What’s Next for Motorsport Prospects in 2023

As 2022 draws to a close, I thought it was appropriate to fill you in on what I have planned for Motorsport Prospects in the first half of 2023. I will also touch on the period beyond that at times. This is all based primarily on the feedback that I have received from the readers of News Racers Can Use, the blog component of Motorsport Prospects.

The Mission of Motorsport Prospects

The mission of Motorsport Prospects is quite straightforward. It is to maximize your motorsport potential with the resources you need to make the right decisions now as a race driver. Regardless of whether you are a club racer, karter moving into cars, “gentleman” driver or any combination thereof, if you pay to race you will want to maximize your dollars by using those resources and tools that will further your motorsport journey. This is who Motorsport Prospects is intended to serve. It is a not a site for racing fans looking for racing news or race results. I will leave that to other, more capable people than myself.

If you would like to hear a bit more about the mission of Motorsport Prospects, have a listen to my recent appearance on the Heels on Wheels Radio Program here.

The Weekly Debrief Newsletter

The number 1 request that I have been receiving from readers of the Motorsport Prospects blog is that they want a newsletter to subscribe to so that readers do not miss any content, and this is my priority going into the winter.

Set to debut in February 2023, the Motorsport Prospects Weekly Debrief will be a summary of the previous week’s posts, provide an update on any upcoming site news, features and developments and will eventually include subscriber-only content.

In addition to that, it will allow me to gather feedback from readers as to what you want and need on Motorsport Prospects as race drivers. It will also give you the option to register on the site (for free) for you to use the tools available to users such as saving directory listings to your personal lists, commenting on blog posts and rating directory listings and having a user profile on the site.

Just as a refresher, here is the current posting schedule for News Racers Can Use. These are the regular roundup features that I publish where I curate the best information from around the world and present it to you so you can follow up with the original authors to learn from.

• Monday: Racecraft & Driver Development News, Tips & Techniques covers tips and advice on improving your racecraft on the track, news on race driver development and scholarship programs from around the world and driver spotlights on drivers you can draw inspiration from.
• Tuesday: The Business of Being a Race Driver covers sponsorship acquisition, techniques and resources helpful to getting that budget you need to race, the costs of going racing and currently available racing and testing opportunities.
• Wednesday Morning: Motorsport Series News covers racing series related news and updates from around the world including sports cars, single-seaters, touring cars, rally and more.
• Wednesday Afternoon: Every two weeks I feature a selection of Race and Road Cars for Sale in the Motorsport Prospects Marketplace in partnership with Racing Edge.
• Thursday: Sim Racing and Esports News Roundup which focuses on sim racing in the context of helping you transition to the real world of racing or using sim racing as a training tool.
• Friday: Business of Motorsport News covers global news from the business of motorsport whether that be related to Formula 1 or the local short track.
• Saturday: The Sustainable Motorsport Roundup covers the increasingly important topic of sustainable motorsport from the perspective of a series, track, team, or driver.

The Last Lap, my column of motorsport-related fun topics such as interesting motorsport history and incredible cars for sale and auction is being retired from the blog but will be incorporated into the newsletter in a “Just for Fun” section.

In addition to the regular features above, I will be increasing the quantity of exclusive features and interviews of interest to race drivers globally.

You can get a head start and sign up for the newsletter at the bottom of any page on the Motorsport Prospects website. Full details of the launch date will be released in early January 2023.

The Motorsport Prospects Directory

The heart of Motorsport Prospects is the directory, a directory aimed solely to provide easy access to resources, tools and references that a race driver is looking for.

Currently the directory, though extensive, is only a subset of what I have in my database so Phase 1 will be to update the current listings while adding new ones from this database. The process has already started.

Phase 2 will occur over the first few months of 2023 and will include a full update to the homepage of Motorsport Prospects so that the directory is front and center. It will include expanded search capabilities and an updated list of recently added listings to the directory so that you can see what has been added at a glance.

Phase 3 will be the introduction of Premium Listings to the directory. A basic listing will always remain free and helpful to users of the site, but Premium Listing owners will get substantial benefits that they can use to generate business, attract drivers and teams or otherwise reach out directly to potential customers right from the site. Full details will be revealed in Spring 2023.

If you are interested in a basic listing, please do not hesitate to contact me here. As part of the site rebuild, you will be able to add a listing directly from the website or claim your listing if it is already in the directory. All listings will be vetted and must be approved by me to ensure that they are of high quality and directly related to the needs of race drivers.

Social Media Policy

All new blog posts and news updates are posted to LinkedIn (both my page and the Motorsport Prospect page), Facebook (my page and the Motorsport Prospects page), Instagram and Twitter. New additions to the directory will also follow the same practice.

I interact primarily on LinkedIn as it is more professional and business oriented, but I also frequently post on Facebook because most of my Facebook “friends” are involved in motorsport in some way. I rarely interact on Twitter.

I have also recently joined I Like To Race, a new social media platform for motorsport. You can find me here: https://www.iliketorace.com/timeline/profile/motorsportprospects. The blog feed is also available on the site.

Please feel free to reach out and connect on whichever platform you tend to use.

Sustainability

As someone who has a regular column on sustainable motorsport, sustainability is an important part of both my personal and professional life. I attempt to integrate sustainable practices as much as possible, but I also do a lot of research on the tools and reasoning behind “sustainability” to endure that to me, it all makes sense. I do not consider myself an “environmentalist” per se, just somebody who is trying to reduce my consumption where I can as every little bit helps.

One issue that I was not aware of was the environmental impact of a website and the internet. As Motorsport Prospects is entirely a digital business, I started investigated best practices and how I can reduce the impact this website has on the environment. I explained a bit about my approach in a recent Sustainable Motorsport Roundup post:

Most race drivers, teams and motorsport service providers have websites as they are critical to maintaining a connection with stakeholders such as sponsors or customers on a platform that is under their control. What you may not be aware of is the impact that energy consumption and emissions from the internet have on the environment. According to reports, 2% of global carbon emissions come from the electricity used by the internet. One of the things that you can do to reduce your impact is to apply sustainable web design to your website. The interesting part is that sustainable websites tend to be faster and more efficient which means they are more responsive and easier to navigate for your users such as fans and potential sponsors.

Sustainable Motorsport Roundup for September 24, 2022

I will continue this path and work to increase the sustainability of Motorsport Prospects because it both decreases the usage of natural resources and coincidentally is better for the user as it makes the site faster and more efficient, allowing you to access those resources and tools you need quicker.

Is it going to be perfect? No. The point is that I am doing my best and trying. As Tom Greenwood has written and as I constantly preach, I will not let perfection become the enemy of good.

Privacy and Advertising

I take privacy extremely seriously. I am protective of my privacy and by extension the privacy of the users of Motorsport Prospects.

I respect your privacy and will always ensure that policies and programs are in place to ensure that Motorsport Prospects is a trusted source of resources and advice for you the race driver. The bottom line is that I will not sell your personal details to anybody, full stop. If a company is interested in marketing to you as a Motorsport Prospects user, they will need to do so through advertising, a policy of which I am currently working on due to numerous requests to place ads on the site.

Advertising is not currently featured on Motorsport Prospects but will come to the site at some point. Why? For two reasons primarily. Advertising done right, that focuses on the needs or potential needs of the kinds of people that use Motorsport Prospects (race drivers and those working to become race drivers) can be beneficial. You don’t know about what you don’t know about. The decision to purchase of course is completely up to you.

The other reason is for the economic sustainability of Motorsport Prospects. Advertising will eventually be one of the avenues of revenue that will enable the site to grow and continue with its mission.

So, advertising that is only beneficial to Motorsport Prospects users and that focuses on companies with products that race drivers would actually use will be those advertising on the site.

Any advertising partnerships that Motorsport Prospects may enter will be fully transparent and I will always explain how it benefits the Motorsport Prospects user. Most importantly, advertising will never dictate editorial decisions on the site.

An Invitation to Contribute

Finally, I am inviting you, the race driver and motorsport professional, the opportunity to contribute to Motorsport Prospects. Whether that be as a guest post, interview or even your latest press release, if you are involved in a team, series or motorsport-related service of use or potential use by race drivers globally, reach out to me and let’s discuss. I am always looking forward to featuring other perspectives on Motorsport Prospects and would gladly give you a voice if it will inform and be of use to the race driver.

Also, if you have found Motorsport Prospects helpful to your racing career, please contact me and let me know! I am always happy to share the news with other users of the site.

Thank You for Your Support

In closing, I would like to thank you for your support and encouragement. Every day I am constantly amazed at the brilliance and perseverance of those involved in this great sport. Racing is a passion, and it is this passion that I salute and hope to help grow here at Motorsport Prospects.

Wishing you all a happy and healthy holiday season, and a healthy and prosperous 2023 both on and off the track.

Mark Boudreau LL. B
Publisher