Paul Rivett to FINALLY make BTCC debut

[Speed Badger]

Well, it only took 4000 years, but he's in the Audi for Snetterton and Brands. Good luck to him, about time!

http://www.btcc.net/2020/10/07/gkr-tradepricecars-...

[Centurion07]

How come it took him so long?

[bigbadbikercats]

I’ll take a wild guess at “Money!”.

Speaking as a relative outsider the fact that PR with his years (almost 2 decades in fact as I remember it!) of success in Clio’s didn’t get a shot in touring cars (and in a properly competitive car at that...) always seemed bizarre..

Realistically I’ve always known that success in motorsport has to a greater or lesser extent always required more than just raw talent and commitment, and that a significant proportion of “more” was being able to to put a financial package in place to secure the right drives but it still seems harsh to see someone with so much obvious potential (not just quick but the whole package) not being able to fully express it...

[Kraken]

Centurion07 said:

How come it took him so long?

Lack of funds. It costs a lot to get on the BTCC grid. The seat came up because the previous guy (Gornall) has run out of budget due to the costs of crash repairs and the difficulty of attracting sponsors when they can't attend the meetings.

[Centurion07]

It was a slightly rhetorical question.

I understand money plays a big part but you just would've thought SOMEBODY would've taken a punt given his record thus far...?

[RacerMike]

Centurion07 said:

It was a slightly rhetorical question.

I understand money plays a big part but you just would've thought SOMEBODY would've taken a punt given his record thus far...?

I'm afraid 'someone taking a punt' just doesn't happen in motorsport. Taking a punt would cost someone £50,000 a weekend and given that most teams run totally hand to mouth, that isn't going to be the team. 99% of all the BTCC grid (or any grid for that matter) is made up of drivers who have either personal wealth or sponsor wealth. The 1% usually have a big enough name for other sponsors to want to be associated with them...hence they pay the seat for them. None of those sponsors have any interest in 'taking a punt' on someone that in their eyes won't be guaranteed a win and/or isn't called Jason Plato.

There's an old adage in Motorsport. To be successful you need two of three things: Money, Luck or Talent. Sadly it's very rarely the latter too, and more often than not it's the former two.

I was lucky to have the latter two for a few years, but unfortunately the luck bit ran out when my then sponsor sadly had financial pressures that stopped them shelling out a quarter of a million quid a season for me and my teammate to race in British GT4!