Why Aren’t More Young People Getting Involved in Porsche Motorsport?

Why Aren’t More Young People Getting Involved in Porsche Motorsport?

The Porsche Club of America, with its various chapters across the country, has noticed the trend: the average age of racers has steadily crept upwards. It seems that it’s getting harder and harder to attract young people to wheel to wheel racing. Hmm, what’s going on here? Rennlist weighs on why young people aren’t getting more involved, and what we can do to fight it.

Do the Youths Not Like Cars?

It’s the millennials, they just don’t care about cars! Yes, let's blame the millennials, who are too busy playing with their iPads and cellphones instead of turning wrenches and playing with cars. This is a common media narrative and is difficult to substantiate one way or another. Even if young people value car ownership, they may not be inclined to participate in motorsport, correlation does not equal causation. Additionally, like any hobby or passion, there will always be car enthusiasts, even if they seem to be less “visible” in numbers.

Enthusiasts Don’t Know Their Options

Let’s say we gathered and polled a dozen young auto enthusiasts; how many of them would even know that autocross existed, let alone know which groups to go through to get a wheel to wheel license and go racing?

The PCA should funnel more of their resources into marketing and outreach. As corny as it sounds, having a solid social media presence is an excellent way to reach a lot more people.

The Cars are Too Expensive to Purchase

Modern P-cars are very expensive. A mildly optioned out 991 generation 911 Carrera will crest $100,000, and even the cheapest 997 is over $40,000 for an almost 10-year-old car, that’s unreasonable for just about every young person’s budget. Swinging to the opposite side of the spectrum, people always herald the 944 or 928 as the cheap Porsches; however, hoping into a 30-year-old Porsche and expecting it to be anywhere near race ready is foolhardy. Even if you pick a nice 944 for $10,000, and you’re interested in racing, you will easily double that cost in getting a cage, seats, harnesses and other safety equipment. Not exactly the most palatable budget for someone in their twenties.

Racing is Time-Consuming

Autocross is a matter of waking up early and spending half the day dodging cones and having fun in a competitive atmosphere. The typical track day, high performance driving event, operates on similar hours as work day, and means that even if the track is three hours away, you can be back in time for a (late) dinner with friends or family. The typical PCA race weekend is a full time affair from Friday through Sunday, and realistically means taking off Thursday for preparation and travel, and Monday to recuperate. This is not exactly palatable for the average young person to do on a regular basis if they value employment. 

Getting a Racing License Sucks

Think of all of the different groups that promote and host wheel to wheel racing, off the top of my head, I’ve got NASA, SCCA, BMW CCA, AER, and PCA, among others. All of these groups should standardize the competition license process so that it works across the board. NASA and SCCA do this somewhat already, it prevents burn out from people who want to hop around between groups, but not waste a bunch of track time and money dawdling around in the beginner groups waiting for the bump up. Imagine having to apply for a new driver’s license if you wanted to drive to Florida, it would be madness. No one would go to Disney World! The Disney lobbyists wouldn’t stand for it! Wait, what are we talking about? Oh that’s right: make a standard North American racing and competition license, and be done with it.

Participating is Expensive

Okay, so we have found the 1% of those enthusiasts who were committed enough to cage their 944 and sign up for a race, now what? That would be renting a truck and trailer, towing the race car to the track, figuring out lodging, fuel, food, and that’s just for spot on the grid, and not thinking about consumables like brakes and tires. Depending on the region, track and who shows up, it’s going to take a much larger investment than that to hang with the front runners on track. Doing a track day or time attack on those modern, grippy 200-treadwear “street” tires is sounding more palatable by the minute.

Why Join the PCA Over Other Organizations?

If a youngster is looking to hop into wheel to wheel, why should they pick the PCA? We need an open dialogue on how to make Porsche Club Racing visible, keep it visible, and keep it interesting. With groups like NASA and SCCA, the fields will be larger, as will be the options for classing. The main thing is exposure, if a young blood wants to work their way up, sponsorship will be key in keeping the process even close to affordable/viable. Groups like NASA and SCCA are definitely able to offer much more coverage, sponsorship eyes and connections than the PCA. We need to consider perks and kickbacks like contingency and sponsorship availability at the club racing level, as those will 100% sway a budget-minded racer one way or the other.

Have some ideas on how to improve Porsche Club Racing, or want to learn how to get started? Check out the discussion in Rennlist.com

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