Executive Search Leaders’ Post

Karting risks losing its unique identity at the altar of Formula 1. Sheila Van Damn, a respected '50s rally driver, and owner of the Windmill Theatre in London, had an all-female kart team. They were captured on TV driving karts around London in the early '60s. Delve deeper, and you'll uncover remarkable anecdotes like competitors driving road-registered karts to competitions. Did you also know that karting used to have several events on the Isle of Man? Sure, you might have caught a video of the Peel GP that circulated a few years ago, but did you know about the Douglas GP and the Southern 100 kart races? Did you know karting has had a female FIA World Champion and multiple female top-level drivers? Even the silver screen holds secrets, with the van in "The Italian Job" belonging to actor David Salamone, doubling as his cherished karting transport. Did you know the Karting World Championship had a round on the streets of Monaco in 1967? Did you know the Heysham Head World Cup was sponsored by John Player and would attract over 20,000 spectators each year? Did you know that Silverstone hosted the SuperKart GP in the 80s, which had hundreds of entries and thousands of spectators? Did you know the last race at Crystal Palace was a kart event? These quirks of karting barely touch the sides of its rich and illustrious history. Almost every other day, something will pop up on the British Historic Kart Club’s Facebook page where someone will post a story about karting that will leave you asking, “How did I not know about this? Karting is amazing!” Despite these treasures, Karting's identity faces erosion as Formula 1's allure intensifies. In the wake of viral incidents, such as the misconceived altercation in 2020, Karting struggles against misrepresentation. As Formula 1 secures and entrenches its dominant place within motorsport, a sport like karting can easily find itself drowned. The sport's top events are now very much starting to look like Formula 5, and the governing bodies don’t seem bothered at all. Is there a way out for karting? It seems unlikely, but I wholeheartedly recommend diving into the various historic karting groups; you’ll never know what you might find.

Why Go-Kart Racing Deserves a Spot in the Olympics https://lnkd.in/eY_7PXgJ The Olympics just wrapped up. Over the last few weeks, you probably saw a lot of breakdancing, racewalking, and trampoline in your feeds. Shoutout to Raygun, by the way. But for all the weird and wacky events at this year's Olympics, one thing you didn't see in Paris was auto racing. Auto racing has never caught on at the Olympics, not that they haven't tried. At the 1900 Summer Olympics, Renault founder Louis Renault and a dozen or so other drivers raced around France in two-seat Citroens and Peugeots. Renault took home the gold and a lofty ₣4,000 cash prize. A second "Olympic Rally" took place during the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, with British racing driver Betty Haig in a Singer Le Mans and Swiss driver Paul Abt in a Riley Falcon both taking home golds. Unfortunately though, while the International Olympic Committee (IOC) acknowledges these races took place, the IOC doesn't recognize either of them as official events. And there hasn't been another attempt to bring motorsports to the Olympics in the 88 years since. In 2001, it seemed all hope was lost. The IOC all but banned motor racing in its updated charter. In chapter 5, a single line stated: “Sports, disciplines or events in which performance depends essentially on mechanical propulsion are not acceptable.” Thankfully, the IOC removed that rule in 2016 and the amended charter from 2023 makes no mention of it. (...) #olympics #racing #gokart

Ending the Euro trip on a high… Joshua Johnson has been racing back to back races for the past 3 weeks in France and Belgium. It was a rough start with a puncture at Le Pevele Classic but still hanging onto finish 28th out of 167 riders followed by a crash the next day whilst in the break away at Ruiselede. The second weekend of racing saw a turn around with a 6th place finish at Roeselare on the Saturday and then the result we were waiting for, victory at South Leeuw. During the final weekend of racing, it was clear that Josh was a marked rider and teams played tactics against him throughout the two days of racing. On Saturday Josh raced Zandvoorde - Zonnebeke, managing his race well and a small group of contenders made the break, lap by lap little attacks whittled the group down to just 3 in the end, with the other two riders looking at Josh to do the work in order to not get caught by the pack they were able to come around him in the sprint with Josh securing another podium finishing 3rd. Sunday at the Beloeil it was a similar scenario with individuals from various teams making an attack on each lap. On the last lap there was one rider up the road and Josh could see he was not going to get help, instead of sitting in the pack waiting for a sprint for second he went to try close down the gap but in the end was a few seconds too late and with the effort during the lap couldn’t contend the sprint and settled for 4th and another big result. Three weeks... Six races... Two podiums including a win… An incredible opportunity to race on cobbles for the first time in what is known as the u/17 Paris Roubaix. Josh plans to return later in the year to compete in some of the Junior Stage Races. However, for now, Josh heads home to swap his road bike for his mountain bike and prepare for SA XCO Champs in May. Thanks to Andrew(Josh’s Dad) for all the video updates from the races. #athletemanagement #athletes #sports #southafrica #brandbuilding #partnerships #sportsmarketing #cycling #roadcycling #victory #belgium

Are Formula One Fans Being Ripped Off? An online post today caught my attention. The event organizers of the British Formula One Grand Prix to be held at Silverstone in the UK on July 7th have stated that they are struggling to sell tickets for this years event, and they believe it is because of the #redbullracing dominance this season. Well let's debunk that myth that people don't want to watch Red Bull win again. 1. Ticket Prices. The picture below is a ticket to this years British Formula One Grand Prix for a family of 4 to attend for 3 days. Thats right, nearly three and a half thousand quid for a Mum, Dad and two little ones to go along to watch racing cars race around a track. Couldn't be the price of admission that are stopping people from buying tickets could it? 2. Competitive Racing. Unlike last season when we did witness a Red Bull domination, in the last few races of this season we have in fact seen 4 different drivers from 4 different teams win races. This close racing is exactly what fans want to see, and therefore his surely could not be the reason for people not buying tickets to the British F1 GP. Formula One has for a long time been perceived to be a sport for the wealthy, both to participate in, as well as to watch live. What we are seeing these days is the impact of Liberty Media's impact on managing the sport, the tremendous growth that it is experiencing across the world, and their ability to charge what fans will pay. In the other races in this year to date the Grandstands have been full and this seemingly isolated situation in the UK must be more aligned to the entry level prices charged by the organizer. Oh, while I am here, I will point out to the man who purchased this ticket, you could drop the kids off at the Grandparents for that weekend, fly yourself and the wife to NZ, and watch the All Blacks thump England in rugby for the same price. #formula1 #sportstickets #marketconditions #events

It's been a couple of months since my last 'Slider Article' that I published on DIRTRACKR, but last week I got to speak with one of the hottest drivers in sprint car racing once again - Gio Scelzi. Gio is by far one of my favourite interviews. He is a straight shooter and has a personality that is missing in most sports across the globe. It's always a pleasure to chat with him, catch up, and ask him a few questions on the current state of dirt track racing and the sport of sprint car racing as a whole. Gio is a part of a new age of drivers that are taking a front seat and becoming one the top drivers to beat in the sport of sprint car racing. If it wasn't for drivers as good as him and with the straight-up, no-BS attitude, the sport would be suffering a lot more. Most professional athletes in 2024/25 are boring to talk to, let alone, listen to them in interviews. In general, most of them are numbskulls, with little ability to have a regular conversation with someone outside of "their world" and no respect for those involved in "their world" that want to help them reach another level of notoriety. Gio will be a future World of Outlaws champion and is on his way to becoming one of the sport's best. The fact he speaks his mind and isn't afraid of whether or not people like him for it is a throwback to a different age that we rarely see today with modern sportsmen. On a side note... A big shoutout goes to Justin Fiedler and what he has created with DIRTRACKR. No one in the industry comes close to the amount of time, energy, and resources he pours into dirt track racing as a whole. World of Outlaws World Racing Group #Racing #MotorsportJournalism #DirtTrackRacing #WorldofOutlaws #SprintCarRacing #Motorsports https://lnkd.in/gnnBDE-r

🏁Race Review🏁 🟠Now the dust has settled, and the wind has calmed, I can look back at what was a great first weekend for myself and the Team Northbrook Racing, for Round 1 of the BRSCC CityCar Cup and Student Motorsport Championships. With it being my first race weekend and with limited testing, the goals for the weekend were purely just to learn about the car, be consistent and bring it home in 1 piece. ⚪Friday featured 2 afternoon test sessions for myself at 25 minutes each. This was my first taste of the Snetterton circuit, so these practice sessions were very important. Compared to karting, the way in which I can approach practice sessions is different. With Kart racing, I can head into practice at 110%, knowing that should anything go wrong, I could fix it in an hour or so. With circuit racing, if anything goes wrong, there’s a high chance ill be going home early. Therefore, I would need to creep up on the driving limit, gaining confidence. Qualifying – P24 from 34 Race 1 – P26 from 34 Race 2 – P23 from 34 Race 3 – P19 from 34 🟠My first ever car qualifying session went without issues, I replicated my times from practice and was content. Race 1 and Time for my first race start, which didn’t go to plan. By the time id got myself set the lights had already gone out, so I got swamped by those behind me. Managed to grab a few places back, but then got stuck behind other drivers, not wanting to risk anything this early I settled in. I finished Race 1 in 26th. ⚪Sunday morning, there was a 45-minute paid practice session that I had signed up too, a chance for extra track time. I had reviewed the data on my data logger with Richard Jepp the night before, so I had a clear plan of where I needed to improve on track, so I put this extra practice session to good use. 🟠I Started race 2 in 26th and finished 23rd. Again, the start wasn't great, too much wheel spin and I lost a few places off the line but had great battles picking people of. I also improved my lap times by 4.6 seconds from race 1, proving the benefit of extra track time in the practice session. ⚪Race 3, was a better start, but still room for improvement. Again, i got to have some great battles. I unfortunately had my driver’s side mirror knocked backwards from contact so was driving blind a little. But again, picked off a few people to go from 23rd to 19th from 34. 🟠All in all, a successful day, my goals of gaining confidence in the car were achieved. As well as having 3 clean races, with the car in 1 piece. Can’t thank the team enough, each and every student that worked on the car or around the paddock that weekend should be proud of their involvement. I look forward to working with each of them again as the year progresses. A mention as well to all my sponsors, a big thankyou for their Help and trust in myself this season. Harwin Rainford Precision Star Micronics GB GF Machining Solutions Student Motorsport BRSCC

For the fourth round of Jude’s first season, we headed to Anglesey for the Ginetta special round, G-Fest. Qualifying 1: After two days of dry testing, of course the qualifying session was WET! This always creates a challenge as car and driver have been set up for the dry. Nonetheless, Jude’s smooth driving style is a good match for the wet. The tricky conditions led to qualifying in 13th. We’d hoped for a little higher, but we’ve done well from this position before.   Race 1: A solid start turned into a major challenge. At turn two a number of cars left the circuit and a driver swerved in front of Jude to avoid collision. Jude had contact which hit the kill switch on his car, turning off the engine! After a few seconds to figure out what happened, Jude managed to restart the car, but was now in 22nd place. His maturity and determination came to the fore, and he worked steadily back up the pack, finishing in his starting position, but most importantly as he crossed the line, he had caught up with the leading pack.    Race 2: Even wetter race with the rain really coming down. Starting in 11th, based on his second fastest qualifying lap, Jude was again compromised at turn two, being pushed down to 14thplace. Another determined drive in soaking wet conditions, saw him fight his way back up to a top 10 finish, again crossing the line just behind the leading pack. Qualifying 2: At G-fest there were two qualifying sessions and four races, so day 2 kicked off with another qualifying run. Day 2 was dry, and the qualifying was much closer with the top 15 drivers covered by only 1.5 seconds. Jude qualified in 12th place.   Race 3: A good start again, and Jude was in the main pack as they raced up the hill to the left-hand hairpin. Some exuberant driving by another car led to a tangle and Jude picked his way through into 8thplace. From here he managed to keep pushing, using the same hairpin as an overtaking opportunity, and moving into 7th place. The leading pack had a head start after the first lap incident, and Jude had a 3 second gap to cover. He drove faultlessly, maintaining his composure in 7th place, and again, over the line was right on the back of the leading pack. Oh, for two more laps. He proved he has the pace to compete at the front, we just need to focus on improving qualifying. 7th is a great result. Race 4: Jude lined up in 13th again for the final race. Another dry race, and a good performance, moving up into 11th place and fending off some strong pressure. Crossing the line, he was once again closed right in on the leading pack and with any position from 5th backwards up for grabs, it was a frag race to the finish. Concluding the weekend a tenth of a second off another top ten finish. A great weekend, with the best result yet, and genuine top 10 pace. More great lessons in what it takes to succeed, and a clean sweep of top step finishes for the freshman class, leaving Jude 11th overall in the championship. Next stop, Snetterton.

It's a win on debut in R&G British Talent Cup for Marco Morelli; 🥇 Marco Morelli 🥈 Ryan frost racing 🥉 Julian Alessandro Correa 4th. Filip Surowiak #FS75 5th. Lucas Brown 6th. Ronnie Harris 7th. Harrison Mackay Racing HMR #61 8th. Mason Foster 9th. Joshua Raymond Jr 10th. Scott McPhee #MotoGP #BritishTalentCup #BSB 🌟 Exciting developments are unfolding at BSB! 🌟 The young talent who recently took a wild card entry to Thruxton BSB and came from the European Talent Cup, has made quite an impression, securing the fastest lap and finishing a remarkable 12 seconds ahead of the competition. This performance certainly highlights his potential, but it raises an important question: how much has his European training environment contributed to his impressive progression? In the ETC whilst the bikes remain the same spec, riders benefit from the availability of high-quality European circuits for practice which stands in stark contrast to the UK, where options are limited to just a few tracks. Ben Spies recently pointed out that riders who begin their careers on Moto3 bikes are more likely to understand the nuances of a high-performance machine, which ultimately enhances their ability to excel on production models. Conversely, those who come from a different background may face challenges due to a lack of reference points. I strongly advocate for the adoption of adjustable chassis in competitive racing, particularly for classes like 400cc and 800cc. However, as I observe the current landscape of motorcycle racing and its demographic, I can't help but wonder about the longevity of manufacturers' investments in research and development for bikes that primarily cater to racing demands. What does this mean for the future of racing? While I am confident that a solution exists among industry leaders, it appears my ideas are not being considered. Let's engage in a constructive dialogue about the future of our sport! 🏍️💨 #Racing #MotorcycleSport #FutureOfRacing

Almost Time for Qualifying at the Adelaide 500 Supercars With Practice wrapped up, we've gathered some key insights: Practice 1 Fastest Lap: James Courtney from Snowy River Racing set the pace, showcasing speed but with room for consistency in their performance. Team Highlights: Bendix Racing, led by Nick Percat, secured the most fast laps, indicating strong potential. However, consistency will be crucial for better race performance. Consistent Performers: Red Bull Ampol Racing and Monster Castrol Racing stood out as the most consistent teams. Red Bull, in particular, looks poised to compete for pole position, with William Brown showing stronger performance compared to teammate Broc Feeney. Improvement Analysis: Nick Percat demonstrated significant improvement, climbing to P3 in Practice 1. David Reynolds had the narrowest gap to the leader, coupled with impressive gains throughout the session. Practice 2 Fastest Drivers: David Reynolds, Cameron Waters, and Chaz Mostert really stood out with their speed, making their teams solid contenders for pole position. Speed but Inconsistent: Some teams can pull off fast laps but aren’t consistent enough. They’ll need to work on turning that raw speed to convert it into race wins. Box Plot Takeaway: Compared to the previous races, the box plot shows that teams and drivers still have room for improvement. It looks like they’re struggling to find the best setup. Stay tuned for more insights as we approach qualifying! 🏁 Triple Eight Race Engineering Blanchard Racing Team Team 18 Walkinshaw Andretti United Tickford Racing Premiair Racing Shell V-Power Racing Team Erebus Motorsport Matt Stone Racing #Adelaide500 #Motorsport #DataAnalysis #RaceEngineering