[BTCC] BTCC 2020 season discussion, News and Rumours!

[Moneyseeker]

Originally Posted by Craner Curves

I don't know what to think about this. People on furlough, out of work, kids not getting fed properly and somebody wants us to crowd fund a racecar to get fixed? https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-bobb...-btcc-race-car

The car is off to Willie Poole for repairs, according to Sean it needs new sides and roof. WPMS says it will be ready in a few days.

So not unrepairable us the go fund me page says...but still expensive. BT has retweeted the go fund me page, so is 'official'.

Like you say, asking people to fund repairing a race car in the current climate is a difficult ask.

[Craner Curves]

Double post

[Peter Mallett]

From bitter experience I can confirm that Willy Poole is a magician, but not cheap.

[mj088]

Forgive my ignorance but that Audi will almost certainly be finished in BTCC by brands hatch, so this is a huge cost for a car to do 2 rounds, would it not be a better/cheaper option for AMD/TPC to source one of the many unraced NGTC cars out there to allow him to finish the season? I can think of at least 2 FK2 civics sitting in storage ( which AMD know how to prepare), probably a Focus, an Astra

[porsche962fan]

the Avensis of HMS along with its Alfa Romeo are also available

[AnnoyedMoose]

Originally Posted by Craner Curves

I don't know what to think about this. People on furlough, out of work, kids not getting fed properly and somebody wants us to crowd fund a racecar to get fixed? https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-bobb...-btcc-race-car

It's a free country. If people don't want to fund it then they don't have to. If you take it the logical conclusion all the people you mention shouldn't get any help either as there are people in other countries far, far worse off with nothing like the opportunities the poorest here have.

[Pickles]

Originally Posted by Craner Curves

I don't know what to think about this. People on furlough, out of work, kids not getting fed properly and somebody wants us to crowd fund a racecar to get fixed? https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-bobb...-btcc-race-car

Literally just seen this, can't believe it after seeing how quickly AMD got the car stripped and Shaun saying how the car would be back for Snetterton. Doubt it's a scam as its been shared on FB by Bobby's girlfriend...

[redshoes]

May not be a scam but it's certainly deceptive. "His Audi racing car cannot be repaired and buying a new race prepared shell is very expensive" - which we know isn't true. If it 'cannot be repaired' then why is it being sent for repairs?

Appears to have been created by a well-meaning but somewhat ill-informed fan rather than by Thompson himself.

[Evantra]

Originally Posted by redshoes

Appears to have been created by a well-meaning but somewhat ill-informed fan rather than by Thompson himself.

Jeff Army comes to mind...

[psq43]

Originally Posted by Evantra

Jeff Army comes to mind...

Being a member, I can confirm that nobody in charge of any of our social media is plugging this or organising it. I've never heard of 'Retro Steve' or 'Mike Adams'.

To be fair, there are far worse fan groups to be involved with. I suspect a fair few members of this forum are involved in some of those groups.

[S griffin]

If worse comes to worse they can always use the second Audi, but that would mean Rivett would not be able to drive it at Snett

[Pickles]

The whole crowd funding thing doesn't sit well with me. If my hobby is fishing, and I break my best rod, why should a load of strangers give me money to replace it?

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by Pickles

The whole crowd funding thing doesn't sit well with me. If my hobby is fishing, and I break my best rod, why should a load of strangers give me money to replace it?

I guess that would depend on how many people are willing to pay to support you ?

Personally, I see no problem with it. Drives are funded through countless ways, and as long as there is nothing underhand or illegal about the method, entrants should be free to fund their entry however they wish.

Whether it is membership to a club, paying for sponsorship, buying merchandise or contributing to a gofundme - noone is being forced into handing over their money.

[Peter Mallett]

Many moons ago a chap called Tim Lee Davey won a tv show to become a racing driver. He was relatively successful and managed to acquire a Porsche 962C for endurance racing. I recall one year in the 80s he was selling space on the car. You could get your name on it for a reasonable sum (I don't recall how much now). But that's an early example of crowd funding. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Lee-Davey

[bella]

Originally Posted by Craner Curves

I don't know what to think about this. People on furlough, out of work, kids not getting fed properly and somebody wants us to crowd fund a racecar to get fixed? https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-bobb...-btcc-race-car

my opinion on this kind of stuff is that some people may want to help a driver (be it because they're a friend, family member or just a huge fan) but don't have the money to sponsor them outright. something like crowd funding allows them to contribute what they can and want to pay, and gives the driver the option to scrape together micro funding whilst they focus on getting the bigger numbers.

i don't see the harm in making the option available, although i feel a bit uncomfortable with the target amount. appreciate that's a problem with the site rather than the individual appeal though.

[Craner Curves]

Originally Posted by bella

my opinion on this kind of stuff is that some people may want to help a driver (be it because they're a friend, family member or just a huge fan) but don't have the money to sponsor them outright. something like crowd funding allows them to contribute what they can and want to pay, and gives the driver the option to scrape together micro funding whilst they focus on getting the bigger numbers.

i don't see the harm in making the option available, although i feel a bit uncomfortable with the target amount. appreciate that's a problem with the site rather than the individual appeal though.

Very well put. That's made me less uneasy with it.

Can I just say that I wasn't suggesting it was dodgy or anything similar. I merely said that I was a bit unsure how that sat with me in this current climate.

[GT6]

Originally Posted by Peter Mallett

Many moons ago a chap called Tim Lee Davey won a tv show to become a racing driver. He was relatively successful and managed to acquire a Porsche 962C for endurance racing. I recall one year in the 80s he was selling space on the car. You could get your name on it for a reasonable sum (I don't recall how much now). But that's an early example of crowd funding. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Lee-Davey

I was there when the car raced at le mans and they had a unit very close to where i live in Maidstone, in which they worked on and stored the car. The family business was just the other side of Maidstone selling Caravans

[billy bleach]

Originally Posted by GT6

I was there when the car raced at le mans and they had a unit very close to where i live in Maidstone, in which they worked on and stored the car. The family business was just the other side of Maidstone selling Caravans

Didn't the car end up being scrutineered with no engine because it hadn't been paid for?

[bella]

Originally Posted by Craner Curves

Can I just say that I wasn't suggesting it was dodgy or anything similar. I merely said that I was a bit unsure how that sat with me in this current climate.

to be honest i agree with your original question and pickles generally, particularly in an expensive series and when it’s pitched as a desperate last ditch attempt and there’s pressure to donate implied or otherwise.

used to always make me feel uncomfortable until some friends were in a similar situation and a lot of friends and family said the same thing - a sponsor sized contribution was out of their range but they wanted to help somehow. they refused the help because of aforementioned dodgy climate and feeling uncomfortable taking money off friends and family, but if you’ve got people willing to pay the nuts and bolts costs just to help somehow then then big scary labour and parts aren’t quite so hard to cope with.

[Akrapovic]

I see both sides there. It looks a little insensitive. But then again, if there isn't demand for it, it'll flop anyway and there will be no harm done.

[Moneyseeker]

At the end of the day motor racing is 'discretionary spend', a luxury and the brutal truth is that if you can't afford to cover every eventuality of which almost wiring off the car is not that unlikely, then don't do it....

Reminds me of a conversation I had with a well known motorsport insurer many years ago when we strayed into the higher end of the market and I asked if many of the historic F1 (70's and 80's) were insured, to which the reply came - almost none, on the basis that the owner didn't believe they would crash it enough to require significant repair or loss and if they did, they would just buy another one...

This was a few years ago and values have leaped since, but still a measure of the deographic. I once tried to insure a Lola for the world sports car championship, those of us of a certain vintage may recall that the purchase price was 'capped' at $250,000 but of course the manufacturers aimed to make this up in the parts prices, which were horrendous. A set of bodywork would cover the cost of a whole season in some series....We were refused total loss cover on the basis that an insurer believed that there was almost always something from a race car that could be salaged for use.

I digress, apologies....

[redshoes]

The text on the GoFundMe page has been updated, removing the mention of the car being a write-off. Now reads more like normal sponsorship proposal and less like fan-boy pleading.

[Alfisti]

For me it's a legit way to try and raise some much needed funds.

Mr Belcher did something similar after his car and the woods at Thruxton merged into one.

Mike Bushell offered chauffeur driven high speed laps in his Clio some years ago to fund repairing his AmD touring car. I swear to God that lad had fitted something distinctly not from this Earth under the bonnet...

You pays your money, you takes your choice...

[Pickles]

Originally Posted by Alfisti

For me it's a legit way to try and raise some much needed funds.

Mr Belcher did something similar after his car and the woods at Thruxton merged into one.

Mike Bushell offered chauffeur driven high speed laps in his Clio some years ago to fund repairing his AmD touring car. I swear to God that lad had fitted something distinctly not from this Earth under the bonnet...

You pays your money, you takes your choice...

I get that, like you say they offered something in return.

[Thundersports]

Originally Posted by GT6

I was there when the car raced at le mans and they had a unit very close to where i live in Maidstone, in which they worked on and stored the car. The family business was just the other side of Maidstone selling Caravans

Yep he had a unit in the 20/20 estate. The crowd funding thing was in 1990/91 and yes the car was scrutineered without an engine. Last seen in TLDs hands at the Interserie meeting at Brands in 1991, he borrowed an engine from Joest but had to run with his own ECU which he didn't have! Val Musetti had already handed over 20k for the drive the ECU never appeared and the car was towed up to a spot behind the Brabham centre by Tims rusty Honda to carry on selling space on the car...........