The cost of race entries 2011

[GORDON STREETER]

After it's all said and done I don't know any hard up circuit owners !!!!!
The Almeria race circuit near me is used most of the time for testing and track days all the year round and probably makes more money than if it had race meetings.
Spain is dotted with tracks that most people don't know exist and all make a living.
However apart from the newer "named" circuits the amenities and safety are non existent !

[JamesH]

Originally Posted by Lancsbreaker

So what you are really saying is do away with the green flag lap? I don't have a problem with that (we run road tyres) - but realistically a lot of the dead time at meetings is waiting for cars from the previous race to be recovered - I was checking our in-car video at Brands recently and the grid was held for around 4 minutes before setting off on the green flag lap, and the cars were released the moment the recovery truck entered the pitlane.

I have only ever been on one green flag lap...but see you point re: crash recovery.

I deliberatly kept away from track hire cost - because if you go down that route, there won't be ANY club racing - track days make more money. The idea of letting the hirer keep the gate money is a good one - and odd that this isn't already the case (usually when you hire a location, you take any profits from the hire - e.g. village halls!). It doesn't need many people to turn up to get a fair chunk of cash - a few grand at least - which would do well to offset entry fees.

I do assume however, that the circuit hire fees cover all their costs and some profit, rather than them relying on unreliable gate receipts.

[deadsquirrel]

Some areas of cost-cutting for entry fees/improvements I can think of:

Track-time is divvied up at £x per minute of race time (based on all the costs of circuit hire, insurance etc) and each race has to cover that cost. So, if there's 30 of you in the race, entry fee will be a LOT less than for 4 of you

Sorts out
low number grids - they'll be much keener to merge with other races
Green flag lap at two minutes of track time = COST


Allow cars who have been pulled from gravel traps to re-join races (but to be excluded from the results)

[RushyRacer]

I have read this thread with interest and and there some points very well made however, like many I was intrigued by the posts made by THE STAPE, and I suspect, like many, wanted to take this further !
But I find he does not accept PM's, no email address is given & despite his so called desperate attempts to involve a club level team in his venture provides no means for anyone to get in touch, could the STAPE be the STIGS alter ego as he has only posted 3 times since joining the forum in 2008 , a fact I see others have checked on !
Reveal yourself Mr Entrepreneur and let Club Level Race Teams help reach your goal.

Originally Posted by THE STAPE

Can I ask, as many of you will be thinking about budgets for 2011, why it is so hard to find a racing team that are 'seeking sponsorship'.

My experience as a potential sponsor is that starting on Google with just about any search term, it's actually quite hard to find a team or even competitor that is a viable prospect.

As hard as I look, rather than find dozens of Facebook pages or Blogs, etc. (both of which are free BTW), I come across a selection of out-of-date websites, some up to date but overall not really enough to make an informed decision and even make contact with an enquiry.

The whole market for a sponsor seems not to be there.

It's just an opinion but if more competitors has a presence on the web with the keyword 'Sponsorship' included frequently you just might generate some cash.

Before you ask, yes, I have approached teams and the response was to put it mildly, pitiful, some won't respond to emails, some just don't even understand the concept and seem to confuse sponsorship with charity.

As someone who has money to offer, it is easy enough to walk around any paddock and give away money. To actually find a team that are prepared to enter into a sensible conversation is much harder.

Everyone knows that you guys like racing, but *****ing about costs won't help. Generating revenue will.

[Lancsbreaker]

Google throws up this: http://www.myspace.com/thestape - not sure that - apart from being "a great success" - and being self-employed, much else fits the likely profile of a sponsor.....but could be

[Tainan]

How about an organiser tries to concentrate on one type of car per race meeting - ie single seaters / sports racers / saloons - to give more options for amalgamating grids. Getting full grids for every race has to be the best chance for reducing costs (though I agree every cost should be analysed). How often have we heard that a low grid race has to be run because there was no possibility of amalgamation.
Has anyone been to a rallycross meeting? I don't think they send round a course car between each race there. Any time that can be saved between races, giving the possibility of adding another race has to be a good thing.
Promotion should be a joint venture between organising club and circuit (and I'm sure it is in higher profile club meetings - eg Oulton Gold Cup) as the circuit has the local contacts, but the club has the best knowledge of the meeting contents, and therefore the gate income should be shared.