Zulu Alpha

What about a latte machine?

tcsracing1

Lol. Yes.

Im trying to see what series are actually running A/C.

C.J. Ichiban

depends- we run window nets so without a enclosed cockpit- no reason for AC. it's all gonna leak out

Seth Thomas

Don't the GTLM cars run AC? They used to when ALMS was around and I think it was a rule adopted from the FIA. I didn't pay attention at the Roar but will make it a point to look in 2 weeks

C.J. Ichiban

they have real windows still like the prototypes

hfm

Tom,

Don't mind the troll. That guy thinks he owns the forum.

Dan (thinks your signature rocks )

rookie1

Out of curiosity: What's the approximate running cost for a race weekend for the GT4 Clubsport?

C.J. Ichiban

$$$$ according to yelp

SmokinGTS

Lets put it this way, the cheapest part of the whole deal is buying the car.

rookie1

Well, I was primarily curious how big the difference to the GT3 Cup is.
Is it massively cheaper to run or basically the same?

C.J. Ichiban

I'm not really into answering financial questions on a forum but I can explain some metrics:

pro endurance racing requires about 6 crew per car. Sure, some teams will take your money and run less crew but my team wins. A reason we win is because we have fantastic pit stops, and overall have great team chemistry. if you run a skeleton crew or have 6 guys for 4 cars (I am not naming names but this is reality) then WHEN something goes wrong you are hosed.

so- for those six guys, we need 5 round trip plane tickets per weekend (one drives the rig)

we need 3 hotel rooms for 6 guys.

we need one 12 passenger van for the crew.

we need diesel, and insurance for our big rig.

so, once you pay the crew, fuel the insured rig, fly them out, put them into a hotel, feed them, your basic cost is around 20k. That is not including anything on the car (tires, wear items, etc). Typically we run 2 cars and can spread some of the costs better that way.


so, a sprint series (world challenge, GT3 cup) requires less stuff and costs less for staffing as a result of only needing 2-3 guys per car (no refueling, no changing tires etc)-

the crew costs go up incredibly with different types of cars- you need more engineer type guys for GTLM or P2 etc.

the car costs go up a ton for races like the Daytona 24HR- a tire bill for a team will be 40k or more for that race.

jeffwhite

"Racing is just a way to turn money into noise." - Boris Said (at least that's where I heard it)

Alan C.

Good one.

Just in time

It takes money to get started and even more to keep going. At the end you will leave with the memories only.

C.J. Ichiban

well that is why you have to build an entire business around it...