The Motorsport Prospects Weekly Debrief is here and, even though it is the off-season, racing never sleeps. This week I look at the new Team Canada Scholarship Shootout, techniques to market your team online, an available drive in European Super Trofeo, a new Subaru touring car now available and more. News racers can use!
Driver Development News, Tips & Techniques

- At the PRI show in Indianapolis, the Team Canada Scholarship program have announced a brand new Team Canada Shootout set to take place in late August or early September 2022 to choose the recipients of the Team Canada Scholarship. The winner (and potentially winners) will represent Canada at the Formula Ford Festival and Walter Hayes Trophy in the UK next Fall. The Shootout is open to Canadian drivers between the ages of 16 and 20. Full details will be announced on the Team Canada Scholarship website. It is also where you can register your interest in participating. Full disclosure in that I am on the executive committee but the Shootout judges will include both James Hinchcliffe and Robert Wickens which is exciting!
- Ross Bentley of Speed Secrets has recorded a great podcast with Don Kitch called Do-Overs & Do-Agains 2021 which covers that and topics such as “fear, micromanaging, knowing when to call it quits, the downside of instructing, and the pros and cons of keeping your club racing equipment when going pro racing.” You can listen to it here.
- Vroom Magazine has a great interview with Gustavo Yacaman about his Yacademy Winter Series called YACADEMY Winter Series: how to become a Pro aimed at karters looking to transition to cars.
- The Trans Am TA2 series has announced a new “Young Gun” award of $20,000 to the top points-earning National TA2 driver who is younger than 25 years old and has participated in a minimum of three National Trans Am races.
- Ferrari has announced the winners of the second year of the Girls on Track Rising Stars program. Laura Camps Torras and Maria Germano Neto won this year and have earned support from the Ferrari Driver Academy.
- Women are making great strides on and off the track and made history in Brazil when Bruna Tomaselli, Bia Figueiredo & Carol Aranha finished with a fifth place in class in the 500km of Interlagos making Brazilian racing history as well as becoming the first all-female crew in the Porsche Carrera Cup Brazil.
- Leonardo Pulcini and Arthur Rougier have been announced as the stand-out drivers from the Lamborghini Young Driver Program and GT3 Junior Program 2021 and will receive official support from Lamborghini Squadra Corse next year. They will be taking part in the International GT Open and ADAC GT Masters championships respectively.
- Planning on going endurance racing? Grassroots Motorsports magazine have listed the 10 Endurance Race Essentials (That They Probably Didn’t Mention in Driver School).
- With the ERA electric single-seater championship set to launch in Europe in 2022, they have listed 5 Great Reasons to Race Electric.
- Always wondered what goes on in an Indycar pit box? Wonder no more!
The Business of Being a Race Driver
- I have always said that entrusting your online presence to social media alone is a huge mistake as you do not control those platforms or make up the rules on how to use them. Instead, use social media to steer potential sponsors and fans to your website where you are in control of the messaging and platform. With Instagram being so big these days, Megan Lingner discusses 4 Ways to Market Your Race Team Online (That Aren’t Instagram).
- What is the infamous ROI (Return on Investment) and how does it apply to you as a race driver? Alex Striler discusses in Understanding Return on Investment for Racers.
- Sport Dimensions discusses the differences between a Sponsorship Sales Agency and a Sponsorship Activation Agency. They are not the same thing.
Drive & Testing Opportunities

- Race Cars Direct have listed a drive available with JK Motorsports in the 2022 Lamborghini Super Trofeo Europe series. “You will drive in a brand new Lamborghini ST Evo2 (not an upgraded old car!!)” Full details can be found here.
Series News

- The new BMW M4 GT4 has been reveled after a recent test at Almeria. According to BMW, the next-generation M4 GT4 is designed to accommodate “ease of maintenance and cost efficiency” while also improving on the current M4 model.
- Supercars have unveiled their Gen 3 Mustang & Camaro. From the roof to the bonnet, doors to windows, Gen3 cars will share the same key dimensions as the road cars they are based on with the cars also featuring “a signature Gen3 V8 engine sound.”
- World of Outlaws have revealed a nearly million-dollar bonus program for their sprint cars and late model series. The top 12 highest finishing full-time drivers in every 2022 Feature event, for both series, will receive a bonus in addition to the already posted prize money and year-end points funds. All full-time teams will be eligible for the bonus, which will be paid monthly in exchange for increased fan interaction and promotion of each series.
- The World Racing Group has also announced the creation of the Xtreme Outlaw Series for midgets and non-wing sprint cars.
- The Mini looks to make a bigger impact in SRO Touring Car in 2022.
- In LMDh, Acura confirms that ORECA are to develop and build the LMDh-spec ARX 06.
- Things are getting confusing in Asian single-seaters as there appear to be two series using the FRegional Asia name in 2022.
- The NASCAR Roots series (ARCA Menards Series, Nascar Whelen Modified Tour, Pinty’s Series, and Advance Auto Parts Series) are set to stream on FloSports in the United States in 2022. In addition, the partnership will lead to more investment in grassroots racing, including increased funding for local circuits and greater purses for drivers competing in Nascar’s touring and weekly series events.
- Britcar has been selected to run the Motorsport UK British Endurance Championship for 2022.
- TechSport has announced that they are offering the Subaru BRZ TCA as a customer car. In North America, the Subaru BRZ TCA will be eligible to compete in the SRO TC America series as well as in SCCA and NASA. The competitive TCA class features six different car manufacturers competing in two 40-minute races.
- Finally, the 2022 sporting regulations for the ELMS and Michelin Le Mans Cup have been issued. Le Mans Cup races have been shortened, added controls on pre-event testing have been implemented and drive time and points have been tweaked.
Esports & Sim Racing
- Driver61 has announced that their Driver61 Sim Racing MasterClass will be open for Early Bird Purchase on FRIDAY, December 17th @ 7pm British Standard Time (that’s 2pm Eastern Standard Time and 11am Pacific Standard Time). To sign-up for early notice, join the waitlist on their course page.
- Porsche has announced their Vision Gran Turismo, the virtual racing car of the future. See the video below.

- iRacing has released the 2021 Mercedes-AMG F1 W12 E Performance to its subscribers for $11.95. It is the very first current F1 car to be released on a true simulator in general (the F1 series does not count), and one of a few F1 cars in sim racing to be developed with heavy assistance and technical support from the racing team that constructed it. Car Bibles discusses Why iRacing’s Factory-Supported Mercedes F1 Car Is Such a Big Deal for Sim Racing.
Business of Motorsport

- RACE INDUSTRY WEEK 2021 was spectacular! Normally I don’t buy into an organizers hype but I have to agree that it was. If you missed any of the speakers then check out the recordings for each session here.
- I mentioned the controversy last week but Mercedes has ended their Kingspan F1 deal with immediate effect.
- Manufacturers give their thoughts on what is to come with their participation in IMSA racing.
- Not completely motorsport-related but here are Six things we learned about sports sponsorship in 2021.
- The Europe Sponsorship Activation Casebook 2021 has been released. This report contains 15 case studies: “our pick of Europe’s most interesting, innovative or instructive sponsorship activations from approximately the last 12 months”. You can purchase it here.
- It is hard not to admire boutique sports car manufacturer Koenigsegg but I always wondered why they didn’t race. In Why Koenigsegg Never Went Racing, And Why It Doesn’t Plan to Start, founder Christian von Koenigsegg explains why.
- Here is a great chat with Heart of Racing boss Ian James by Paul Charsley.

In Case You Missed It
Christmas is coming and if you are looking at buying a racing simulator for your favourite race driver here are 8 Top Tips for Investing in a Driving Simulator.
The Last Lap

- If you are looking for a track car, you will be happy to know that Ligier has launched their one-off JS PX prototype.
- If you are looking for a track to run your new JS PX, Robb Report takes a look at Florida’s Concours Club and they like what they see.
- When I saw the WRC event at Monza, I was shocked and amazed that they ran these cars on the famous Monza banking! Check out the awesome video below.

- Mount Panorama in Australia is arguably one of the most spectacular tracks in the world. Don’t agree? Check out this video from this year’s Bathurst 1000.

- Check out this onboard from the 2021 Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion as Danny Baker starts last for the final vintage formula 1 race and carves his way forward to fourth in a contest shortened by a caution period aboard a 1976 McLaren M23.

That’s it for this week. Stay safe and I will see you at the track!