How do I become a Pro racer?

Question

It's either called GT racing or Grand Touring Racing this is almost perfectly represented by the Gran Turismo video games. These types of races feature The BMW M3 GTR, BMW Mclaren types of cars there mostly german and japanese and famous tracks that these races are on are the Laguna Seca Raceway, Nurburgring, Le Mans track.


Is there a certain age I should be to start out training or racing?
How do I become a racer without having to start out with go karts or something thats not a car?
Am I required to have a special license or will they teach me and provide me with one?
I'm 16 with a reguler permit is it too late early or perfect timing to start any type of training out?
I'm attending High School is training going to interfear with my Monday-Friday's 5AM-3Pm school days? (These hours include bus rides and stuff so i'm not actually in the building this long)
Where in NC can I get training?Required weight? Height? Bench press? IQ? grades in school? College? Equipment?

Answer 1

Most professionals at the top levels of motorsports started in go karts at ages between 6 and 10. Most top young drivers that are aiming to run at the top levels often will be in mid to upper level series before they are 16... not a requirement, but generally the later start you have, the fewer options you will have.

The difference between a go-kart and a car is that a car features suspension... and that a car is much more expensive! In terms of pure practicality, you should either have very deep pockets or look at go karts as a god send to gain seat time: 2 hours in an arrive and drive go kart will run about $100-200... 2 hours driving time in a car will cost you $200-400, and you will have to supply the car. Considering the massive number of hours you will need to log in order to begin to understand how to drive and to drive faster, karting is a fantastic option!

To actually compete in sanctioned races, you will need a compeitiion license... and you will also need all the related safety equipment and a car for whatever class you are running (rentals are available for $1-2k/race weekend for most of the more basic cars like spec-Miata, Formual Vee, etc).

Training mostly involves lots of driving (see karting above), but also general physical fitness (driving can be quite physically demanding). And lots of related reading: Skip Barber's Going Faster is a great book, and while related more to solo-racing, Hank Watt's Secrets Of Solo Racing also contains alot of useful basics about performance driving.

If you are deadset against karting, you are closing the main entry door to motorsports. The next most accessible would be autocrossing (where you would use your own car), which is probably run by various car clubs in your area (SCCA, NASA, PCA, BMWCC, etc); many clubs also run Autocross schools that will allow for you to have a fair amount of seat time in your car with an instructor. Most clubs also have Open Track days at race tracks - this is not racing, just open lapping, but when you start simply following the line and trying to keep track of the flag stations will be more than you can handle anyway (again, this would be done in your own car).

Getting a competition license can be done at any number of race schools (Skip Barber, Jim Russell, etc). Some of these will provide you a car for the couple days they run, others will require you to provide your own car. This should get you a provisional license for racing in SCCA (and most other sanctioning bodies in the US will accept an SCCA license; a regular street license is not a requirement and there are competition licensesd drivers that are 16 or under).

Other than experience, the main barrier in motorsports is budget... it's an expensive hobby, and with the time involved to become skilled enough to attract sponsorship money (which often times simply lessens the costs), even if you are extremely successful, you will have to work through more than a few seasons footing the bill... though, on the plus side, it's alot of fun!

Answer 2

Its never to early to start training however for liability issues, I doubt a team will pick you up until your eighteen. I would start out on a local level first. You would have to fund your own racing but it could work out. I would seek out some sort of school to help improve your skills. Most race teams recruit by going to local tracks and watching, if your name keeps popping up as a good racer, you will get noticed. I think the only thing that race teams look for is how good you are. I don't think there are height and weight restrictions but a driver in shape will have better endurance and not fatigue as quickly.

My advise would be to use racing as a hobby and go to college and get a motorsports engineering degree. I can't give you the names of the schools but would say you won't have a hard time finding one in NC. Racing careers can stop at the drop of a hat, so its good to have something to fall back on in the field that you like.

Good luck.

Answer 3

You asked all the questions except the most important one, How much will it cost?

If you want to be on the fast track, avoid things like learning to drive with a kart then you have to be very well funded. No one will hire a driver with no experience, the only way to get experience is with your own car or financing a team that will let you drive. I would say the minimum you will need is 100k per year to start and lots more as you progress if you don't pick up a ride. If that isn't a problem and your parents are OK with this then find out when the next SCCA event is and fly down to it and start asking your questions there.