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It is possible for a series to be completely sponsor-funded, provided that the sponsors are not half-baked about their intentions. the existing racing teams , i think would not object to entering as long as the running costs are reasonable, but as to honing technical skills…I think Formula ford is a bit too simple for any real honing, and in any case, in all the major racing series this equation comes to mind:
More tech=more moolah
the “oldies but goodies” question? look at my-kart’s races and decide for yourself (jangan marahlah, i’m not saying you guys are old, just experienced). point is that, real racers, given an opportunity to race, will grab it by the balls and will never let go without tearing some tissue first.
Spectators? we gotta get a major tv deal and promote the heck out of it, maybe offer free bus ride for every ticket sold. and it never hurts to take a leaf out of champ car’s book and have a ‘long beach’ of our own, just so that the people don’t have to pay anything to watch a race at close quarters. good for PR.
Given that the sponsors will get airtime, i think they’ll jump on the bandwagon, especially when their adverts play when the live race is on commercial break.
I think some money will be required…maybe the drivers can be paid based on how many points they earn?? we can have a points system similar to my-kart’s, that way, even the worst(or the most unlucky) drivers have a chance at making…20 ringgit ke, per point. that way, the sponsors and/or the organisers can have a fixed “employee budget”.Man, i forgot how much fun it is to forum here.
[quote=Iskandar Zulkarnain]It is possible for a series to be completely sponsor-funded, provided that the sponsors are not half-baked about their intentions. the existing racing teams , i think would not object to entering as long as the running costs are reasonable, but as to honing technical skills…I think Formula ford is a bit too simple for any real honing, and in any case, in all the major racing series this equation comes to mind:
More tech=more moolah
the “oldies but goodies” question? look at my-kart’s races and decide for yourself (jangan marahlah, i’m not saying you guys are old, just experienced). point is that, real racers, given an opportunity to race, will grab it by the balls and will never let go without tearing some tissue first.
Spectators? we gotta get a major tv deal and promote the heck out of it, maybe offer free bus ride for every ticket sold. and it never hurts to take a leaf out of champ car’s book and have a ‘long beach’ of our own, just so that the people don’t have to pay anything to watch a race at close quarters. good for PR.
Given that the sponsors will get airtime, i think they’ll jump on the bandwagon, especially when their adverts play when the live race is on commercial break.
I think some money will be required…maybe the drivers can be paid based on how many points they earn?? we can have a points system similar to my-kart’s, that way, even the worst(or the most unlucky) drivers have a chance at making…20 ringgit ke, per point. that way, the sponsors and/or the organisers can have a fixed “employee budget”.Man, i forgot how much fun it is to forum here.[/quote]
yo bro. us are not so much oldies. young thru and thru. he he he
I think most of the junior series like Formula Ford, Formula Renault and Formula BMW are still expensive in terms of Ringgit, and the Ford & Renault brands are not strong in this region either.
Perhaps a different concept can be used, such as racing the Ariel Atoms since they use Honda engines whose parts are easily available (look at all the “standard” Civics in the MSS and MME!).
The price of the road legal Atom (in the UK) is not totally outrageous, and if brought in tax free it can be quite affordable to the series promoter.
I believe local mechanics can easily be trained to maintain it and do it’s setup (as opposed to a formula car).
[quote=OSFlanker]I think most of the junior series like Formula Ford, Formula Renault and Formula BMW are still expensive in terms of Ringgit, and the Ford & Renault brands are not strong in this region either.
Perhaps a different concept can be used, such as racing the Ariel Atoms since they use Honda engines whose parts are easily available (look at all the “standard” Civics in the MSS and MME!).
The price of the road legal Atom (in the UK) is not totally outrageous, and if brought in tax free it can be quite affordable to the series promoter.
I believe local mechanics can easily be trained to maintain it and do it’s setup (as opposed to a formula car).[/quote]
can you convert my Honda City into an Atom?….heh heh…that would be funny!…I must have been the only City out on Sepang track during the HPC event…heh heh..since I didn’t know what a Honda Atom was, I went on the ol Google. Aah, here’s a couple of articles on it…waah, got VTEC engine just like my City!…yes, yes, let’s bring this into Malaysia!!
http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/Features/articleId=105504
The JPJ ruling is much stricter (or rather more arbitrary) than UK. I heard only 2 Caterham 7’s managed to be registered here.
The basic Ariel Atom starts at just under GBP20,000 for non-road legal specs (probably no headlights, no horns, etc), which is around RM130,000 – very affordable to a series organiser. I believe the guest of honour at the HPC lunch will have no problems getting motorsports AP. 😉
Guys,
Pls think smaller……..for this to work – let’s concentrate on something that is plentiful and cheap.
For a start, it is very unfortunate to see that if it’s ain’t open wheeler, then it’s ain’t fast……so that really limits us to Formula cars.
What do have? Formula Fords, Formula Malaysia ( the Hayabusa ) and Formula Campus, Formula Asia 2000 & Formula BMW.
1) F Ford – plentiful in Europe, UK, Australia, NZ but none here. why? maybe the Ford engine is not so popular here….
2) F Malaysia – nice start by Silverstone but it never went beyond the F1 support race. why? money? The Hayabusa engine is certainly a rarity here as well.
3) F Campus – it was THE formula car to drive before the Hayabusa and BMW came along but sadly now, no more. I did hear Syafiq Ali is driving one soon but dunno if in Malaysia.
4) F BMW – everyone wants this now….but it ain’t cheap.
5) F Asia 2000 – now no more since F BMW came along…also runs a 2000cc Ford engine.So guys – u see all except no. 1 was tried and never took off unless u have $$$$, backer for a championship etc. For the guys who has the $$$, why should he re-invent the wheel? He better go F BMW or F Renault.
If you ask me – we should do a Formula Proton ie. using Proton 1.3 Isawara engines ( cheap, plentiful ) and mate this to a chassis. What chassis? I dunno but I know in Thailand they have a quite a success running the Toyota GT 1500cc twin cam engine in a space frame chassis – they call this Junior GT. It comes in a Le Man style bodywork, like the Radical ( I have pictures )
The wide body work gives u advertising space – more than your average formula car…certainly more than ur atom ariel.
Until someone does this properly, reasonably and have the drivers to compete in a TELEVISED championship…we all can rave and dream how sexy, goovy an atom ariel is.
Guys – it’s better to drive a slow car fast than a fast car slow…..which is what driver development is all about! The tools of his trade ( his ride ) is secondary….
Jules, how about Formula Savvy??? This can be a kindergarten Formula Renault series running the Savvy 1,150cc engine!!!!
Just kidding 🙂
My point about the Atom is :
1. It’s a production car – around 100 per year from UK
2. The engine and gearbox is from a production car
3. Honda has already funded the Atom racing in UK, setting a precedent.
4. At GBP20,000 it is much cheaper than a FBMW (80k-100k Euro?) and it runs on production tyres.
5. Honda has a big presence in Malaysia, as opposed to Ford, Renault and Suzuki.Actually, you can ignore the first 4 points and just look at 5. I dun think Ford or Renault will ever commit any money to a race series in this region, whereas Honda has already embarked on motorsports activity here. So it’s not as fanciful as it sounds, provided someone can sell the idea to Honda Malaysia!
But if Proton/Petronas are willing to do use their engines in a single seater, it would even be easier to market the series! So Jules has a valid point.
[quote=OSFlanker]But if Proton/Petronas are willing to do use their engines in a single seater, it would even be easier to market the series! So Jules has a valid point.[/quote]
was thinking of a sub-1500cc engine bolted onto an appropriate chassis. perhaps the atom chassis can be used to “host” a proton 1500cc engine?
Im in the opinion that ariel atom isnt safe for road racing or any type of racing.
I think that the body of the ariel atom is too exposed to be used in any type of racing. One option is to cover the chassis, and fiberglass comes to mind. But i would think this would significantly increase the cost. Unless of course, you would be able to mass produce
this.Another concern that i have is the height of the roll hoop. Since it is one of the main structure of the car, i dont think you can hack it and place a higher roll hoop as a replacement. Maybe you can install new roll hoop that is high enough to be legal in racing, but why?
As for affordable race series, my opinion is, to stick with what we have, which is road racing car like kancil/proton etc. Instead of creating something new, these road cars are more than enough for driver development.
[quote]I dun think Ford or Renault will ever commit any money to a race series in this region.[/quote]
Go down to Sepang on the 13/14… there’s a bit of Renault involvement there:). of course it ain’t a cheap series, or a beginner series for that matter.[quote=mikko][quote]I dun think Ford or Renault will ever commit any money to a race series in this region.[/quote]
Go down to Sepang on the 13/14… there’s a bit of Renault involvement there:). of course it ain’t a cheap series, or a beginner series for that matter.[/quote]yep. so renault and bmw will be having a race series in asia as part of AFOS?
looks like the formula renault v6 is more powerful than the formula bmw. 370bhp and 3.5litre v6 it seems! the only names i recognise (and mentioned by the AFOS website) is marchy lee and karun chandok.
[quote=mikko][quote]I dun think Ford or Renault will ever commit any money to a race series in this region.[/quote]
Go down to Sepang on the 13/14… there’s a bit of Renault involvement there:). of course it ain’t a cheap series, or a beginner series for that matter.[/quote]The 2 Formula Renault series originate from HK/China sponsors, rite? Are you taking part Mikko?
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