The Motorsport Prospects Weekly Debrief this week covers everything from sprint cars to Formula 4, GT3 to one-makes and as usual, more news that race drivers can use. And just like Formula 1 which will be featuring brand new cars in 2022, Motorsport Prospects will be undergoing a change for 2022 so that it will be even more useful to race drivers. Some of the changes will be “under the hood” as I rework the site’s digital plumbing while some will be more obvious like a revamped home page and less clutter. Through it all the mission remains the same, to be the best global resource for race drivers looking to improve their performance both on and off the track.
Now on to this week’s Debrief.
Driver Development News, Tips & Techniques
- 311 RS Motorsport and GPX Lab have joined forces to create the “311 RS Motorsport Driver Development powered by GPX” program in the hunt for a driver partnership to launch the program next year. The program combines GPX’s professional-grade driving simulators and live-remote coaching services to allow a driver to enter the next phase in their career.
- The FIA has issued their updated 2022 Driver Ratings List. You can see the changes on Sportscar 365 here.
- The Trans Am Series have announced their new Parapower Project “with a goal to provide a platform for paraplegics around the world to put them in the driver’s seat for either a track day driving experience or an opportunity to compete as a pro in the Trans Am TA2 class championship.”
- The SCCA is well represented in the list of IMSA Diverse Driver Scholarship finalists with at least 5 drivers have taken part in SCCA racing.
- When I interviewed vintage racer Kevin O’Connor for my article The Appeal of Historic Racing, I was curious to know how hard the drivers pushed considering the value of their cars. Road & Track were curious about the same thing in their article Why Do Owners Risk Racing Their 7- and 8-Figure Collectible Sports Cars? It all has to do with “mutual respect and thoughtfulness on the track” and more.
- Racing is expensive as we all know but Road & Track asks the question (and provides the answers) in Exactly How Expensive Is Amateur Racing?
- The School of Race Engineering in the UK looks at How to set-up a race car.
- Enzo Mucci gives advice on How To Win In Motorsport and In life. See the video below.
The Business of Being a Race Driver
- Understanding what your sponsors are looking to achieve with their partnership with you is key to making sure they remain happy with the relationship. At the end of the day it is all about Return On Investment (ROI). Sport Dimensions looks at advice on how new sponsors can build ROI with what they already own.
Drive & Testing Opportunities
- Brian Graham Racing is seeking drivers for the two winter SCCA Majors events in early January at Homestead and Sebring. Interested drivers can contact them to see what they can offer for not only the winter months but their plans for the full 2022 season. With the Toyo Tires F1600 Championship, the Quebec based F1600 Series as well as the FRP Pro F1600 Championship and select SCCA events, there are plenty of options. You can contact them through their Motorsport Prospects listing here.
Series News
- The recently announced USF Juniors has announced their inaugural schedule for 2022. They have also informed any potential competitors that their Licensing Guide is now available. Full details can be found here.
- The Brazilian F4 series is finally ready to launch in 2022 according to Formula Scout. “Brazilian F4 will run under the remit of Stock Car Brasil promoter Vicar, and will use an Abarth engine in the new-for-2022 F4 car. That means it will have the same technical specifications as the ADAC, British and Italian championships next year.” Also according to Formula Scout, “FAcademy Sudamericana is still organising tests for drivers in South America, but does not intend to run a racing in 2022.”
- Last week I mentioned that the BRSCC had announced their new for 2022 Fiesta Junior Championship car. You can get full details of how to race in the series here.
- A new series has been announced in the United States for pavement sprint cars. Called the 500 Sprint Car Tour, it will include 10 races next season, with all events featuring non-winged pavement sprint cars.
- Parella Motorsports Holdings (PMH) and SCCA Pro Racing have announced a new 25-year partnership agreement. Under the expanded agreement, PMH will assume responsibility for promotion, operating, staffing, and commercial aspects of SCCA Pro Racing starting in 2022, while sanction and sporting oversight of the Formula 4 U.S. and Formula Regional Americas Championships and FIA International events will stay with SCCA Pro Racing.
- Revolution Race Cars have announced that the 2022 Evolution model of their flagship A One race car featuring more power and a twin halo.
- In sports cars, Corvette have confirmed that the CB.R program will continue in 2022 in both IMSA and the WEC with customer cars being available in 2024. The future of the factory team beyond 2023 though remains undecided. This could been that the Mustang and Corvette will be battling it out in GT3 in 2024.
- BMW also formally announced that Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing will operate the manufacturer’s LMDh program in the 2023 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, as well as a two-car GT Daytona Pro effort next year with the M4 GT3. They also included the teaser image above of their LMDh challenger.
- Bronze drivers in IMSA competition will have a new path towards Le Mans to compete for starting in 2022 with IMSA’s introduction of the Trueman Bronze Cup for LMP2 and Akin Bronze Cup for GT Daytona.
- MARC Cars have revealed their new GT ahead of its competitive debut planned for 2022.
- Finally, IMSA President John Doonan chatted with Racer’s Marshall Pruett about the state of IMSA on the eve of last weekend’s Petit Le Mans.
Esports & Sim Racing
McLaren Racing gave Autosport Plus a glimpse of their new McLaren Shadow studio as they explained how esports fits in with their racing activities. “McLaren Shadow is now one of the distinct business units in the new corporate structure at Woking, with a mandate to “stand on its own two feet” in the words of McLaren CEO Zak Brown: a self-sufficient business which acts as a complement to, without distracting focus from, the all-important F1 team.”
Business of Motorsport
- If you have not checked out the roster of speakers for the Online Race Industry Week than you should as they just announced that Bryan Herta, Ricardo Juncos, Beth Paretta, and Doug Boles join an already stellar roster of motorsport heavyweights including Roger Penske, Michael Andretti and more. This is just one of the motorsport-related events featured on the Motorsport Prospects Events page.
- O’Gara Motorsport has been announced as the exclusive distributor of the TDF-One Track Car.
- Speedway Motorsports keeps buying tracks and they could soon have 12.
- NASCAR President Steve Phelps feels that the Next Gen car could entice more manufacturers to the series.
- Le Mans legend Tom Kristensen, currently running in the upcoming FIA Presidential elections feels that motorsport is very bankable.
- In case you missed it, here is video of SCCA President Mike Cobb’s 4th quarter President’s Update,
- Finally, here is the financial lesson for F1 in how teams survived the Covid crisis.
From the Motorsport Prospects Archives
If you are wondering what the appeal is in sports car racing for the young or gentleman driver, Petit Le Mans winner Paul Charsley shares some thoughts in The Appeal and Opportunity of Sportscar Racing – In Conversation with Paul Charsley.
The Last Lap
Here are a few things that caught my eye over the last week that are related to motorsport in some way.
- Motorsport legend Bob Bondurant passed away last weekend.
- Road & Track has a wonderful look at A Day in the Life of Global Grassroots Racing.
- SRO Motorsports are putting on a very cool and very retro Total Look Rallye that harkens back to the swinging sixties.
- Check out the Robb Report’s review of some of the cars that were featured in the first Velocity Invitational.
- I am a bit biased but Circuit Mt Tremblant is one of my favourite tracks. Check out F1600 racing at the famed venue from 1993 below.
That’s it for me this week. Stay safe and I will see you at the track!
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.