The Future of Racing

"King Ginger, not writing for Business Insider" (king-ginger)
10/15/2013 at 07:30 • Filed to: Racing

I like order. My thoughts (as you will ascertain) aren't very ordered which is why I enjoy it so much when things require little effort to makes sense or fall into place when they were heretofore previously a giant CF.

Imagine my natural mix of fascination and horror when, just as the possibility of some sort of combined formulae for international GT looked like it might appear, the Tudors United Against York Sports Car Series reared its ugly Frenchian/Sprint Cup head. I cried a bit as I tried to unravel the classes in my tiny brain.

—-

I also like competition, especially competition with meaning.

Naturally, knowing that 9 of the soon-to-be past 14 Drivers Championships in F1 have been won by 2 men demonstrating a level of complete mastery of craft and boredom of racing not seen since Fangio romped the Grand Prix field, I did not cry but instead simply stopped watching the races live and would just pull up the highlights online. And we don't even need to talk about Seb Loeb and the "World" Rally Championship of the Holy Roman Empire + Places the Vikings Used to Hang Out.

—-

I know I am not preaching to the choir. Lots of people enjoy the intricacies of learning the periodic table of modern sports car racing and having to buy only one hat with "Sebastian" written on it in nondescript Red Bull-esque font which they can wear while enthralled by middle-packers stuck behind back-markers and/or Minis plowing ever so gently into trees while trying to get some level of attention from the TV cameras so that their sponsors don't pull all support before the end of the season (which incidentally is now mandated by the FIA to be determined 3/4 of the way through the designated schedule for any racing series of note). And lots of folks also like NASCAR; a lot less like Indy.

—-

What I'm marginally coherently getting to is this: racing could use a little less.

In the grand scheme of "the world," racing is its own special thing; like any sport, it has fanatics, casual viewers, and then a bunch of people every stakeholder hopes would be interested but may never be. Yet it needs to appeal to ALL groups lest it become far too niche to even maintain its existing foothold in the ever growing realm of digital media where attention spans are short and porn is only clicks away.

To battle the porn and ADHD, racing must be a) simple for fans to follow and b) marketable enough for manufacturers to be involved and then want to crow about it at the top of their lungs. It then follows that we would need to do some trimming.

The future of racing is three series made up of the best and most marketable cars/races from around the world. Additional "feeder" series for each would also be available within each of the prime markets (i.e. Indy, Formula Nippon, Formula 3 all become regional feeders to F1 albeit with some changes to make them the same spec). Soooooo....

Formula 1
- Open Wheel
- Best tracks/events traditionally connected to open wheel racing (Indy 500, Monaco, etc.) spread more evenly throughout the globe, race lengths based on event/conditions
- Revolving collection of additional tracks/street courses rotate in with long term contracts for the former (if newly built)

Rally Racing
- Production car and truck based (see if we can't get some additional participation...Dacia anyone?)
- Includes endurance off/on road racing classics (Paris-Dakar, Baja, Mille Miglia, Pikes Peak), rally cross, and WRC (Finland, Acropolis) events
- All teams may take part regardless of tradition
- Revolving collection of additional courses rotate in

Sports Car Racing
- Production car based (sorry prototypes, stock cars, and DPs)
- Includes endurance racing (Le Mans, N24, Daytona 500) and sprint racing tracks/events
- Revolving blah blah blah

—-

Certain series would have to dissolve (that IS the point and all), but with less series to be involved in the amount of marketing and R&D funding would be more direct (allowing for better trickle down to road vehicles), the attention of fans could be more focused (ex: instead of 100 professional drivers for the myriad Corvette racing teams, you would have maybe 12-16 at the top tier), and the TV contracts could be more effective with higher visibility/benefit for manufacturers who want to draw ties between prowess on the track and the cars you can buy.

Doing some exceptionally fuzzy math, this is worth trillions to manufacturers and, more importantly, peace of mind to me. It needs to happen. Like yesterday.

DISCUSSION (10)

Z_Stig > King Ginger, not writing for Business Insider
10/15/2013 at 09:12

Racing is too diverse to distill into three basic series. You've also left off drag racing (which I do enjoy from time to time) and touring car racing (V8 Supercars, DTM, BTCC, WTCC)

This diversity of racing is what gives us the must watch races every year: the Bathurst 1000, Indy 500, Daytona 500, 24 Hours of Daytona, 12 Hours of Sebring, 24 Hours of Le Mans, Belgian Grand Prix at Spa, etc.

Converse > King Ginger, not writing for Business Insider
10/15/2013 at 09:32

I agree with Z_Stig in that racing is too diverse to simplify it down too much. However, I do believe that there are to many series fighting for budgets and eyeballs.

If we simplify it to much, then we also are not allowing truly talented drivers employment because people who have the money will take the smaller seats that are always present in the middle to back of the grid.

King Ginger, not writing for Business Insider > Z_Stig
10/15/2013 at 09:35

*Warning: Sweeping generalizations to follow*

I did review those series as well, but decided to step back and look at racing through the larger prism of value. Outside of regional markets, drag/touring has limited international appeal (at an officially sanctioned level) and therefore little potential revenue/exposure. Without the latter two, the value for competing is low, and so that is why you only get 3 "makes" in each one of the non top tier series.

As an aside, diversity doesn't drive the events in questions...the events are the draw based on their own history and merit and television exposure. If anything, those cornerstones of racing prove my point more than disprove it: simply put, no one in the US can name another race on the V8 Supercars schedule BESIDES the Bath; in turn, most Europeans can explain what the Indy 500 is, but they will most likely watch few (assuming they can get them) of any other scheduled races. Regardless of the specs of the cars, the events are still going to bring in fans (the general populace would hardly even notice if the Indy 500 became an F1 event next year) but expansion is limited by the diversity present and keeping peoples interest for ALL of the races is the key.

To torture a metaphor, it would be as if there were 30 different sets of rules about how to play soccer/football (racing is essentially viewed as one amalgam by the general populace), all adopted by different series around the world but trying to compete for the same exposure and advertising interests. It is simply untenable.

*End sweeping generalizations*

It is a fun thought experiment though. I'd be interested to see what people's ideas of the key races that need to be kept in around the world would be.

King Ginger, not writing for Business Insider > Converse
10/15/2013 at 09:39

I would think that less series means more focused money which means no pay-to-play drivers. Also, manufacturers would actually be involved (because their exposure and return is higher) and so they would employ the best drivers possible because they have the means to do so.

Converse > King Ginger, not writing for Business Insider
10/15/2013 at 09:43

Not necessarily the case. There will always be privateers who have to spend their own money. When that's the case, pay drivers enter the ring.

Also, manufacturers are slow to take rookies and pay for them to compete in the lower rungs. Fewer series mean motorsport costs go up, which mean that to get into racing, you have to bring even more money to the table.

King Ginger, not writing for Business Insider > Converse
10/15/2013 at 09:56

Privateers is just a fancy way of saying pirates.

But honestly, racing is not made better by private teams anymore. The days of the gentleman racer are long gone because the tech required to race at anything resembling a competitive level is founded in a ridiculously deep pocket book. Outside of men like Dieter Mateschitz, few would be able to play in the sandbox. But that really isn't a bad thing because getting back to the value proposition, having Cadillac debut in F1 to be soundly trounced by the fine folks at Marussia wouldn't do much for the brand; losing to a field of Ferrari, McLaren, Mercedes, Honda, Lexus, Lotus, Infiniti, Ford, and Lamborghini would not be as bad.

As for development, Porsche and Nissan both have excellent dev programs. With a single feeder series available (again pushing the value for manufacturers to want to compete) and amateur levels abounding below even those, there will always be young drivers available...they just won't need to be in bed with the Russian mob to get a ride.

Converse > King Ginger, not writing for Business Insider
10/15/2013 at 10:07

I agree in part. However, there is a need for privateers. One of the most successful GT formula that we point to (GT3) is 100% private teams. Most of Grand-Am and ALMS are made of private teams.

For example, if we had the ALMS without private teams, we would be left with the following teams at Petit Le Mans this year:

Corvette Racing

Risi Competizione

Falken Racing

Delta Wing

BMW Team RLL

SRT Motorsports

That means that you would only have 9 cars racing.

Privateers have always been the backbone of sportscar racing and pick up the slack when the manufacturers decide their budgets can be better spent on golf.

Z_Stig > King Ginger, not writing for Business Insider
10/15/2013 at 10:15

What would be cool is, keeping all the major races and taking the drivers from car to car. Imagine Rosberg trying to bump draft Hamilton past Vettel at Daytona, then heading off for the 12 Hours of Sebring, competing at Monaco then flying off to Indy for the 500 on the same day. (pipe dream lol)

King Ginger, not writing for Business Insider > Converse
10/15/2013 at 10:25

Golf...or....cocaine/hookers?

Converse > King Ginger, not writing for Business Insider
10/15/2013 at 10:29

Yes. to both.