Motorsport Prospects Weekly Debrief for December 20, 2021 – What a Year It Has Been!

Motorsport Prospects Weekly Debrief for December 20, 2021 - What a Year It Has Been!
A Group of Revolution A-One 500SC Race Cars on Track

As this is the last Motorsport Prospects Weekly Debrief for 2021 and with the racing season pretty much over until January, you would think that there would not be much news and resources to share. How wrong you would be! This week’s Debrief covers what it is like attending a performance driving school, tips from Ross Bentley on improving reaction time, why you need a fulfillment report, Formula 4 updates from around the world, new WEC LMP3 and NLS rules for 2022, why a premium automotive brand goes racing and more. Throw in a couple of cool in-car lap videos and I think you will agree that this is a satisfying way to end 2021. Let’s get dive in!

Driver Development News, Tips & Techniques

  • Revolution, Motorsport UK’s weekly magazine has a great article called First Timers which looks at drivers who have “who have taken steps to expand their motorsport experience beyond their comfort zones.”
  • The Team Canada Scholarship recently announced their new Shootout scheduled to take place in late summer of 2022. Team Canada Scholarship Shootout judge James Hinchcliffe interviews former Team Canada Scholarship winner Parker Thompson about what the Team Canada Scholarship can mean to a young race driver.
Motorsport Prospects Weekly Debrief for December 20, 2021 - What a Year It Has Been!
  • In a wide-ranging interview with Autoweek, Beth Paretta has stated that, in addition to going back to the Indy 500 and racing in more Indycar races in the near future she is also focusing on developing an Indy Lights team to help develop young talent, again, primarily female drivers, that can eventually move up to racing in Indycar.
  • The Go Girls All Ireland Karting Shootout was a huge success!

The Business of Being a Race Driver

  • What is a Fulfillment Report and why do you need one? Megan Lingner explains.
  • Just about all of us in motorsport considers race strategy to be an absolutely vital component to winning on track. But are we applying that same strategic rigor and fine detail to our businesses or racing team? And if not, how can we?
  • Jake Dennis has posted a great video on “A Week In The Life Of A Racing Driver.” See it below.
Motorsport Prospects Weekly Debrief for December 20, 2021 - What a Year It Has Been!

Drive & Testing Opportunities

  • Kevin Mills Racing has drives available for the 2022 UK National Formula Ford championship. For more details email them at kevinmillsracing@hotmail.com or call 07798 754394.

Series News

Motorsport Prospects Weekly Debrief for December 20, 2021 - What a Year It Has Been!
Brazilian F4 Championship (Photo: Vicar Brasil)
  • Brazilian F4 as well as F4 Southeast Asia, Chinese F4, United States F4 and NACAM F4 have all announced some details on their plans for 2022. Formula Scout has the round up.
  • Revolution Race Cars are promoting their A-One 500SC as “capable of LMP3-rivalling lap times on a sub-GT4 budget” and are promoting it internationally with a new push for those looking to race in 2022. More details can be found here.
  • The SCCA’s Road Racing Department has announced qualifying criteria for those seeking an invitation to the 59th Sports Car Club of America National Championship Runoffs taking place September 24 -October 2 at Virginia International Raceway. More information can be found here.
  • Work is progressing on significant changes to Nurburgring Long Distance Series regulations for 2022.
  • Speaking of regulation changes, LMP2 performance will be reduced further for the 2022 FIA World Endurance Championship season.
  • TCR New Zealand has “paused” for 2022 with the title possibly being awarded as part of the North and South Island Endurance Series. Details are still to be worked out.
  • GT World Challenge Asia has had to do some significant calendar changes for 2022 and has introduced the Japan Cup.
  • Club racing is alive and well in the UK according to data from Autosport. “Out of the 110 English series with comparable data (Scottish, Northern Irish and Irish classes are not included as it is unfair to compare them when they have a smaller pool of drivers to draw from), 75 had an increase in average participants or stayed the same – a truly incredible 68%.”
  • Pirelli’s new P Zero DHF racing tire is set to debut in 2022 for all the main classes of GT racing: GT2, GT3 and GT4.

Business of Motorsport

Motorsport Prospects Weekly Debrief for December 20, 2021 - What a Year It Has Been!
Mazda MX-5 Cup (Photo via IMSA)
  • The organisers of the 31st edition of the Autosport International Show, scheduled for January 13-16 2022, at Birmingham’s National Exhibition Centre, announced that in response to the ongoing Covid-19 variants and the Government’s recent directives related to the Omicron variant, the Autosport International Show scheduled for January 2022 has been postponed. Alternative dates are under consideration and options for ticket holders will be communicated shortly. Detailed information will be released in due course.
  • McLaren CEO Zak Brown came from a background in motorsport sponsorship so it is no surprise that with their signing of Immersive Labs to Mclaren Racing he is talking up the team’s tech platform.
  • With Mazda stepping down from high level prototype racing, they have indicated that they are continuing to focus on motorsport but have shifted to grassroots racing.

In Case You Missed It

As 2021 comes to a close and I look back on the Motorsport Prospects blog, it has been an incredible year of growth as I focus on “news racers can use.” Along with the relaunch of the Weekly Debrief as well as the debut of the Sustainable Motorsport Round-Up and the Motorsport Prospects Marketplace Feature, I published a number of interesting and I believe incisive features aimed at racing drivers of all types. If you are new to Motorsport Prospects, here is what you may have missed.

February 2021

March 2021

April 2021

May 2021

July 2021

August 2021

September 2021

October 2021

November 2021

December 2021

Expect more in-depth features on programs, resources and news racers can use in 2022!

The Last Lap

Motorsport Prospects Weekly Debrief for December 20, 2021 - What a Year It Has Been!
Hazel Chapman
  • Sad news as Hazel Chapman, co-founder of Lotus has died at 94. Make no mistake about it, she was integral in the launching of Lotus Cars in 1948 and was as important to the company as her legendary husband Colin.
  • Oldtimer Galerie Toffen will be holding a classic car auction on December 29th, 2021. Viewing is in the Festival tent of the Sportzentrum in Gstaad, More details can be found here.
  • Watch Pato O’Ward do hot laps in Abu Dhabi with Racer’s Chris Medland below!
Motorsport Prospects Weekly Debrief for December 20, 2021 - What a Year It Has Been!
  • Here is another in-car video. Watch Ben Collins drive a Ferrari Challenge Evo racing car at Brands Hatch.
Motorsport Prospects Weekly Debrief for December 20, 2021 - What a Year It Has Been!

Thank you

As 2021 draws to a close I just want to thank you all for your support in what has been an interesting year to say the least! This is the last Weekly Debrief for 2021 but I will be back with the first Weekly Debrief of 2022 on January 10th. Until then have a safe, relaxed and wonderful holiday. Here is to a safe, healthy and hopeful 2022. Cheers!

Mark Boudreau
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.