F1

Why do racing series collapse?

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  • #280288
    Girts
    Participant

    It looks like only nine teams will compete at the next F1 race and we do not know how many will make it to the grid in 2015. For sure, the powers that be will be looking for solutions, such as customer cars, three-car teams or attracting new teams but I think it is fair to say that the future of our sport is a bit uncertain at the moment.

    That made me try to remember why other racing series, such as World Sportscar Championship, Superleague Formula or A1GP, fell apart. Perhaps the most common reason is inability to control the costs, which, as @KeithCollantine once said, finally leaves the championship “with a single team with a billion dollar budget wondering why they’ve got no one left to race against”. Of course, there might be other reasons as well, such as lack of strong leadership, weak business model or unattractive sporting / technical rules.

    So why do racing series cease to exist? Can you remember and describe some examples?

    #280367
    Craig Woollard
    Participant

    Certain series can collapse due to the extortionate costs (British F3) compared to having a series elsewhere (Formula 3 in practically every other European country) especially in times like these.

    Others can cease to exist due to being merged with another series. Take Champ Car as an example.

    Other categories can dissolve due to the fact that a similar series exists as part of a Grand Prix weekend therefore there will be a lack of entrants (Formula 2).

    And certain categories can be made redundant due to safety concerns etc. (Group B rallying)

    #280373
    Ratboy
    Keymaster

    Uk Formula Renault stopping running the other year due to only 6 drivers being enterred as well.

    #280392
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    If a single-seater series fails to show it can bring drivers into F1, then it ceases to have a significance. We are seeing European FRenault 3.5 establishing a reputation for having F1 owners noticing a plucking talent from it.

    GP2 is now showing F1 team owners show little or no notice of it. We’ve had the last two GP2 championship winners fail to land F1 drives the year after – which is a massive failure of the series. In F3000 (admittedly when F1 had very large grids) it was pretty much guaranteed the top four would win F1 drives the year after.

    Otherwise these series become a refuge for those whose F1 careers fizzled out, or those that never made it that far (A1GP).

    #280380
    Nick
    Participant

    Several Dutch racing series have collapsed due to a combination of lack of interest (though not always lack of entrants, Dutch Touring Car Championship), manufacturers backing out (though not always immediately ending the series, Renault Clio Cup) and a lack of entrants (Dutch Formula Ford). That, and they basically only have 3 tracks to visit; Zandvoort, Assen and Spa, where Zandvoort is the most common and somehow has the least crowds.

    Typically, series here fall on hard times once a main sponsor walks away (like the manufacturer of a single make championship or the title sponsor) since they cover a lot of the costs. International series are less likely to receive such backing, but if they have manufacturer support, it’s the only thing they have (like World Series by Renault, I doubt any of those classes would survive without Renault running them).

    Perhaps moreso than ‘just’ having insufficient funds, I think the complexity of funding a racing series in any capacity is very difficult (car development, finding places to race, insurance, etc) and if one of those elements suddenly falls through or has a major price spike (my memory is clouded, but I think there was a Dutch racing category canceled over Zandvoort suddenly dropping them out of a ‘pack’ which allowed them to control costs for hosting races there) the entire series can fall through.

    Personally, I think there’s also the matter or bad planning. Much like millionaires or car companies entering F1 and dropping out after a few years, companies and investors do the same for smaller racing series. Renault announced they weren’t going to continue the Dutch Clip Cup very late into the 2006 season, which saw Dunlop (yes, the tyre company) taking over the running of the series for 3 seasons…

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