Motorsport Prospects Weekly Debrief for October 18, 2021 – SRO Updates their Driver Ranking Criteria and More

Motorsport Prospects Weekly Debrief for October 18, 2021
Madpanda Motorsport

This week the Motorsport Prospects Weekly Debrief features a variety of news race drivers can use including track day tips from the Mayor of Hinchtown, the hardest part of going faster, what charities need to know when sponsoring motorsport and how to overcome the tough times when racing.

Don’t forget to check out last week’s spotlight on motorsport-related charity Grid4Good and get ready for a new edition of the Sustainable Motorsport Round-Up this Friday. It may very well be a two-parter!

Now, here is the news race drivers can use by reputable authorities from across the internet.

Driver Development News, Tips & Techniques

  • Check out this recording on YouTube of this Aim Sports webinar with Peter Krause called The Hardest Part Of Going Faster.
Motorsport Prospects Weekly Debrief for October 18, 2021 - SRO Updates their Driver Ranking Criteria and More
  • You are thankfully hearing more and more about the importance of mental health, not just in sports but in life in general and rightfully so. Autosport has a great article on How Formula 1 teams look after their mental health, something near and dear to Lando Norris as he explains in another Autosport feature.
  • As sports car racing team Madpanda gears up for an expanded two-car program, they have indicated that they are also hoping to develop young driving talents and are planning a series of winter tests to evaluate potential future members, including TCR ace Franco Girolami.
  • For those young drivers considering sports car racing, Ashton Harrison discusses how her selection to the HPD Academy has accelerated her GT3 race debut.
  • We all know about Sir Lewis Hamilton’s achievements. But did you know that there were Black racing drivers who race back in the 70’s,80’s, 90’s and 00’s? In celebration of Black History Month Next Racing Generation Motorsport are hosting an Audience with Hall of Fame of Black Racing Drivers on October 21st where you can listen to stories from Tony Chambers, Winston Graham, Clive Anderson and Carol Glenn. Full details can be found here. If you cannot attend in person or you can join via Zoom – Click this link.
  • Motorsport can have the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. Enzo Mucci discusses how to overcome the tough times in the video below.
Motorsport Prospects Weekly Debrief for October 18, 2021 - SRO Updates their Driver Ranking Criteria and More
  • SRO Motorsports are set to revamp their driver ranking system and there are some significant changes affecting not only gentlemen drivers but young drivers looking to make the move into GT racing.

The Business of Being a Race Driver

  • The Motorsport Coaching podcast (one of my 8 podcasts all race drivers should subscribe to) has a great episode on sponsorship. You’ll learn: What sponsorship looks like during a pandemic, What sponsors are looking for, Do’s & Don’t about sponsorship proposals, and Retaining new sponsors. You can listen to the episode here.
  • Today (October 18, 2021) is the last day to enter the Win a VP Racing Sponsorship competition. Full details can be found here.

Drive & Testing Opportunities

Series News

Motorsport Prospects Weekly Debrief for October 18, 2021
  • The W Series has announced that the top eight in the championship will automatically qualify for 2022 season. This does not include members of the W Series Academy who are guaranteed drives until the end of the 2022 season.
  • With the new, expanded F2 calendar just announced, series organizer Bruno Michel has indicated that F2 set to help teams financially although no details were provided.
  • Euroformula Open is preparing for a technical upgrade of its car and tires with the changes set to be introduced in 2023. The major technical upgrade will include the arrival of an updated chassis and body kit for the lightweight Dallara 320 and new 17-inch tires from Michelin.
  • Ligier have announced that there will be upgrades for the Ligier JS P4 and JS2 R in 2022. New cars or upgrade kits will be mandatory for Ligier’s one-make Series’ from 2022.
  • Praga Cars have announced details of their six-round UK calendar for 2022. The winning prize will be a used factory R1 and will be presented to the team owner or individual owner of the R1 that wins the 2022 Praga Cup.
  • There is a new BMW M4 GT4 in development for 2023. The car, based on the new G82-model road car, will replace the current F82-generation GT4 car that debuted in 2018 and has collected numerous wins and championships around the world in various GT4 championships.

Esports & Sim Racing

  • TCR Virtual launches today (October 18, 2021) and Race Department discusses how this is different from typical Esports. You can also watch the video below.
Motorsport Prospects Weekly Debrief for October 18, 2021 - SRO Updates their Driver Ranking Criteria and More

Business of Motorsport

Motorsport Prospects Weekly Debrief for October 18, 2021
  • You can get all the details of the recent FIA World Motor Sport Council here.
  • Speaking of the FIA, ever wonder how their track grading system works? Jalopnick has a great explanation.
  • Tony Stewart shook up the NHRA with the announcement that he is starting his own team.

From the Motorsport Prospects Archives

Motorsport Prospects Weekly Debrief for October 18, 2021 - SRO Updates their Driver Ranking Criteria and More
1978 Porsche 911 Euro SC

The Motorsport Prospects Marketplace in partnership with Racing Edge has featured a wide array of very cool race cars for sale recently. Here is a sample:

Not sure if any of these are still available but a new race car is featured every Wednesday on the blog.

The Last Lap

Here are a bunch of motorsport-related tidbits that caught my eye last week.

  • The New Super-Car Club in Miami: The Concours released a video of their $220 million race track.
Motorsport Prospects Weekly Debrief for October 18, 2021 - SRO Updates their Driver Ranking Criteria and More
  • This is an older video from last July but shows drivers from Ferrari Racing Days enjoying laps at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway which must be very very cool!
Motorsport Prospects Weekly Debrief for October 18, 2021 - SRO Updates their Driver Ranking Criteria and More
  • Finally, here is a Czinger 21C Hypercar lapping and crushing the lap record at Laguna Seca.
Motorsport Prospects Weekly Debrief for October 18, 2021 - SRO Updates their Driver Ranking Criteria and More

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

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.