Extended lockdowns because of the COVID-19 pandemic have a massive negative effect on our economy, and motorsport businesses are also feeling the impact. It doesn’t matter if the racing teams are small or big: without the actual racing, there’s no money coming in. Plus, both the engineers and drivers need competitions to hone their skills and cultivate their talents. What is then the future of motorsport? Is the next gold cup going to be computer-simulated digital races? Let’s take a look at some possibilities.
The Current Situation in Motorsports
The health of its employees is the top priority for all motorsport businesses. So to keep social distancing, regular work-going has stopped. Whenever possible, engineers continue their development work at home, and most businesses look forward to producing road-going cars. The only problem is that it’s almost impossible to predict when the racetracks get opened again. But if it should happen any time soon, at least at the moment, the motorsport industry by large is ready to continue work as usual.
It’s a bit trickier with the customer sports programs, though. Because there are no races at the moment, there’s also almost no need for spare parts and service. That causes a lot of uncertainty about the future in companies with a long history of producing customer race cars. Porsche, for example, has built customer cars for Le Mans every year since 1951. But Le Mans 2021 has already been postponed. Let’s keep our fingers crossed that it won’t get canceled.
Using New Tools to Communicate
Like any other company these days, motorsport businesses have discovered the benefits of working from a home office. Thanks to modern video communication options like Zoom, Google Meet, or Skype, people don’t have to leave their homes to attend an important meeting. Of course, the face-to-face meeting still has a lot of value, but video conferences are a faster way to maintain communication lines with engineers. The pandemic has forced motorsport management teams to use modern tools, and it’s unlikely that they go back to old, less effective ways of working once the crisis is over.
Prototype Racing Coaches Embrace Virtual Reality
Motorsport coaching was a lucrative business before the COVID-19 pandemic. Many ex-drivers had set up businesses for training motorsport talents and consult race teams owning prototypes. But ever since March 2020, most coaches have lost a considerable percentage of their annual income. What could be the solution for this situation? Remote coaching via simulators, for example. The Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup is already run on racing simulators. And the response has been great. IRacing gets together some of the world’s best sim racers and makes them compete with regular drivers. This merging of the sim racing scene with the real racing teams makes the time without actual races exciting for both sponsors and fans. And it also allows trainers to continue their work.
Esports competitions also give Formula E drivers a chance to maintain their competitive form. Modern virtual reality technology is advanced enough to offer a challenging driving experience to even seasoned racers. What’s more, sim racing is going through a boom these days. That introduces Formula E drivers to a new generation of a young audience.
The Effect of Postponed Races
At the moment, even major races like Nürburgring and Le Mans are postponed. That means that the second half of the year will get filled with more motorsport events than usual. That places an unprecedented amount of stress on racing teams because many new event dates will overlap. Every company has its way of dealing with the situation. But the prevalent tactic in the industry is to keep the team members motivated by not cutting their salaries. When racing starts again, fans will get plenty of action every weekend, and the teams will have plenty of work trying to catch up.
Le Mans also canceled their pre-tests, and this hampers preparations for everybody. Influential companies like Porsche or Corvette are coming out with new cars this year, and the pre-tests were much needed to try out the new vehicles. Le Mans 24 hours will now take place in September, which means that cars have to deal with new climatic conditions. Plus, drivers need to keep their lights working longer because autumn months have more hours of darkness. But here’s the thing: no company has any real competitive disadvantage from the problems. They are all facing the same issues.
Motorsport Betting
Motorsport betting companies are taking a heavy hit these days. After the cancellation of racing events, the share prices of big betting companies like William Hill have plummeted to a record low. The cost to betting businesses is nearly in hundreds of millions. But there’s also a new opportunity from this situation. If drivers can hone their skills in esports competitions, then maybe the betting industry could also emphasize more sim races. It’s a chance to introduce racing to gamers who weren’t so interested in it before. So when the crisis is over, the people betting in esports races could continue betting in real races.
Conclusion
The bottom line is this. The majority of the motorsport businesses are going to be okay during the down-time. But not if the crisis drags on for too long. Race teams with all the supporting staff need actual races happening and fans coming to see those races. Although sim races in the context of esports can offer a temporary solution for drivers to keep fit, building real machines is the cornerstone of motorsports. Without developing real cars, engineers can not hone their skills and make the businesses running. Unfortunately, racing as a luxury activity is the first thing to go when the economy goes through some hard times. But one thing’s for sure: as soon as everything gets back to normal, the teams are ready to work harder than ever before. Plus, the crisis has introduced them to efficient new tools like video-conferences and sim test drives.
What’s the future for motorsport careers in the era of the pandemic, in your opinion? Let us know in the comments.
Written by Thomas Glare
Just a regular guy who loves cars and betting on F1. Journalist since 2015. Grand National enthusiast, covered the event live multiple times in the past few years.
