Motivating your pit crew..??

[greg.owens]

I compete in a kart championship, assisted by my best mate who does most raceday mechanics and paddock stuff...

Obviously it's all early mornings, long days, miserable weather and, from what I can see, not that much fun really...!

I'm quite sure that if he had the money he'd be in the kart rather than pushing it...

My question to everyone is how do you go about thanking, motivating, encouraging and repaying your pitcrew and helpers? My good friend Roy hasn't hinted that he's not enjoying himself, it's just that I can't see why he'd want to do it!! Especially as he travels from London to the Midlands every month to do it!

I'm after any ideas on how I can make things better...!

Thanks for your advice

Greg Owens
TeamCOR.com

www.teamcor.com

[marcus]

I was in the same boat as your pit crew member..I was crewing for a mate for about 3 years ...he offered me drives in his kart on several occasions..(which eventually made me buy my own)...plenty of thank you's help and just assuring him that his efforts are really appreciated...I purchased my own kart and ran along with him as his team mate with his brothers and a few friends helping out...and you really do appreciate the help ..even if its just a push start..I try to make the day a light hearted one with jokes and a friendly atmosphere..maybe a few drinks after the races ..I know that goes down well..its a tough one when you cant offer money or anything like that..i dunno give him a few drives perhaps and offer a comfortable enviroment ..(I know thats hard sometimes because of wheather and the like) but just keep reminding him that he is appreciated.


P.S remember to stop by the kart forum and join in the conversation

nice site you have as well.

www.geocities.com/racing_au

[DAVID PATERSON]

I go along with what Marcus said. Plenty of thank yous, always pay their way in and provide lunch and drinks.

[THR]

well i pit crew cos i LOVE it. driving doesnt appeal to me much. altho i have a car which is fun to drive, but im no good at it!
i would say, get pit crew that are interested in motorsport. to which this guy must be to want to come along.
also BEER goes down VERY well. and i dont know a single mechanic who doesnt like more than one beer on a race weekend.

thank yous are good, and listening to them when they have ideas about how u should drive a particualar corner, cos they will have seen everybody else, compared to u and will be able to see y u r so slow!

[Vandas]

Greg,

Our pitcrew get paid to be there. Not very much mind you but they still do. They get all food, drink and accomodation paid for. Anything beyond that they must pay themselves. We have a very friendly environment and always love a joke and a laugh.

We provide a team uniform to help them feel more like they belong to a group. This also means that their clothes don't get dirty whenever they are working on the car. They provide their own computers and software to use with the MoTeC which is of great benefit to us.

Occasionally they will get a quick steer if they have gone above and beyond the call of duty. The engine builder usually gets a couple of laps to help map the engine. this is when we are running it in. And we even gave one bloke 2 sessions up at Winton after he had helped us out immensely.

So there a few things you can do to keep them motivated. But remember that the best pitcrew are the ones that love motorsport but get a thrill out of seeing the car they built drive fast. Rather than actually driving the thing fast.

Hope I was of some help

Vandas