http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/more-sports/the-grooming-of-canadas-next-formula-one-driver/article2274857/

This kid has a huge advantage - daddy has lots of bucks.

Robert Barg

 Unfortunately for alot of young talented drivers this is the new reality in racing. Not only do you need talent and maketability to get to the top levels of racing ,you need a great deal of financial backing .The cost to travel to opportunities and to " buy rides" with the right teams can be very high.  This is unfortunate for the many who may indeed be better drivers than those who have the prized seats,but were never able to afford the pice to get there.
good luck to this young man as it would be nice to cheer on a canadian again at the F1 level again.

RS

It's an incredible world we live in.. Unfortunately F1 (and most other pro level motorsport classes) isn't possible for anyone who dreams of getting there - unless your parents thought of it first! And had the means to get you there, of course...

Then again, there's millions of fans and only 24 spots. The chances of being an NHL player are huge compared to getting an F1 seat.

Great article though, I think it gives us a tiny glimpse of how special these guys have to be.

What's "special", and unfortunate is that these drivers are the best of the privileged. The chances are nil for a youngster without incredible financial backing. They have no hope anymore of making it, regardless of how much talent they possess.

Guess it pays to stay in school !  :-/

Well, it might pay for your kid! But if you stay in school long enough to make serious bucks, it'll be too late for you anyway :)

Well thats nothing new. Nelson Piquet was the son of a rich diplomat,  Adrian fernandez's family was loaded, de Cesares 's family owned some marlboro rights, even Senna 's rich family had to pay his way through 3 feeder series.  
The only regular guys that seem to have made it have been very lucky to be in the right place at the right time  (mansell had a good test with lotus , and the press still said there were better choices!), or have been picked up by agents/ sponsors at an early age ( schumacher, Vettel,) after showing a special talent in european karting.  

Even Nascar 's feeder seats are money driven. If i was a young guy and wanted to make it I would move to Europe ( where companies actually sponsor drivers not hockey arenas) and run some big kart races in the hopes of getting noticed.  But to run at that level is still $10,000 per kart race. At least thats what it was 10 years ago.

The rich and the privileged have advantages! Stop the presses (computers) let the 99%ers know they have to lower their expectations and then maybe they can learn to enjoy their lives.
Due to the generosity of one Bob William I was able to compete in a Chumpcar race at Laguna Seca on Thursday. I don't care how rich you are you can't have more fun than that: Bob, Gayle Baird and Al Harvey made up the 'No Borders' race team. ;D ;D ;D ;D (it may take a while to wipe the smiles off our faces).
The Ladner Chevron team finished 17th out of 35.

Hey Keith, what $500 crap-can were you racing?  How tough are the safety rules etc?  Any photos?

Are any "chumpers" likely to go SCCA or similar racing? or is most of the field already in SCCA?

Congrats to you and your fellow chumpers.  

Happy Holidays to all,

Robert Barg

Hi and a Ho Ho to you Bob.
We raced Bob Williams #13 1990 Honda Civic (there are photos on www.chumpcar.com).
The whole Chumpcar format is hard to discribe so I'll talk with you at the next meeting but I can tell you it is one hell of lot of fun with minimal official 'help' ::).
Seven and a half hours without a pace car; a few full course yellows and not a single significant incident :D.
All vehicles are checked for safety; just a whole lot of 'grassroots' racing and at LAGUNA SECA, it doesn't get any better :) :) :)!!

Forgot your other question :-[.
Approximately 140 drivers (35x4) with experience ranging from decades (for some of us) to first times WITHOUT even a novice race to their name! NO practice, TWO laps under yellow and away we went :o :) ;) :D.

Yup, some people have the wrong idea about LeMons and Chump car.. I got hooked on racing by doing a LeMons race at Thunderhill. It was my first time ever driving a "race" car, first time ever around Thunderhill, first time ever on ANY track. The race started with 160 cars! After a few very nervous laps, I managed to relax and realized everyone was there with the same goal - finish a very long race without incidents.

In 16 hours or racing, there were a couple of love taps here and there, but despite the goofy penalties and comically worded rules, they are very serious about safety and responsible driving. They do not take kindly to contact of any kind - with LeMons it's an immediate black flag to every car involved in a collision, regardless of fault. It's a great format, lots of fun and promotes good driving and incredible displays of backyard engineering. It seems to me like Chump car is a slightly less goofy version of LeMons where the racing is taken a bit more seriously, while LeMons is really all about the show. Anyone considering doing either of these events has my full recommendation, you WILL have a blast!

Keith, why don't you rub it in a bit more - where was this Chump car race again? I didn't hear ya the first time :P

Cheers
Tiago

Well Tiago, you drive 19 hours south on I 5 with two old idiots chatting and with BSing in great abundance and you arrive at Carmel. About 10 miles up the road from there you will find a state park and within that park you find one of the great tracks in North America LAGUNA SECA :) :) :) :) ;).
Thunderhill and The Ridge are next on my list for Chumping.
We only started with 35 cars I can't image over 100 :o; but I'm looking forward to it :D.

Laguna again in Feb. ;D and Infineon in Dec. ;D Lots of time for Keith to get ready. I know Al and Gayle are already packed. It was and will be again.......pretty cool :-*

Was that an invitation my dear friend Bob? :P Think about it, I'll significantly lower the average age of that group. Otherwise the american border guards might think you're all moving to Florida!

Actually....Pam and I will be solo in Feb. as volunteers. I'm not sure who will return for the Infineon race.