I'm happy to inspire.
How did I manage to drive for free for five years? No, it's not rude to ask. And if you bother to read my long post I will try to explain.
If racing was like any other sport it would be obvious that the athlete (at a certain level) didn't need to pay. I have a friend playing ice hockey in Norway and he gets paid to play in the Norwegian league. He doesn't understand that most racing driver has to pay to race. It doesn't make sense, and I think this is by far the biggest problem in motorsports.
Well, anyway. I'm not rich, and I'm not very good at finding sponsors. But I love to race cars, I have done quite well in some minor series and my will to race is very high. So I understood early in my career that I if I wanted to continue with racing I had to find somewhere to drive for free - or I had to retire.
My history is this: After some years in karting and some amateur racing in Norway I headed to the USA in 2003 (I was 24 at the time). There I raced the Skip Barber Southern Series, which is quite cheap compared to other series. For me it was still a lot of money to spend approx. 50 000 dollars from my own pocket, but I had saved the money for years.
The Skip Barber Series doesn't always get the recognition it deserves, but it's a good stepping stone. I won some races and finished fourth in the championship, and had some good fights with Marco Andretti and others.
My results in the USA was noticed in Norway, and then one day I got my lucky break. A big Audi dealership in Norway was starting a team in the German VLN Endurance Series, and they wanted me as one of their three drivers.
In addition to my results in the USA, I had also been in contact with some of the key personel in this team for years, when they raced with a Honda in the VLN. I knew they were quite professional, and I was thinking that maybe one day I could race with them. That of course helped as well. They knew how much I wanted to race with them, and after my season in the USA they had noticed my talent.
But I had never imagined that it turned out to be a semi-professional Audi Dealer Team...
I call myself "semi-professional" today, and that means that I don't get paid to drive (I need a job to pay my bills), but I don't need to bring any money/sponsorship either. My job in the team is to race the car (and I also update the team's web site). And I have proven my speed at the Nürburgring Nordschleife for five years, so I'm still a part of the team.
Some of the key personell in my team doesn't have a background in motorsports, and I think that is a huge benefit. They have their background from other businesses and sports, and for them it's obvious that the drivers don't need to find the money. If they were motorsports-people, maybe they had been thinking that it is the drivers task to find the money (like a lot of team bosses do)...
As I have mentioned before, the VLN is not the most prestigous championship in the world, and I'm not driving in one of the fastest classes (my Audi TT is a 2,0 liter turbo). We don't drive all the races either (we do 5-6 races a year), but what the heck? I'm driving a very fast and professionally-build race car at the World's most demanding race track, the level in our class is high (with factory teams from Volkswagen) and we have some good results. And it's for free!
This is of course how it should be, and today I'm not willing to use my own money to race anymore, because it's just too expensive everywhere. If my team stops racing, I guess it's a big chance that I will retire as well, because I understand that the chances to drive for free are so few - although I have become a very fast driver during all these years. (But I will of course try to find something else before I give up...)
I have got some offers to drive in more prestigous championships the last years, but they all cost too much money. I don't want to be a part of that business. It should be the teams task to find the money, and then they should pick the best drivers. The trend of today where the driver needs to find the funding has to stop. Or else many of the best drivers will dissapear.
I think I'm better than a lot of the guys in AMLS, LMS etc., but unfortunately I don't think I will ever get the chance to prove myself in those championships.
But I'm very happy with where I am today, and I'm quite proud of what I have achieved (I have some good results in the US, several victories in the VLN, a Norwegian Championship title, so my next goal is a class win in the 24 hour race at the Nürburgring).
As you understand I was lucky in one way, but my results and my will to race, also helped me. But I know a lot of racing drivers that also deserves to drive for free, but they don't get the break. So it's difficult for sure, and the chances are very few as I understand.
So my advice is: Try to find a cheap championship with a high level (such as Skip Barber). Get some good results and promote those well. And contact teams in various series and just ask to prove yourself. Maybe you get the chance.
But remember this: Don't expect to get any recognition if you manage to land a free drive in for example the VLN. The media just seems to care about the rich kids paying themselves up the ladder... One time I wrote to Autosport and asked why they called the 24 hour race at the Nürburgring (and the VLN) a "club race" for "amateurs". I personally feel much more professional than a lot of the "rich kids" that are paying to race some "professional" championship...
I'm sorry for the length of this post...
Best regards
Atle Gulbrandsen
