF Goodrich tires and Method Race Wheels for some effective cross-promotion.
And it’s true— brands will benefit from building relationships with each other, not just with creators, so don’t forget to network and swap strategies within the industry. Tune in for more motivating tips that will inspire both brands and creators to hit the ground running!
The European Sponsorship Association (ESA) profiles ESA member MBP. Now if you are not aware, the MB stands for Mark Blundell, yes the Le Mans winner as well as Formula 1 and Indycar driver who shares his thoughts on sponsorships, partnerships and how MBP does things a bit different than others.
“There is a strong entrepreneurial spirit that runs through the business and that is a key factor in all our delivery. We become professionally and emotionally invested in the success of our partners and our activation strategies – that makes a great and genuine starting point for any long-term relationship, which is what we prioritise in every circumstance.”
You can read the full feature on the ESA website here.
I have said numerous times in this column that if you don’t have the money to race, find somebody who does and I have given you some tips on how to start. Here is another tip. Forbes has uncovered a dozen new American billionaire builders whose fortunes have jumped on the homebuilding industry’s high prices and high interest rates. Read their article The Homebuilders Getting Rich Off America’s Housing Shortage and start to determine how to engage with them.
From the Sponsor’s Point of View
Marie Binet explains in Sports Business Journal why sponsors should stop chasing the ROI as there is more to sports sponsorship measurement than that.
“To build an effective measurement framework, brands and their agencies must be clear from the outset about the objectives and KPIs for the partnership. They should identify which ones will be tracked over the long term and which in the short term, and then map them against each stage of the sponsorship cycle or burst of activity. For example, as sponsorship is a long-term brand building platform, any significant shift in consideration is unlikely to happen in the first year.”
General Motorsport Marketing Advice & Resources
In this article from 2017, Mike Johnson explains the process of brand activation through sponsorship. “So here’s where motorsport sponsorship differs from advertising – there’s no contact details, product details, price, location or anything else that will engage a buyer in real time. Instead, it’s a branding call to action for people, viewers, fans and the audience to become aligned with at an emotional event, so that they make the conscious or unconscious decision to take up an offering from that brand after the event.”
You can read the full explanation here.
The Costs of Racing
Formula Regional Americas Championship (FR Americas), Formula 4 United States Championship (F4 U.S.) and Ligier JS F4 Series (JS F4) have announced their 2025 race schedules as well as details on their scholarships.
In 2025, the Ligier JS F4 Series driver champion will once again win a scholarship to compete in F4 U.S. the following season. Valued at $186,700, the prize includes the lease of an F4 U.S. chassis and Ligier Storm engine from Ligier Automotive, two sets of tires per event from Hankook Motorsports and race entry fees from Parella Motorsports Holdings (PMH).
The 2025 F4 U.S. driver champion will also receive a scholarship to step up to the next level — FR Americas — the following season. The winner will be provided the use of a JS F3 chassis from Ligier Automotive, an F3 engine developed, engineered and provided by Mountune, three sets of tires per event from Hankook Motorsports, and race entry fees from PMH, for a package valued at $264,900. Both scholarship prizes cover the full cost of the season, excluding testing, prep and travel costs.
Details for the revamped FR Americas driver champion prize will be announced in the coming weeks. RACER has all the details.
Author: Mark Boudreau
Mark is the publisher of Motorsport Prospects. As a former lawyer, he applies his legal background and research skills to assist race drivers by showcasing the resources they need to make their motorsport careers happen.
