For the past month or so, since Raceyourface was launched fully, I have been missing something fairly instrumental in our plans for success on the track. An engine. Granted, a fairly significant element of going fast! My problem was an age old conundrum; choice.
I'm pleased to say that after weeks of uncertainty it now seems clear that we will have a fresh new engine, fully race tuned and ready to go courtesy of Honda. Sadly they are charging me for the privilege but it appears to be the best option by far. The Honda unit has been dominant in the championship for the past 4-5 years and so I feel confident that we now have the best basis from which to develop the chassis.
To help put the power into context, the BHP per tonne figure with this new engine is 600bhp! That’s more than a Ferrari Enzo and will get me to over 100mph in under 3 seconds. Broom Broom!
Good news and a great end to the week!
Race Your Face is the UK's first Superkart racing team funded by its supporters.
Become part of the team, experience the race, share the success.
Friday, 18 March 2011
Thursday, 10 June 2010
Racemyface goes to Le Mans...
Here I am sat in the departure lounge at Amsterdam Schipol airport awaiting a flight to take me to Le Mans (eventually). This is the first time I've planned to watch the historic event and hope to be on the other side of the safety barriers sometime soon.
Racemyface is coming along nicely. I'm currently reviewing options for the website build which is actually turning out to be much more difficult than I'd previously hoped. Still, there's some clever website developers out there who want to help so I'm looking forward to being up and running soon.
I'd love to know more about the economics of an event like Le Mans 24hour. There are approx. 50 teams across various categories entered; all of which will be well funded for the weekend. The TV viewing figures must be impressive, but to generate a value from brands association with the teams must be deeper routed than purely relying on getting the car on camera. I will be interested to see how teams are presenting themselves and their sponsors this weekend. How they build a partnership with spectators and extend the brand message beyond the car livery.
Racemyface is unique in that it won't rely on brand sponsorship. The pure approach of building a team of thousands will be an interesting marketing model I'm sure people will look to learn from in the future.
My tip for the weekend.... Peugeot. They won last year and have looked competitive so far in the LeMans Series.
Thursday, 27 May 2010
After a dismal start to the 2010 season, there is now even more focus on getting Racemyface off the ground. I saw 2010 as my final season in the British Superkart Championship for which I was favourite to take the crown, however with a blown engine at Silverstone, and another at Pembrey, the championship is all but out of my grasp now.
Attention then to next season. I’m hoping to meet with a couple of GT race teams in the coming months. Everybody I’ve spoken to about Racemyface loves the concept, and I know that ordinarily I can secure a top seat for 2011; I just need to make sure they’re happy for me to cover the car in nice pretty faces!
The website is currently under construction and I hope to have that up and running in the next few weeks. I’ve also been looking into linking with a childrens charity to hopefully generate additional awareness for them - and money - from what I’m doing with Racemyface. I hope to work with Startlight (Childrens charity who grant wishes for terminally ill children) who I ran the London Marathon for a year ago.
Watch this space...
Monday, 26 April 2010
How does Racemyface work?
Since I announced the launch of Racemyface, I’ve had some really encouraging feedback and some great suggestions on how to improve the idea and also lots of questions about how to sign up!
As I continue with the preparations for Racemyface, I wanted to clarify how the programme will work. All of the guidelines below are based on securing a drive with a top team in the British GT4 Championship for the 2011 season.
Racemyface
There are 6,000 spaces available on the race car.
Spaces cost £10 each with an image size of 4x4cm.
Multiple spaces can be purchased for £10 per space in the following sizes: 4x4, 9x9, 16x16, 25x25, 36x36 & 49x49.
Photos submitted must be faces; either yours, your friends or family members.
Faces will be displayed on the car and website for the entire 2011 season.
Spaces can be purchased through the Racemyface.co.uk website.
The season will start in March and only once 1/4 of the spaces available are sold.
When over-subscribed, submissions will be rolled over to the following year.
If the scheme doesn’t commence, funds from spaces sold will be donated to Starlight Childrens Charity.
Keep an eye out for further updates on Racemyface as the project gathers momentum.
andrew@racemyface.co.uk
http://twitter.com/racemyface
As I continue with the preparations for Racemyface, I wanted to clarify how the programme will work. All of the guidelines below are based on securing a drive with a top team in the British GT4 Championship for the 2011 season.
Racemyface
There are 6,000 spaces available on the race car.
Spaces cost £10 each with an image size of 4x4cm.
Multiple spaces can be purchased for £10 per space in the following sizes: 4x4, 9x9, 16x16, 25x25, 36x36 & 49x49.
Photos submitted must be faces; either yours, your friends or family members.
Faces will be displayed on the car and website for the entire 2011 season.
Spaces can be purchased through the Racemyface.co.uk website.
The season will start in March and only once 1/4 of the spaces available are sold.
When over-subscribed, submissions will be rolled over to the following year.
If the scheme doesn’t commence, funds from spaces sold will be donated to Starlight Childrens Charity.
Keep an eye out for further updates on Racemyface as the project gathers momentum.
andrew@racemyface.co.uk
http://twitter.com/racemyface
Sunday, 11 April 2010
Andrew Clarke to launch Racemyface...
Motorsport is expensive. You don't need to be an aficionado to realise that. Yet despite this obvious 'barrier', it has been the love of my life for the past decade and one which keeps growing stronger. To succeed in motor racing, you need three things; talent, commitment and money. Take any one of these away, and you will struggle to progress. Without talent, you wont win the races you need in order to get the decent drives. Without commitment, you won't put in the time needed to develop your skills. Without money, well, you sort of can't race at all! Taking the money away would be like starving a roaring fire of its oxygen; it just dies away.
My career to date has been a rewarding and upward struggle all rolled into one. It started with huge promise of a top seat in Formula Renault following a successful test - regarded as the proving ground for all F1 hopefuls. Alas this wasn't to be and I experienced my first exposure to the financial noose that fits so comfortably around a drivers neck. I moved to Formula Ford in a family run car, bought from donations and loans with the objective of simply getting some races under my belt. My first race at Silverstone was inadvertently the start of something beautiful, something no driver would want to accept let alone succeed with. A new niche positioning for me as the Shoestring Racer! It cost so much to get on the grid, that by the time we were there, we had no money for the things that make you quick; engines, tyres etc. At Silverstone, we had to run on old tyres and started at the back of the grid because we couldn't get my car to work. That season moved on and many more followed as we enjoyed our fair share of successes and we were soon out-pacing those around us on humungous budgets.
7 years on and you will now find me running competitively in the highly rated, but often overlooked British Superkart Championship. I'm true to my roots and don't spend money unnecessarily, I still run on part worn tyres for example. The fact I am winning races is testament to my 'talent' and 'commitment' over the years on improving my race craft, so much so that we were leading the championship last season until my engine decided to let go at Donnington Park. There's something so incredibly motivating about turning up to a race track as the under-funded underdog. The reward of beating your opposition to take the spoils under such circumstances is a reward like no other... It comes with an almost 'how did he manage that?' reaction. Sadly however, the flame for the Shoestring Racer is starting to flicker as the oxygen from my finances is drying up; to the extent that this will likely be my last season of competitive racing. I can feel the love of my life slipping through my fingers and it's a sickening feeling!
It's ironic then that the axe should swing above my career at the same time as I get an offer to step up into the enviable British GT Championship for a real crack at becoming a professional racing driver. Typical too that something I've been working towards for so long turns up when I'm on my knees. Having said that, if there is anything I've learnt during my time as a racing driver, it's that tenacity, passion and 'commitment' reigns supreme when times are tough and the chips are down and I'm buggered if I'm just going to walk away from this beloved sport and an amazing opportunity like this without a fight!
Attracting corporate backing is the obvious way to go. Despite the economic downturn, sponsorship deals are increasing at a healthy rate in the UK as investors realise this provides them with a flexible, portable way to communicate with their audience. That said, to get into bed with a backer of a size to stump up my GT budget would take me (a one-man-band) an awful long time to woo! One thing that annoys me about motorsport is how the supporters and spectators don't get close enough to the action and can't really share in the thrills and spills the driver gets to experience. What if there was a way to generate a racing budget through the support of friends, family, race fans and supporters? What if there was a way to do that which also made my success their success? Well the good news is I think I've found a way and I call it Racemyface!
I face the hugely daunting task of raising £60k to race next season. If I divide my car into 6,000 spaces and sold each space for £10 to supporters then not only would I achieve a racing budget for the first time in my career, but I will have done it in a way where those generous supporters are at the heart of my success. The quirk with Racemyface is that they get to put a picture of their face on a racing car and watch themselves drive by and win. How many people can say that they not only part fund a racing driver, but also have their face on a racing car!
I plan to enter the 2011 British GT Championship and thus have a reasonable amount of time to raise the budget with Racemyface. I will be launching Racemyface online in the very near future with full details of the Championship, the car, the team and how to get involved. In the meantime, I would welcome any thoughts or observations you may have about Racemyface. Please do share this blog with friends and feel free to comment at will. I can also be contacted at andrew@racemyface.co.uk.
The road ahead is still steep, but it's not time for the Shoestring Racer to hang up his crash helmet just yet. Wouldn't it be amazing to rock up together in the GT paddock and show them what we're made of!
My career to date has been a rewarding and upward struggle all rolled into one. It started with huge promise of a top seat in Formula Renault following a successful test - regarded as the proving ground for all F1 hopefuls. Alas this wasn't to be and I experienced my first exposure to the financial noose that fits so comfortably around a drivers neck. I moved to Formula Ford in a family run car, bought from donations and loans with the objective of simply getting some races under my belt. My first race at Silverstone was inadvertently the start of something beautiful, something no driver would want to accept let alone succeed with. A new niche positioning for me as the Shoestring Racer! It cost so much to get on the grid, that by the time we were there, we had no money for the things that make you quick; engines, tyres etc. At Silverstone, we had to run on old tyres and started at the back of the grid because we couldn't get my car to work. That season moved on and many more followed as we enjoyed our fair share of successes and we were soon out-pacing those around us on humungous budgets.
7 years on and you will now find me running competitively in the highly rated, but often overlooked British Superkart Championship. I'm true to my roots and don't spend money unnecessarily, I still run on part worn tyres for example. The fact I am winning races is testament to my 'talent' and 'commitment' over the years on improving my race craft, so much so that we were leading the championship last season until my engine decided to let go at Donnington Park. There's something so incredibly motivating about turning up to a race track as the under-funded underdog. The reward of beating your opposition to take the spoils under such circumstances is a reward like no other... It comes with an almost 'how did he manage that?' reaction. Sadly however, the flame for the Shoestring Racer is starting to flicker as the oxygen from my finances is drying up; to the extent that this will likely be my last season of competitive racing. I can feel the love of my life slipping through my fingers and it's a sickening feeling!
It's ironic then that the axe should swing above my career at the same time as I get an offer to step up into the enviable British GT Championship for a real crack at becoming a professional racing driver. Typical too that something I've been working towards for so long turns up when I'm on my knees. Having said that, if there is anything I've learnt during my time as a racing driver, it's that tenacity, passion and 'commitment' reigns supreme when times are tough and the chips are down and I'm buggered if I'm just going to walk away from this beloved sport and an amazing opportunity like this without a fight!
Attracting corporate backing is the obvious way to go. Despite the economic downturn, sponsorship deals are increasing at a healthy rate in the UK as investors realise this provides them with a flexible, portable way to communicate with their audience. That said, to get into bed with a backer of a size to stump up my GT budget would take me (a one-man-band) an awful long time to woo! One thing that annoys me about motorsport is how the supporters and spectators don't get close enough to the action and can't really share in the thrills and spills the driver gets to experience. What if there was a way to generate a racing budget through the support of friends, family, race fans and supporters? What if there was a way to do that which also made my success their success? Well the good news is I think I've found a way and I call it Racemyface!
I face the hugely daunting task of raising £60k to race next season. If I divide my car into 6,000 spaces and sold each space for £10 to supporters then not only would I achieve a racing budget for the first time in my career, but I will have done it in a way where those generous supporters are at the heart of my success. The quirk with Racemyface is that they get to put a picture of their face on a racing car and watch themselves drive by and win. How many people can say that they not only part fund a racing driver, but also have their face on a racing car!
I plan to enter the 2011 British GT Championship and thus have a reasonable amount of time to raise the budget with Racemyface. I will be launching Racemyface online in the very near future with full details of the Championship, the car, the team and how to get involved. In the meantime, I would welcome any thoughts or observations you may have about Racemyface. Please do share this blog with friends and feel free to comment at will. I can also be contacted at andrew@racemyface.co.uk.
The road ahead is still steep, but it's not time for the Shoestring Racer to hang up his crash helmet just yet. Wouldn't it be amazing to rock up together in the GT paddock and show them what we're made of!
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