Motorsport Prospects Weekly Debrief for October 11, 2021 – Selling Your Story, Available Drives and More

This week on the Motorsport Prospects Weekly Debrief I bring you more news race drivers can use. From Ross Bentley explaining the art of passing on the track to what makes dirty air bad to how your well-being improves performance, there are nuggets of knowledge to help you with your racecraft. Sabré Cook and Brian Sims talk sponsorship plus some drives that are available, series news and the usual round-up of the business of motorsport. All this plus a look at the iconic Circuit Mont Tremblant. Enjoy!

Driver Development News, Tips & Techniques

• This week we start with an article from Ross Bentley of Speed Secrets. In Racecraft – How To Pass & Be Passed On The Race Track Ross gives you one of his great “Speed Secrets” which is a highly recommended read as it discusses the keys to passing.

• Why is slipstream great but dirty air awful? This video gives a great explanation.

• Mazda has announced the finalists for the MX-5 Cup Shootout that will be taking place October 20-21 at Sebring International Raceway. The MX-5 Cup is a great series and this Shootout is a real opportunity to get a leg up on the competition with 3 scholarships as a reward worth a combined $260,000 USD. This year’s 12 finalists were chosen from a group of 31 nominees, most top performers from SCCA Club Racing, the NASA Teen Mazda Challenge or the Spec MX-5 Challenge Series. Nominees submitted videos focused on their off-track efforts to help earn their spot in the Shootout.

• The Red Bull Junior Team have announced that they will be continuing their alliance with the Honda Formula Dream Project development program despite the fact that Honda will no longer be supplying engines to the Red Bull and Alpha Tauri Formula 1 teams. “The Red Bull Junior Team and Honda Formula Dream Project will partner to further grow motorsport in Japan, with the ultimate goal of promoting new generations of Japanese drivers to the highest levels of global motorsport, as has happened with Yuki Tsunoda in F1.”

• On October 12th Ignition Human Performance is presenting a live webinar with DTM and ex W-Series driver Esmee Hawkey to discuss key issues on and off track such as well-being and mental health as well as the future of motorsport when it comes to Sustainability and Climate Change. Sign up here for your free ticket.

• Check out this interview with Annastiina Hintsa as she discusses How well-being improves performance. You can download the article for later reference or watch the interview on video.

• Speaking of Hintsa, check out the great video below on How to Rock High Performance in F1​ – Explained by Antti Kontsas.

The Business of Being a Race Driver

• You can learn a lot from other drivers both on and off the track. In American Racer Sabré Cook On The W Series And What It Takes To Find Sponsorship Cook discusses here changed opinion of the W Series, the growth of women participating in motorsport, what it takes to find sponsorship and her long-term goals both on and off the track.

• The Your Data Driven Podcast (one of my 8 podcasts all race drivers should subscribe to) features a great interview with sponsorship consultant Brian Sims. In Ep19. Learn The Secrets To Motorsports Sponsorship with Brian Sims he discusses his experiences, techniques and philosophies.

Drives Available

Drives Available is an ongoing feature listing drives available, usually for funded drivers throughout the global motorsport world. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you are looking for a driver and would like to have the drive featured on Motorsport Prospects.

• Greg Rice from Rice Race Prep in the United States is planning an F1600 testing session November 4-6 at Road Atlanta. They have 3 seats open for 2022 and this is your opportunity to meet the team and test the cars. Contact Greg Rice at Rice Race Prep for more information.

• Australian racing team Racing Image Motorsport has one seat available for a 2 round series in the S5000 Championship coming up in Sydney and Bathurst late November- early December. Prize money is $50,000 AUD and they are open to running an international driver. Contact Toby Pope at toby@racingimagemotorsport.com.au for more details.

Series News

• Alpine have confirmed that they are joining the growing list of manufacturers that will be racing in LMDh. The car will be designed around an Oreca chassis with an Alpine engine developed in Viry-Châtillon and they will race in the WEC in 2024. Why did Alpine go the LMDh route instead of LMDH? Alpine boss Laurent Rossi says the “sums were unreasonable” for brand to commit to LMH.

• Italian F4 has committed to the next generation Tatuus F4 chassis with an Abarth engine until 2028.

• Things are looking good in New Zealand as organizers expect a bumper crop of cars for Formula Open NZ in 2022. Kicking off in November at the MG Classic in Manfeild, organizers are expecting upwards of 16 cars on the grid.

• Wondering how IMSA scrutineers work? Road & Track have a great article on just that in How IMSA’s ‘Necessary Evil’ Keeps Racing Tight.

• Stéphane Ratel of the SRO Motorsports Group gave his annual press conference on what is to come in the world of SRO GT racing. Everything from dropping the Am Cup in GT World Challenge Europe to the future of GT1 and GT2, sustainability initiatives (they intend to be carbon neutral by 2023) to GTX was discussed. You can see the full presentation here.

• In addition to discussing all of the SRO Motorsports Group activities globally, in Autoweek Ratel discusses how he wants SRO America to be ‘The Best GT Racing in the World.’

Esports & Sim Racing

• The LMP2 & GT3 IDMC autumn season in association with Motorsport Ireland has kicked off featuring 6 Rounds, a €1000 Cash Prize Fund and Pro/Pro AM Classes. More details can be found here.

Business of Motorsport

• The Engine Performance Expo is back in two parts. Part 1 takes place from October 13-14, 2021. Part 2 takes place from January 13-14, 2022. More details can be found here.

• Lewis Hamilton is launching a Black STEM education initiative. From Racer: “The focus of the two-year partnership is to develop and run sample programs, mentorship programs and marketing campaigns, along with commissioning research and hosting networking events, to aid the understanding of the most effective practices in attracting Black applicants to STEM teaching roles. The aim is for other schools and educational bodies to use the information gathered by the program to help create a sustainable model for the recruitment of more Black STEM teachers.”

• Huddle Up has a great overview of Michael Jordan’s involvement with the 23XI NASCAR team which goes into some detail about the economics of starting a NASCAR team.

• Paul Pfanner of Racer sits down with the folks at the PRI Road Show to talk about the future of racing and he makes some very salient points of what we should be doing and why. You can watch the interview below.

• Blackbook Motorsport has put together an excellent report called Places for races: Inside the circuits and services at the beating heart of motorsport that “showcases several international circuits, exploring key areas of their businesses – from design and build, to venue operations and commercial partnerships, ticketing, hospitality, and adjusting to the new realities brought about by the pandemic. Representatives from Germany’s iconic Nurburgring, as well as Goodwood, Laguna Seca and The Concours Club, lift the lid on the running of their venues and the challenges faced over the past year. Also included is a deep dive into motorsport’s newest market, the Middle East, with contributions from Yas Marina Circuit and Bahrain International Circuit.”

From the Motorsport Prospects Archives

Everybody has a story and selling that story is key to you engaging with sponsors. I discuss this in my February 2020 post The Power of your Story in the Search for Sponsorship.

The Last Lap

The Last Lap features motorsport-related tidbits from around the world that caught my eye. This week I bring you two videos that I really enjoyed. The first is Sebastian Vettel and Lance Stroll racing around in an Aston Martin DB5 as part of their promotion of the latest Bond film “No Time To Die.” The second is a look back at the iconic Circuit Mont Tremblant, a gorgeous old school track nestled in the Laurentians North of Montreal and currently owned by Lawrence Stroll.

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