Archive for the ‘Life of a Professional Racer’ Category

Interview with Jeroen Bleekemolen – Porsche Supercup Champion

Monday, June 21st, 2010

Question: Jeroen within the last few years, you have managed to win the Porsche Super Cup as well as the 24 hr Le Mans in 2008. At this stage of your career, what do you do to continue improving and motivating yourself?

I just love racing cars, so it’s not hard to get motivation. Every time I step into a car I love it. Hopefully I will be in a position to win the big races like Le Mans overall and work with big manufacturers. That is my aim at the moment. Also I could imagine having a career in the US, after joining the American Le Man Series for this year.

Question: We know that as proficient you are in a Touring car, you’re just as proficient in a Formula car as you’ve also driven for A1 Team Netherlands before. But in your opinion, how does a driver know what route is better for them? GT Cars or Formula Single Seaters?

That’s hard to say. Most of the time you need to bring money to the team in Formula racing. So if you don’t have big sponsors it’s better to focus on GT racing, because there, it is easier to make money. That’s what I did. But when you have a lot of funds behind you and you believe you can make it then maybe it is worth to get your hands into Formula cars. I think a good driver can be quick in both, so that doesn’t matter. If you’re experienced and quick in both types of cars, then the versatility of your skill can get you paid.

Question: There are many kids out there struggling to find sponsors to fund their racing. What is the best kind of advice you can provide them?

If you’re struggling to have the budget for racing try to find seats where the teams have money. And do many things at the same time, one thing can lead to another. And that means you could do some karting or some touring car at the same time. You never know where your next big potential sponsor might be watching you.

Question: If you had to rank these choices in level of importance, how will you rank it starting from the most important?

  • Fitness Training
  • Driver Training
  • Psychological Training
  • Race Experience

I feel that all of them are very important but here will be my list in order of importance.

1)   Race Experience

2)   Driver Training

3)   Fitness Training

4)   Psychological and mental training

Question: Being the son of a ex Formula 1 Driver must have been quite an advantage to you. Other than your father, is there anyone else that was pinnacle to helping you develop your race craft to the stage it is today?

I’ve had help from a lot of nice people around me, but at the end of the day I do most of the things myself as ultimately, I’m the driver that sponsors are looking at. My father’s contacts can only get me so far. This works for me well. And it’s always good to have experienced people around you who can help you out or give advice. I can understand the direction of my career a lot more easily with advice, so it is very important to have experienced and knowledgeable people around you all the time.

Question: For Kids that wish to drive in drive in a Le Mans Car one day, what series will you recommend they take part in as a way to gain sponsors attention and also to train their race craft?

The best way to get to Le Mans is to do GT racing. Of course Le Man Series or American Le Man Series is great, because those are the same cars that will be competing in your class. But as a start, series like the Porsche Supercup is also very good for learning and it would mean a lot in the eyes of sponsors and teams if you win.

They can start maybe in local GT racing. I also drive in our Dutch GT4 championship and that would be a nice series to start. I think most countries have a nice GT championship. So start with the local races and learn from there as it is cheaper and then move on to something like Porsche Supercup for more exposure and experience.

Question: Last but not least, Any kind advice for the kids in relation to development of their careers?

Work hard and try to get nice people around you. Any help you can get, take it. Remember that winning is always good for your career. Even if you have to take a step back it doesn’t matter, as long as you win. Winning will only make your profile more glamorous and easy to recognize.

Global Racing Schools will like to thank Jeroen for his time in granting us this interview.

Insider Secrets of Racing – Part 2

Saturday, January 30th, 2010

We have talked about how to master your Karting career in Part 1 of our Insider secrets article. To recap, here is what we talked about:

1. Driving Skills
Don’t focus too much on your equipment. Make sure that you are driving well before investing in expensive data logging equipment or a new chassis. Whilst the kart has a influence on the lap times, 90% of the time, the main component for reducing lap times falls on the driver, which is you.

2. Kart Technical Knowledge
Knowing your kart well is essential for attaining good results. If you can’t work out what is wrong with it, your mechanic will have a harder time trying to figure it out, using trial and error methods.

Think about it as if you are trying to drive with your eyes blindfolded. It will be virtually impossible. Thus, it is important to understand your equipment and know how it behaves. Only then, will you be able to work with your technical team to come out with the best possible set up. Even in more competitive levels of motorsport, it holds true. If the driver doesn’t give good enough feedback about the car, the technical director will find it harder to do his job, and that is to get you to the podium.
3. Fitness
A race is a test of not just your physical strength, but your mental fitness as well. You should take an all rounded approach to developing yourself. In order to succeed, you must train yourself mentally to do so. Otherwise, you would just be hindering yourself and reducing your chances of finishing in top spot.

If you haven’t been working on your physical training, you will find yourself struggling to maintain your pace as the laps go on. Without even realizing, simply because your body is becoming fatigued, you will start to drive in a less aggressive way that reduces the pressure on your body.

Either way, you need to know your limits, both physically and mentally. Only when you understand this, and you take steps to improve these attributes, will you be able to race at an optimum level.

So what comes next after Karting?

On a weekly basis, we receive hundreds of emails by enthusiastic parents asking us how to get their child a career in motor sport after they have mastered Karting.

The first thing we always ask them is:

“Please define what you mean by Mastered Karting?”

Majority of the time, they will tell us that their child has won a number of races on a club level and has been Karting for about 5 years now. Their child has joined the Rotax National Championships and has been to all 5 grand finals. They believe that their child is ready to rise up the ranks of Formula Single Seater Racing.

Now that maybe where the problem lies.

There are many mistakes that parents make when deciding if their child is ready for Formula Single Seater racing. Here are some:

1)    Parents make the decision solely on the child’s age. They try to push them into a Single Seater by 16. Whilst it may be harder to move to Formula Racing at a later age, it is never wise to make a decision for your child based on his age. What would be more important, would be to understand his/her development, seeing whether he has already peaked at his maximum potential in Karting, before moving up the ladder. We strongly advise against moving too quickly, because it may have a lower chance of getting far over the long run.

2)    Parents usually look at their child’s racing results based on the club or national level. Motorsports is extremely competitive and the difference in time between the best driver and the driver behind him may only be a fraction of a second. However these are the very fractions of seconds that are crucial in determining whether you are on the podium or not. What you should be doing is to see if they are competitive enough in Karting on the international level. This would be a true test of their ability to face stiff competition and would do more good than rushing in Formula Single Seater. So take the time to analyze your position, it will work out.

As a rule of thumb, here are some guidelines anybody who is currently Karting and intends to move up to singe seater racing. Once you have achieved this level of Karting, you would be ready to take the leap to Formula:

1)    Have been Karting competitively for at least 3 years
2)    Won podium position in at least 70% of all races entered
3)    Taken part in Rotax Finals and finished top 10
4)    Taken part in Italian Winter Cup and Finish Top 10
5)    World Series of Karting and finish Top 10
6)    Have driven for a factory team for at least 1 season

If the first thought that pops into your head is “Aren’t those requirements a little too demanding?”

Yes it is! And that is what is needed

to succeed in this competitive sport. Karting is the most fundamental level of racing and it is the most important category for every aspiring Formula 1 driver. Even in the Karting level, there is a huge level of competition and it is VERY difficult to achieve the results stat

ed above. However if you are able to do so, then it would certainly be worth investing more time and money into developing a career out of racing.
That is why we advise that if your child has not achieved these results, try to take some time to think of an alternative to sending them into Formula Single Seater. Maybe driver training on specific areas of driving is all they need. The funding for Formula Single Seater can be very expensive, so you will definitely want to think twice before you make that leap of faith decision.
So lets look at some of the cost involved.

Racing Cost

Let us look at the cost of racing in 2 scenarios.
Scenario A: Cost of 5 years of Competing in Karting nationally and  Internationally
Scenario B: Cost of 3 years of Competing in Karting and 2 years of Formula BMW

Costing for 1 season(Euro)               Scenario A                     Scenario B
Winter Cup                                      15,000×5= 75,000             15,000×3 = 45,000
WSK                                                125,000×5= 625,000         125,000×3 = 375,000
Rotax Championship                       20,000×5= 100,000           20,000×3 = 60,000
Formula BMW Europe                                                                  300,000 x2 = 600,000

Total                                               800,000                              1,080,000

The difference in cost is prevalent. It is approximately Euro 200,000 more expensive to jump into Formula BMW when you’re not ready with a lesser chance of getting a good result.

It is much harder to find a sponsor to enter in Formula BMW when you have not had great results in Karting. But if you have great results in Karting, sponsors will be more willing and likely to sponsor you.

With these simple tips, you can be sure that your child will not have a large problem in terms of funding his racing because you’re ensuring he is getting the right exposure at the right time to attract the right people.

Below are examples on drivers who were groomed from Karting into their current positions today. This will give you an idea of how important Karting is to sponsors and teams.

Nyck de Vries ( Age: 14)

2008 – 2009     WSK KF3 Champion
2008 – 2009     European KF3 Champion
2008 – 2009     German KF3 Champion

Result: Signed by Mclaren into Driver Development Program

Sebastian Vettel ( Age: 22)

European champion ICA Junior 2001
German Junior Kart champion 2001
Winner of the Monaco Kart Cup in the ICA Junior class 2001
Winner of the NRW Cup in the Bambini A class 1998
DMV Süd Landesmeisterschaft champion in the Bambini A class 1998.
DMV Bundesmeisterschaft champion in the Bambini B class 1997
DMV Süd Landesmeisterschaft champion in the Bambini B class 1997
Winner of the NRW Cup in the Bambini B class 1997

Result: Signed by Redbull into Junior Team which led to F1

Will Stevens ( Age: 17)

Third in WSK International Series KF1 2008.
Second in Andrea Margutti Trophy – KF2 2007.
Asian-Pacific champion in the KF2 class 2007.
European champion in the KF2 class 2007.
Italian Open Masters champion in the KF2 class 2007.
Second in South Garda Winter Cup ICA Junior 2006.
WSK International Series champion in the ICA Junior class 2006.
British champion ICA Junior 2005.
Third in Torneo Industrie 100cc Junior 2005.
Stars of Tomorrow National champion in the Rotax Mini Max class 2004.

Result: Signed by Brawn GP ( Now Mercedes GP) into Driver Development Program

As you can now see, the Formula to glory is Simple. Stick with the basics and do it well. If you aren’t winning in Karting, it is difficult to win anywhere else.

In the Next Installment, We will talk about Motorsport Development beyond Karting. Stay tuned.

“Fundamentals is the key to being a great driver”

Piquet moves to NASCAR for 2010

Tuesday, January 12th, 2010

Nelson PiquetNelsinho Piquet has revealed he will be racing in NASCAR this year after giving up on landing a Formula 1 drive.

The Brazilian, who has been involved in the ‘crashgate’ affair after leaving the Renault F1 team during the 2009 season, did not confirm in which series he will race this year, but made it clear it will be in NASCAR, meaning it will be either the Truck, the Nationwide or the Sprint Cup series.

Piquet tested a NASCAR truck from the Red Horse Racing team in October last year and is expected to test again this month.

“I have spent the last few months carefully evaluating my options for this year,” Piquet wrote on his website. “I had to choose a path and it was a difficult decision to make.

“Being successful in Formula 1 was always my goal but I have learnt that happiness is just as important as ambition and after my first 18 months in F1 did not go as planned I have decided to focus on something different and have chosen to take a route in America.

“NASCAR is hugely challenging and nobody has ever come in as an outsider before and gone on to win it – it will be the ultimate challenge.

“I will let you know more details on the exact programme soon.”

He added: “This will be an awesome new challenge for me, and a healthy one. I have always been open to new challenges and I will be putting everything I have into this. I have found a good group of people that are really willing to help me in my career and I am grateful that they are there for me.

“I think it will be a positive environment and a good life experience. I am sure this year is going to be fantastic and I am very excited at the prospect of my future.I will miss Europe and all the friends I have there but I will always have my successes there to be proud of.

“I am sure I’ll still do some racing in Europe as I have a lot of ambitions in my life, one of which has always been to win the Le Mans 24 Hours.”

Source: autosport.com

Kimi Raikkonen’s Future Revealed: Rallying for Citroen’s Junior Team

Tuesday, December 8th, 2009

Kim Raikkonen, the 30-year-old 2007 World Champion, will be rallying next season for Citroen’s junior rally team in the WRC.

The Finn has signed a one year deal with Citroen’s Red Bull backed junior team. This would give Citroen a great boost, having the greatest driver in Rallying in their main team, Sebastian Loeb, and an ex-F1 World Champion.

Kimi will team up with fellow compatriot Kaj Lindstrom as his co-driver, who previously partnered multiple rally champion Tommi Makinen.

“I always wanted to compete in rally, especially in the World Rally Championship at some point in my career,” said Raikkonen, who impressed on his debut at the Rally Finland, earlier this year. ”Thanks to Red Bull, I have the opportunity to drive the best car of the series with the Citroen C4.”

Citroen team boss Olivier Quesnel as released a statement about Citroen’s future.

“We will continue to count on Sebastien and Dani to defend our world titles in 2010. We will also be prolonging our association with Sebastien Ogier who showed outstanding potential this year.

“Last but not least, it is with immense joy that we welcome Kimi Raikkonen to our ranks. We are very proud he has chosen Citroen.”

Raikkonen will contest 12 out of 13 events, as the team are not entered into the New Zealand Rally.

Raikkonen has said he will return to F1, but only if he is offered a seat in a title winning car, stating, “We will see what happens in the future.”

Raikkonen is taking a sabbatical after Spaniard Fernando Alonso was given his seat at Ferrari, and Kimi failed to secure a seat at his old team, McLaren, who took the 2009 World Champion Jensen Button instead.

The question is now, however, is whether many Raikkonen fan’s will begin watching more Rallying to see if their can man perform as well as he has done in F1.

Source: Bleacher report

Construction of an F1 car

Thursday, October 29th, 2009

Design Office

The race-day performance of an F1 car has already been determined at the design stage. The design process is a path of evolution to enhance strengths and eliminate weaknesses, all with the goal of developing the finest F1 machine in the world.

CAD department at Toyota

Working under Keizo Takahashi, general manager of car design and development, Toyota’s design department uses CATIA’s state-of-the-art computer-aided design (CAD) software. An F1 car has about 3,500 separate elements, the majority of which have to be designed separately but must fit together with the utmost precision.
But long before any of the details have been designed, an F1 team determines the overall philosophy for their car. The team must balance potentially conflicting spatial requirements of the engine and gearbox, while the suspension and the aerodynamics must be reconciled into a package that is quick, but not unwieldy to actually produce and repair.
Although F1 cars must conform to a minimum weight limit of 600kg, the advantage of building the car underweight is that the engineers can optimize it to suit individual circuits by mounting ballast on different parts of the chassis.
Speeding up work with a lasersinter

The designers look to make many changes during the course of a season, whether to try out new aerodynamic parts or to accommodate changes to the engine or gearbox. A more powerful engine, for instance, will generate more heat, so the designers will have to improve heat dissipation – perhaps by installing larger radiators, or by finding more clever ways to vent the hot air aft of the radiators without impairing the aerodynamics. Designers also need to produce several variations of certain parts to suit specific circuits, including larger brake ducts for tracks that require heavy braking. Modern technology enables the designers to produce prototype parts easily, quickly and accurately. The composites department has a lasersinter machine that can produce high-quality parts in only a few hours. The lasersinter is a high-accuracy laser that selectively fuses together a polyamide powder to create the component. They do not have the structural strength of carbon fiber, but can be used in the wind tunnel or as molds for composite parts.

Chassis Construction

To achieve the highest standard of quality and consistency, Panasonic Toyota Racing uses the most sophisticated measuring equipment available. The machines in Toyota’s CNC (Computerized Numerical Control) department can mill the smallest of components to an accuracy of four microns – about 25 times less than the width of a human hair – from a range of materials that include aluminum and magnesium. This is the sort of precision that F1 demands. As well as producing suspension and gearbox components, the CNC workshop makes the majority of the engine and many of the patterns that are used in the composites department to create the bodywork molds. In the composites department, the car as you recognize it begins to take shape.

Assembling an F1 car

Most structural composite components have an aluminum honeycomb core bonded with several layers of carbon fiber.

Step 1: CuttingA computer-controlled ultrasonic cutting machine slices precisely measured sheets of resin-impregnated carbon fiber cloth. Until it is cut, the carbon fiber has to be stored at – 18 °C, because it begins to harden at room temperature. An ultrasonic cutting machine is not a luxury- its speed and accuracy are vital. Some detailed cutting work is also performed by hand.

Step 2: MoldingThe cut sheets are laid into molds of predetermined patters in a special air-conditioned clean room. This pattern of interwoven matting is what gives the finished component its strength. The material is then put in a vacuum bag.

Step 3: AutoclaveOnce the parts have been put in a vacuum bag, they are moved to the autoclave. The autoclave is a sealed vessel that applies pressure (between two and six times normal atmospheric pressure) and heat. The pressure, combined with the vacuum bag, ensures that components fit the molds exactly, while the heat (usually between 130 and 140°C) hardens the resin. Since this process is computer controlled, the design team can change the programs as necessary.

Step 4: AssemblyWhen finished, the parts are sent to the assembly division for finishing. Even parts formed to such precise specifications must be detailed by human hands to fit properly. This ensures that all parts can fit together properly. If drilling or other machining is required, the parts are sent back to the CNC division.

Engine Technology

Only two other F1 teams (Ferrari & Renault) constructs both its own engines and chassis. The close coordination between these two technical departments confers an advantage because it enables Panasonic Toyota Racing’s designers and engineers to envision the car as a whole from the very first concept drawings. The word “drawing” is something of a misnomer, since the engines and chassis are designed on computers using CATIA CAD software. It takes around 1500 detailed “drawings” to make a complete engine.

Toyota RVX-05

Luka Marmorini, General Manager of the Engine Division

“Our facilities are state-of-the-art. We have all the tools and people we need. We have hired some young engineers, some people from within F1, and we have people who have worked on Toyota’s rally and Le Mans programs. It is a good mix of experience.” Achieving the correct balance of performance, reliability and weight requires a methodical approach.

The engineering test bench. The engine sits below the thick exhaust duct. Exhaust pipes are created by hand. It takes one technician 50 hours to complete one pipe, and each pipe only has a life of one race.

The mechanics working in the engine workshop build and rebuild around 300 engines a year.The rebuilding process is not merely reassembly; around 40 percent of the 4,500 components will have to be replaced by new ones. All in all, it’s a 200-hour job. The engine department has eight dynamometers that perform pre-race checks. These simulations use actual race data, which lets the engineers recreate realistic conditions for an engine without it ever leaving the factory.
Marmorini “Our goal is to make several performance leaps during a season. Of course, we cannot sacrifice reliability, which is why we take such pain-staking measures in production and testing.”

Aerodynamics

Hilhorst’s team has been working 16 hour days since Toyota’s wind tunnel became operational in early 2002.
A wind tunnel experiment in progress

Toyota’s wind tunnel is capable of simulating speeds in excess of 200mph on a half-scale model of a car. The steel belt “rolling road” accurately simulates the movement of a real road beneath the car – even though the car is stationary in the wind tunnel.
CFD Simulations Conducted First

Since minute changes can affect the flow of air across the entire surface of the car, the aerodynamicists must prioritize their ideas. Often they will use computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software to test the effectiveness of potential improvements before actually designing and making a new part. This not only saves money, it also minimizes the risk of spending days or weeks researching changes that do not result in an improvement.

Aerodynamics division technicians make minute adjustments to a wind tunnel model car.Some aspects of a car’s behavior are difficult to predict in software – pitch sensitivity, for instance, where the aerodynamics are adversely affected by the pitching of the car under acceleration and braking.

“CFD is useful,” says a staff member, “but ultimately you must put your ideas to the test for real, either in the wind tunnel or out on track. If your preparation has been good, you will see the improvements.”

Source: Panasonic Toyota Racing

Understanding Formula One: Aerodynamics

Thursday, October 15th, 2009

Modern Formula One cars have as much in common with a jet fighter as they do with ordinary road cars. Nope, that isn’t a joke.

Aerodynamics have become vital to achieving meaningful success in the sport and teams spend hundreds of millions of pounds on research, development and analysis of aerodynamics each year.

The designer of the aerodynamic package has two concerns – the creation of downforce, which helps to push the tyres of the car onto the track and improve the optimum cornering speed; and minimising the drag that is caused by turbulence and acts to slow the car down, something similar to the many years of research spent on stopping aeroplanes creating vortices at the edge of the wings. F1 teams began to experiment with the wings in the late ’60s. Racing car wings operate on exactly the same kind of principle as aircraft wings, but in reverse.

Air flows at varying speeds over the two sides of the wing (by having to travel varying distances over its contours) and this then creates a significant difference in air pressure, a physical rule known as Bernoulli’s Principle.

As this pressure tries to balance, the wing attempts to move in the direction of the low pressure to try and cancel the effect of the pressure. Planes use their wings to create lift to help them get off the ground; racing cars use theirs to create downforce to keep the car on the track.

A modern Formula One car is now capable of developing a staggering 4.5 g lateral cornering force (four and a half times its own weight) thanks to aerodynamic downforce. That means that, theoretically, at high speeds they could drive upside down, I bet nobody is brave enough to try it though.

Early experiments with movable wings and high wing mountings led to some horrific accidents, after which safety concerns over the need for speed as cars got heavier and heavier, and for the 1970 Formula One season, regulations were introduced to limit the size and location of wings. Some of these rules still resonate in current regulations. By the mid ’70s, “ground effect” downforce had been discovered, a discovery that would change the understanding of downforce eternally. Lotus engineers realised that the entire car could be made to act like a wing by the creating a giant wing on its underside which would help to suck it to the road.

The perfect example of this theory was the Brabham BT46B, designed by car design God Gordon Murray who designed the legendary McLaren MP4/4, which actually used a cooling fan to extract air from the skirted area under the car, creating astonishing amount of downforce not even matched today. That sounds mad even by today’s double diffuser standards.

After technical challenges from other teams (yup, they kicked up a fuss that long ago as well) it was withdrawn after just one race. Rule changes then followed to try and limit the benefits of “ground effects”—first came a ban on the skirts used by the teams to contain the low pressure area, later a requirement for a “stepped floor.”

Despite the expensive full-sized wind tunnels and ridiculously vast computing power used by the aerodynamic departments of the vast majority of teams (boffins), the fundamental principles of Formula One aerodynamics still apply – to create the maximum amount of downforce for the minimal amount of drag.

The front and rear wings are fitted with different profiles and settings depending on the downforce requirements of a particular track. Tight, slow and short circuits like Monaco require the most aggressive wing profiles—eagle-eyed fans will have noticed that the cars run two separate blades of elements on the rear wings (two is the maximum permitted).

In contrast, high-speed circuits like Monza see the cars stripped of as much wing as possible, to reduce drag and increase speed on the long straights. This makes the car very slippery and difficult to hold onto in corner like Ascari and the Lesmos’.

Every single little surface of a modern Formula One car, from the angle of the suspension links to that of the driver’s helmet, has its aerodynamic effects considered.

Disturbed air, where the flow “separates” from the body, creates turbulence which then creates drag—which slows the car down, as mentioned previously. Look at any recent car, apart from a 2007/08 Honda, and you will notice that almost as much effort, and money, has been spent reducing drag as increasing downforce – from the vertical end-plates fitted to the wings to prevent vortices forming, to the diffuser plates mounted low at the back, which help to re-equalise pressure of the faster-flowing air that has passed under the car and would otherwise create a low-pressure ‘balloon’ dragging at the back.

Despite this, designers can’t make their cars too “slippery,” as a good supply of airflow has to be ensured to help dissipate the vast amounts of heat produced by a modern Formula One engine. A slippery car is difficult to control difficult to drive fast and is therefore slower, despite whatever aids there may be.

In recent years, the vast majority of Formula One teams have tried to emulate Ferrari’s “narrow waist” design, where the rear of the car is made as narrow and low as is physically possible. This reduces drag and maximises the amount of air available to the rear wing. The ‘barge boards’ fitted to the sides of cars also helped to shape the flow of the air and minimise the amount of turbulence.

Ferrari’s unique approach to aerodynamic and technical design brought them five consecutive drivers’ championships, and six consecutive constructors’ championships. They created two phenomenally dominant Formula One cars, the F2002 and the F2004. Both cars adopted the “narrow and low” design language and exploited it to its full potential, often dominating races and entire seasons.

New technical regulations were introduced in 2005, and they forced the aerodynamicists to be even more ingenious (imagine how sore their heads were from all of that thinking).

In a bid to cut speeds, the FIA robbed the cars of a huge chunk of downforce by raising the front wing, bringing the rear wing forward and modifying the profile of the rear diffuser, the boring gits. The designers quickly clawed back much of the loss, with a variety of intricate and novel solutions such as the horn winglets first seen on the McLaren MP4-20.This infuriated the FIA, so they then introduced the stupid “one-tyre only” rule per race to make the cars slower, and unfortunately for us, it worked.

Most of those innovations were effectively outlawed under the even more stringent aerodynamic regulations imposed by the FIA for 2009.

The changes were designed to promote overtaking by making it easier for a car to closely follow another. They can follow closer, but the drivers must still be significantly faster than the other car, or have KERS ready to use, which the vast majority of the driver do not.

The new rules take the cars into another new era, as if we needed it after the brilliant 2008 season; with lower and wider front wings, taller and narrower rear wings, and generally much “cleaner” bodywork.

The FIA thought they had succeeded in making the cars slower, but again, they failed, the teams managed to make the even faster than last season, with Brawn, Williams and Toyota innovating the phenomenal double-decker diffusers, entailing a whole new understanding of aerodynamics. Well, we now come to the end of the aerodynamics section of the “Understanding Formula One” series Source: bleacher report

Formula BMW Assessment Sponsorship Review

Thursday, October 1st, 2009

Driver: EFTYHIOS ELLINAS

Eftyhios is an extremely talented young driver that has plenty of experience in local and international karting events. Eftyhios is a world Champion in the Vortex ROK Cup and also a Cyprus Rotax National Champion. However the problem is that funding is coming as an issue for Eftyhios as he is moving up the ladder to higher forms of motorsport. Although he is talented, the cost of driving in Formula BMW is simply something that is not easy for him to be able to fork out by himself. In Europe, the cost for 1 season in Formula BMW may cost as much as Euro 450,000 inclusive of training and testing sessions for the driver.

So he approached Global Racing Schools for help on this issue and we were more than happy to put him inside our Driver assessment program that is aimed at finding the best driver to sponsor right up to Formula 1 level. So on 23rd Oct 2009, he arrived in Leicester, UK for his driver test with our top world renowned coaches from the industry.

There were a total of 8 drivers for the day. The number of drivers were kept as low as possible so as to ensure that only the highest level of attention was given to individual drivers. Eftyhios  arrived on track at 8.45 and was invited to the VIP Hospitality tent to have breakfast and some refreshments while the briefing commerced.

Eftyhios was then introduced to the all the coaches and chief instructor, Rob Wilson.  Rob Wilson needs no introduction to motor sport enthusiasts around the globe. A fast and successful competitor in all types of racing cars for the past 33 years, Rob is a highly respected driving guru of a number of today’s leading F1, GP2, Aussie V8, Rally, Porsche Supercup, F3, Palmer Audi and Formula Renault stars, including David Coulthard, Kimi Raikkonen and Valentino Rossi. He is also the chief evaluator for F1 drivers for Honda Racing and Red Bull Racing.

This was followed by a short Q & A session.

Then the program involved driving a Renault Clio Sport with Rob Wilson and one of his coaches.
Eftyhios spent the world day being coached and he said this about the training:

“ The Coaching from my instructor Rob Wilson was extremely and utterly good! I have really taken so many things about what he said about my driving that I never did know. I learnt techniques of steering, braking and also to get a good feel for the car so that I can drive it to its limit. He was a great instructor as from his work with other big names in motor racing and he was very professional in the way he coached me.”

Eftyhios was then paired up with another driver to continue his coaching session with a series of coaches for the day to train him to set the best lap. Driving continued for the rest of the  from 11:00AM to 5:00PM with a break for lunch from 1:00PM to 2:00PM.

The results of whether Eftyhios made it to Round 2 will be known in November but from prejudgment insides from the instructors:
“He definitely has the talent to be a professional driver with the right coaching”

We wish Eftyhios all the best in his bid to get through to Round 2. With our driver assessment program, he will stand a chance to get a fully paid season in Formula BMW, be paid a salary and have his expenses paid for him while he just concentrates on racing. We’ll be keeping you updated.

Insider Secrets Of Racing – Part 1

Wednesday, September 30th, 2009

By: Daniel Charles

This section will be an article series that we’re be launching for the coming weeks which aims to provide information on questions that drivers always seem to ask us. So let us just use our 1st issue to answer our most asked question by our drivers from all around the world. Sometimes we even get up to 100 emails a day asking us the very same question. So what is the question?

“How do I become a Professional Race car driver?”

When answering this question, you must first understand that there is many parts to this question. There is no 1 straight way to becoming a professional race car driver. You need funding, skill, dedication, training and a lot of luck! But from the pattern of what most drivers go through, their career path to become a professional race car driver almost always starts off from the humble roots of Go karting.

Go karting is the most basic form of racing that can help you learn many fundamentals techniques that you’ll be using later on in your racing career. These fundamentals that you’ll be learning includes:

Knowledge of different types of corners
Braking and racing lines
Race Strategies
Overtaking and blocking maneuvers etc

All these are the core essences of what racing is all about and usually to truly master these basics, you need to be karting for about 6 – 7 years. Start off with a local race at your local kart track and attend a kart training school by a recognized coach after your first couple of months of karting. After that, get yourself involved in european kart racing ( Where all the action happens), by racing in a team and attending a full season of karting in competitions such as “ Italian open Masters Series”

The reason why you want to attend kart competitions in Europe is for 2 main reasons:

1)The competition there is the most competitive in the world so it will help you train your racing skills
2)All the major big sponsors reside in Europe such as the factory teams

So if you’re good in your race craft and you race in Europe, your chances of getting spotted by a sponsor or kart factory is higher. If that happens you may not need to deal with large financial issues after you’re ready to move out of karting.

Karting is not simply a sport that takes a few twisted metal piping with a lawn mower engine thrown on it. It takes skill to set up your kart and to learn how to race it. To truly master karting, a kart driver has to take note of 3 main aspects:

  1. Driving Skills
  2. Kart Technical Knowledge
  3. Fitness abilities

Driving Skills


Driving a kart is simple to operate. Right pedal to accelerate and left pedal to brake. Initially you may find it easy to drive the kart around the track and you will usually see huge cuts in your timing in your lap times as you get more and more comfortable with your kart. But after a while, when you reach a peak, you realise that no matter what you do, you can’t go any faster to break the circuit record that you’re eyeing on. That is when you know that you’ll need to attend a kart racing course to take you to the next level. The training will usually point out aspects of your driving that you’re losing time on and these may include:

  1. Too aggressive with steering
  2. Too much use on the kerbs
  3. Too slow on the pedals
  4. Improper pressure placed on brake pedals
  5. Wrong racing and braking lines for corners
  6. Incorrect weight distribution on the kart

All these can be worked on and improved to bring your lap times lower. You’ll be surprise that just through a 3 day karting course you may have improved your lap times by up to 6 seconds per lap. It is definitely something that you will want to take note of the next time you’re stuck in a plateau in your driving abilities.

Kart Technical Knowledge

There are many kart drivers out there with fantastic racing abilities but when it comes down to setting up a kart, they know nothing about it. But why is this important? You may think that as a driver your job is only to drive. That is where you’re WRONG!

You need to be able to know what is wrong with the kart so that you’ll be able to give that feedback to your race engineer. Only then he can help you tune your machine to better suit what you’re looking for e.g. more grip in the rear end. By knowing your equipment, you’ll be able to get the perfect set up for your kart in a much shorter amount of time. That saves time during competitions and it also gives you the chance to have a sensitive feel of what is wrong with the kart at any point of time.

For an inexperienced kart driver, he wouldn’t be able to tell if the kart is bent and may go on driving it telling the race engineer that everything with the kart is fine. But for an experienced kart driver that knows his equipment, he will be able to pick these up in an instant. And once these problems are sorted out, you’ll usually notice that it may be the difference between winning and losing.

Fitness abilities

Fitness is something that many drivers also overlook. That is because most drivers feel that as long as they can survive the number of laps required then it should be fine. But what they fail to know is that merely surviving the physical demands of the track and conquering the demands of the track can make a difference of up to 0.5 seconds per lap.

That may not seem like a lot but when you add up that difference every lap over the course of 30 – 50 laps, you’ll be a long way behind when the race ends. So establish your fitness level by eating healthy and maintain a good balance in the food that you eat. We’ll be taking more on this in the coming articles too.

Summary

When someone ask “ What is the route to become a professional racer”, the closest answer will have to be “Start karting now” Karting is the most basic form of racing and you need to have an adequate amount of that before you can decide to move on to higher levels of motorsports. The skills that you learn from karting will stay with you forever and you’ll always be looking back at your roots for fundamental racing techniques.

But you have to know that racing/ karting is not merely about driving. There are issues like physical health, driver skill and also technical knowledge. When all these combine, it makes up the essence of a talented driver.

Now do you have what it takes to be a racer? We’ll see.

In the next Issue:

In the next issue, we’ll be looking at what steps to take after you have master karting to move on to your goals in higher levels of motorsports such as touring car racing and formula racing.

Stay tuned for our next newsletter for that.

2010 Driver Market Analysis: Can We Please See Some Action?

Sunday, September 6th, 2009

Never before have we gone this late in the season without knowing very much about the look of the grid for next season. But the game seems to have changed greatly over the last few weeks. Going team-by-team, in order of Constructor Standings:

Brawn

Everything that Team Principal Ross Brawn is saying about next year indicates that he wants to bring back the current driver lineup of Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello. And why not? Both drivers have delivered this season, and they appear to have a friendship and good working relationship.

The only issue that Brawn needs to consider is the unique driver market in 2010. Only five drivers on the grid—Lewis Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel, Mark Webber, and Felipe Massa- have confirmed race seats next season.

As such, there has never been such an abundance of talent on the market at one time, especially young talent. Brawn may feel that, in order to secure a young talent for the future, he may need to dump Barrichello to make way for one.

But if Ross Brawn is anything, it’s patient and forward-thinking. He knows how well his current team is gelling now, and with Barrichello still on form and having plenty of juice left in the tank for another go or so, there’s not really much of a reason to dump him. There will surely be opportunities in the future to sign young talent, especially if the team builds on its success this season.

Predicted Drivers Button and Barrichello.

Red Bull

Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber are confirmed for next season.

Ferrari

Ferrari have confirmed Massa will be ready for the start of next season and will be with the team.

The Fernando Alonso-to-Ferrari rumors just will not die, even though they should. Ferrari have maintained throughout that both Massa and Kimi Raikkonen are contracted for next season, and they have done so without waffling.

Furthermore, Raikkonen has come alive since Hungary, with three-straight podiums and a win. He’s done something for the first time in his career that many people didn’t think he was capable of doing: taking leadership of a team during a difficult time.

Ferrari would be stupid to dump Raikkonen at this point, given that the Iceman has shown he still has it and that he and Massa have a good working relationship. They would be taking an especially high risk with Alonso, who, regardless of what one thinks about his driving ability, has shown he’s willing to blow up a team if things don’t go his way.

Furthermore complicating the “Alonso-to-Ferrari” plot is a report that the team made an aggressive approach to Vettel before he signed an extension with Red Bull, apparently offering him a seat beginning in 2011. This just happens to be the year that both Raikkonen’s and Massa’s contracts expire, as well as the year by which Alonso is supposedly guaranteed to be in a red car.

If this is true, then it calls into question what interest they really had in Alonso, who surely wouldn’t approve of having to go up against another young super-talent.

Predicted Drivers Raikkonen and Massa

McLaren

Martin Whitmarsh has finally signalled McLaren’s intent in the driver market, and that intent has a familiar ring to it when it comes to the team’s strategy in hiring drivers:

Hire the best driver they can.

The persisitent rumor is that Mercedes’ thirst for a German driver will sway McLaren to hire Nico Rosberg, the young German ubertalent. But if Whitmarsh’s recent comments are any indication, talent will come before other concerns.

Whitmarsh stated in Valencia that his greatest regret is that McLaren did not manage the situation with Alonso properly in 2007, indicating that his desired situation is to have two championship drivers in the team pushing each other.

He has also publicly backed Raikkonen in the media in a variety of situations. When David Coulthard questioned Raikkonen’s car development ability, Whitmarsh retorted that the Iceman’s contribution to development was very valuable.

He furthermore praised Raikkonen’s performance publicly in Valencia, all in the context of firing the “improve your race pace, or else” warning to Heikki Kovalainen.

Whitmarsh’s comments may be intended as a signal to the Raikkonen camp that Macca wants him, as does his statement that he will wait and see what happens with Alonso before Woking makes their driver move. But every sign from Maranello points to Raikkonen being in a red car next season.

If McLaren are going to hire the best man can, which they have signalled to be their intent, then it appears they need to decide if they think Rosberg or Robert Kubica is better.

Rosberg has shown promise in many moments in his F1 career, and this season he has displayed consistency perhaps unmatched by any other driver on the grid. It is also apparent that he has high technical savvy, as he scored the highest ever on the technical aptitude test that Williams gives to its drivers

On the other hand, Kubica is perhaps the more skilled driver of the two. While Rosberg has not particularly shown in wet races, Kubica has thrived in them with an array of impressive rain drives from the moment he entered F1. Furthermore, Kubica is the one who has achieved a grand prix victory and proved he can contend in the thick of a championship campaign.

And with cars having similar performance levels relative to the rest of the grid in 2006, Kubica outperformed Rosberg in the brief period at the end of the season in which he raced that year.

Both drivers came through the the development path with Hamilton and are well-acquainted and friendly with him, suggesting that the working relationship at McLaren would be harmonious.

While Kubica is linked to Renault and Rosberg has said that staying at Williams is a possibility, both are in prime position to move themselves into more competitive cars and teams for next season. In Formula One, such a chance doesn’t come often, if more than once or even ever.

McLaren is the team with the most resources and promise of consistent competitiveness season-to-season. If either Kubica or Rosberg get the call, you can bet they’ll answer.

Predicted Drivers Hamilton and Kubica or Rosberg

Toyota

It has long been rumored that Toyota is on the way out of Formula One, but a recent reports indicate that they will remain but with cost cuts.

Toyota is probably in the worst position of signing drivers of any team currently on next season’s grid, as their budget for next season reportedly will not be approved in Japan until after the 2009 championship is over. This puts them likely not only at a development disadvantage next season, but also with less leverage in the driver market.

Compounding the problem for them is that, despite reportedly spending more money than any other team for a long time in Formula One, they have yet to win their first grand prix or have a sniff at the championship. They blew their one chance at a win this season with a poor strategy in Bahrain, a weekend in which they had the quickest car.

Toyota has signalled that they want Timo Glock back. But Glock will likely have offers from teams whose competitive future looks brighter than Toyota’s, so keeping him will be a task.

They have signalled that they will part with Jarno Trulli, who didn’t help himself with his botching of what looked to be a shot at victory in Spa with his poor start. Odds are he will have to deliver a win, and soon, if he’s to keep his seat.

Toyota won’t contend for young drivers like Rosberg and Kubica, who will surely have their pick of more competitive seats to fill. As large cost cuts are expected, it’s more like they will sign at least one affordable veteran driver to replace Trulli.

One strong possibility for the seat is Kovalainen, who appears to be exiting McLaren. It is reported that many teams think he is better than the form he’s shown with Macca, and he would be an affordable hire who has previously shown competitive form in a midfield car.

Another possibility would be Nick Heidfeld, who is looking for a team more competitive than what will be left of the BMW-Sauber team. Heidfeld would also be affordable, and he has been credited with good technical aptitude.

Predicted Drivers Timo Glock and Heikki Kovalainen

Williams

Pencil in GP2 Champion-to-be Nico Hulkenberg for one seat. Everyone in the paddock knows how good he is, and Williams would be flat foolish to let him walk to another team (who would most likely be McLaren). Frank Williams isn’t an idiot.

Williams is in a fantastic position to select the driver for the other seat. They have shown competitive form this season, and in an era of cost-cutting, what many feel to be the best-run team on the grid will be in prime position to compete with a lean-and-mean operation.

While nearly everyone is reporting that Rosberg will go to McLaren, it’s by no means a guarantee. Rosberg has praised Williams’ form many times this season, and as perhaps the smartest driver on the grid, he likely sees the direction in which they are headed for the future.

If Rosberg signs with McLaren, then Williams’ choice seems to be between the current BMW-Sauber drivers, Kubica and Heidfeld. Kubica is younger and quicker, but Heidfeld performed well with the team in 2005 when it was the BMW works team and would provide valuable experience to the team.

Williams is back in competitive mode, though, and they’ll elect the quickest driver available.

Predicted Drivers Hulkenberg and Rosberg or Kubica

Renault

Renault, for some reason, are a hot destination in the rumor mill. This is a shock, considering their uncompetitive form for three seasons straight, the controversy in which they have continuously involved themselves, and the perception in the paddock that it is Alonso’s play den.

For starters, Alonso should be expected back at Renault next season. All signs point to Raikkonen staying with Ferrari in 2010. BMW are pulling out, and Toyota look set to be uncompetitive next season.

Unless lots of unheard noise is being made about him among the likes of McLaren, Brawn, and Williams, there really isn’t a better team on the grid than Renault for whom he can drive next season. Furthermore, it is quite apparent that he will always be Flavio Briatore’s backed driver, so why leave such a secure position if a better one isn’t available?

Rumors are that Renault wants Kubica. But it’s doubtful that Kubica will select them over teams like McLaren and Williams, who are currently more competitive and look to be more competitive in the future.

Renault will certainly give Romain Grosjean the rest of the season to prove his worth. He has performed decently in his first two races, and odds are good that he’ll have the second seat next season.

Predicted Drivers Alonso and Grosjean

Force India

Fresh off an amazing performance for the team in Spa, it looks as though Force India may indeed one day become competitive. They will not sign a major name for next season, but the future looks bright for the team.

Adrian Sutil looks set to return. Team Principal Vijay Mallya thinks highly of him, and rightly so, as Sutil has impressed quite a few times while nonetheless failing to close the deal.

Giancarlo Fisichella’s seat is now open, as Fisi fulfills his dream to drive for Ferrari for the rest of the season in relief for Felipe Massa before becoming the reserve driver in 2010. Current reserve driver Vitantonio Liuzzi has been rumored to be in line for the seat, and he is reportedly scheduled for a straight line test before Monza.

Mallya has said that he wants an Indian driver with the team, but given the progress it’s showing, he surely realizes it’s no time to install a pay driver who doesn’t have the talent to deliver and help the team progress.

The critical piece in Force India’s development has been Fisichella’s input for the last season and a half, and he is an asset who will be sorely missed. Look for the team to turn to a veteran driver on the market who can help the team with development.

Their pace in Spa has greatly increased their stock among such drivers. The performance of the car on low-drag circuits indicates that perhaps the team may have a car worthy of victory next season at places like Spa or Monza. If this is the case, then the direction seems aimed toward Heidfeld.

Predicted Drivers Sutil and Heidfeld

Toro Rosso

The team have said flat out that Jamie Alguersuari’s time this season is preparation for next season. He’ll be back.

As will Sebastien Buemi, whose inconsistent form has shown he needs more seasoning before he is ready to step up to a more competitive drive.

Predicted Drivers Alguersuari and Buemi

The Team Currently Known as BMW-Sauber

Their future is completely up in the air. However, they have Christian Klien on the roster as a reserve driver itching for a chance at a race seat. He’s a good bet to take one of the seats.

Trulli likely won’t find anything better than this seat on the market if he wants to stay in F1. He’ll certainly get a call from USF1, as Peter Windsor does his best every grand prix weekend to make the American F1 audience very uncomfortable with his impromptu fawning over the Italian’s driving. But I doubt Trulli will stoop that low.

Predicted Drivers Trulli and Klien

USF1

USF1 will definitely higher a veteran development driver to help the team in its first year or so. And they’re going to need him in fine form, as reports are that the Cosworth engine they will be using could be up to three full seconds off the pace. Alexander Wurz seems the strongest contender.

Jonathan Summerton is rumored to have visited the team’s base recently. He seems to be the favorite for the “American” seat.

Predicted Drivers Wurz and Summerton

Campos

Pedro de la Rosa, longtime test driver for McLaren and one of the best as such, looks set for a ride with the young team. Surely, Campos is smart enough to realize the impact the Spaniard could have on the first-year Spanish team.

As for the other seat, the main contenders appear to be Lucas di Grassi, Bruno Senna, and pay driver Vitaly Petrov.

Petrov is the weakest of the three, but reports are that he brings up to $15 million in sponsorship from Russia with him. Clearly, he’s a strong contender for a seat with a team that needs cash to get it off the ground.

The ultimate journeyman of the young GP2 series, di Grassi has performed solidly throughout his GP2 and entire F1 development career, if unspectacularly. It’s pretty hard to imagine what the former winner of the Macau Grand Prix has to do to just get a Formula One seat.

Senna has perhaps permanently doomed his chances of a Formula One career by choosing not to race this season. Another year in GP2 with a competitive team could have seen him smooth some rough edges and possibly contend for the title, boosting his credentials.

Predicted Drivers DLR and di Grassi

Manor Grand Prix

OK, so we know they’ll have Virgin as the title sponsor.

Now, what? Is Richard Branson going to drive the car, too? Isn’t skydiving enough for Mr. Mid-life Crisis to get his kicks?

Source: bleacher report

LOOKING FOR A DRIVER TO SPONSOR FOR 2010 FORMULA BMW EUROPE!

Saturday, September 5th, 2009

Location: Leicester, United Kingdom

Contact: info@globalracingschools.com

There are hundreds of driver development programs in the world starting from simple kart training to advanced formula car or stock car racing programs. So how do we differ from the rest of the pack?

We have partnered with several top teams in the formula racing industry to offer this exclusive program to you so that can help you reduce your time efforts and accelerate your learning curve. What we’ll do is to put you head-to-head in a sprint race format with top racing experts watching your every move to decide which driver is best? We are going to assess drivers from all over the world, choose the most talented and do our best to take you all the way to Formula 1.

If you want to prove you’re the best up and coming driver in the world and you want a chance to get the funding to make it all the way to Formula 1, then you need to enter into our program today!

Everything you go for a race weekend, you spend anywhere from Euro 8000 – Euro 20,000. Why not spend your money wisely and let yourself be spotted by the top top industry players so will only need to pay an amount once and thats it?

Look at it in terms of a long term investment that will require an initial deposit so that you can get through your entire career without worrying about your financial backing!

Driver Development Process

Management

We can help you in every aspect of your life if you wish. The key is to make your daily life as easy as possible. Drivers under 18 will be placed with a specially selected family. We will work closely with parents on this matter and to ensure that all education needs are catered for.

We will have a network of international sponsorship agents who will be focused on increasing our budget.

Fitness training

Formula Medicine is one of the most respected names in motorsport fitness. They have been looking after the health and fitness of F1 drivers for more than twenty years. Recent clients include all the recent Renault F1 and Toyota F1 drivers.

Formula Medicine plays such an integral part of Renault F1’s driver fitness programme that a member of their staff has relocated to Oxfordshire to be near the team.

You will have a full fitness programme developed for you by Formula Medicine. This will start with a full medical and fitness assessment which will be carried out at the Formula Medicine headquarters near Pisa in Italy.

As well as regular contact with your Formula Medicine programme manager in Oxford, you will have a personal trainer who will work with you daily at a properly equipped gym at Oxford University.

Technical training

Understanding how a racing car works, how it interacts with the track and translating this into better lap times are some of the most important aspects of motor racing. We want to ensure that you quickly reach a level where you can discuss competently with your race engineer all aspects of the car’s performance.

You may be an engineering genius already but, if not, we have worked with the world famous Oxford Brookes University to develop a specific training course just for our winner.

Media training

We will use our network of media professionals to ensure you are fully trained in how to make best use of the media. This will include how to present yourself in interviews and how to produce your own internet content.

You will also attend classes with the world famous Royal Academy of Dramatic Art where you will be taught how to communicate with others and express yourself effectively – two important aspects of a successful career.

How it works

We will be assessing drivers in line with the techniques used by our top race coach which is the private coach for several F1 drivers like David Coulthard and Kimi Raikkonen. He coaches many current F1 drivers and works closely with Williams and McLaren F1 Team. So we have the expertise to know what makes a future champion and spot it at its seed stage.

We use standard Renault Clio Sport hatchbacks and Fiat 500s to work with you to set the fastest time possible around the circuit, the same format that is used to select the drivers for Honda F1’s young driver program. Training will also be provided on the day itself to bring out the best in your performance.

9 drivers will progress to the “Final” which will take place yearly in Wales. Each driver will spend a full day in a Formula BMW specially prepared by Raikkonen Robertson Racing team. Each drivers will have three sets of new tyres in the afternoon to make sure they do the best job they can.
The whole process will be a test of key skills such as driving ability, communication, stamina, technical understanding, problem solving and the ability to learn. There are 2 rounds to the program. If you get through the 1st round, the cost for Finals is free.
The “Final” will take place in Wales on the 23rd, 24th and 25th of November 2009. The panel of judges will choose a winner that shows most promise.


2010 – Formula BMW Europe

The main part of the prize for 2010 is a full season of Formula BMW Europe with the Raikkonen Robertson Racing team. You will start testing with Raikkonen Robertson Racing as soon as possible after the Final.

Your prize will include the budget to compete with Raikkonen Robertson Racing at the Formula BMW World Final in 2010 if you are invited to participate.

Formula BMW Europe is one of the most prestigious junior series in the world. It is also special in that every round of the series takes place at a Grand Prix. Past champions include Nico Rosberg, Sebastian Vettel and Nicolas Hulkenberg.

The Reward

After your go through the assessment as the top winner, we want to ensure that you have the funding to go all the way to Formula 1 without any budget related problems or delays.

To achieve this, we will pay for your first season of Formula BMW Europe immediately.

Next, we will raise the funds for you to reach F1 with a public share issue where investors can buy a share in your future career earnings. All along the way, you will have the best support, advice and resources available to help you achieve your dream.

Our Race Instructors will work with you to develop the training to suit you

The first year will see you race in the Formula BMW Europe series, with Raikkonen Robertson Racing. We will also fund you to take part in the Formula BMW World Final if you are invited to participate.

You will receive a salary, coaching and full support and development so that you only need to concentrate on racing and not on funding availability.

In order to raise funds to sponsor your racer we will register you as a company and have a Initial Public Offering (IPO) for you so that investors can buy shares in you as an investment.

How it will work?

The process begins immediately after the announcement of the winner in November 2009. We will set up a public limited company in your name and begin the expensive process of organizing the IPO, which will cost in the region of £100,000.

Although we don’t plan launching the IPO before September 2010, we want to have all the preparation done just in case there is sudden public interest in you which would help sell the stock. Therefore, we want to be ready at a moment’s notice to act if the market dictates.

During your Formula BMW season in 2010 we will build up a database of fans and investors using our contacts, the media and the internet.

It’s up to you to show the world that you are the Next Big Thing. We will promote the IPO, but investors must believe that you are worth the investment!

At the right time, we will launch the IPO. It is planned to have the whole IPO completed in plenty of time to start testing with Carlin Motorsport for the 2011 British Formula 3 International Series.

Training:

The assessment will be held together with the most professionally teams in the world letting you harness the expertise of world quality race coaches. If you will like us to train you prior to this race training so that you perform the best at this program, it is possible for us to arrange something.

We will be able to provide you with the training in developing you into a highly tuned driver so that you’ll be able to excel at the assessment. We have a list of programs in various locations ranging from 5 day intensive formula car program to 4 day intensive 1 on1 Karting Training.

Your training and assessment program will be done by our team of highly qualified instructors

So this program will be developed around your current skill and financial level to plan your career path for the next 5 years. We will plot out every step of the way for you so that you will achieve your Formula 1 goals.

Using our team of instructors from all aspects of racing globally, we will fit you into the right team at the right time to conduct the right amount of training. That way we give you the highest chance to coming out on top for the assessment process against other drivers.




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