ROAD TO RACING STEPPING UP

New Organization Aims to Help Canadian Talent Move Up the Racing Ladder

By Bryce Turner

Afirst-year organization is providing a new way to support talented up-and-coming drivers, who don’t have the same financial means as others.

Road To Racing is an amateur athletics association that acts as a fundraising platform for selected drivers, where donors can receive charitable tax receipts, while the money raised helps cover the drivers’ racing expenses. The program also has pre-paid scholarships for specific groups, funded through corporate donors.

So far this year, 12 drivers have raised more than $500,000, in total, through the platform. Road To Racing president Neil Braun says the organization has limited resources and that they’re trying to identify those with the drive and talent to reach the next level.

“We’ve set the criteria for the categories and age groups, age limits, then the next step is asking the drivers to submit a resume and an essay that just describes their journey, what their dreams are, what their expectations are for next year, what their budget is,” said Braun. “We have a panel of people who are going to go through those applications and determine who we believe is a good fit for us and who we can really help.”

Braun says that they expect to have at least 30 drivers fundraising through their platform next year. He added that there are other ways that Road To Racing can help drivers, with one of their goals being to increase participation in Canadian grassroots motorsports.

“What we’re trying to do is democratize motorsports and help those elite athletes in Canada, who may need some financial help to get them to move up through the ladder,” said Braun. “With the drivers that we select, we’re working on networking opportunities with high-net-worth donors, helping them create their pitch decks and maybe refine them, do some mentoring with them on the process of moving through the ladder.”

While amateur athletic associations exist elsewhere in sports, Braun says that Road To Racing is filling a void in racing. When Braun sold a property and was looking to donate money to support racers, he noticed that he couldn’t do so as a charitable donation.

With Road To Racing, individual donors get the benefits of a tax receipt, while family foundations or businesses, that are unable to write off a sponsorship, can also benefit from their contributions. For companies that would like to go the sponsorship route, the pre-paid scholarships provide an alternative to choosing a driver.

“A lot of businesses don’t even know where to start, finding a driver that can fit what they’re looking for,” said Braun. “But we’ve got scholarships for women in motorsports, (which) they can be a title sponsor to, we’ve got another scholarship for Black, Indigenous, people of colour…we find the driver, we vet them, and work with them for that sponsorship.”

The first group of drivers are already benefiting from Road To Racing. Kevin Foster was able to participate in a competition at a racing school in France, where he won a scholarship for a full year of French F4 competition; he has several podiums so far this season. Mario Gil will take part in that same racing school competition.

Mac Clark joined the program to raise funds for his USF2000 efforts in the IndyCar support ladder, where he plans to move up to USF Pro 2000 next season. While Road To Racing has many drivers in open-wheel competition, opportunities exist for those in other forms of motorsports as well, such as driver Jonathan Woolridge competing in an LMP3 class.

For more information on the program, visit www.road2racing.com or e-mail neil@ road2racing.com. IT

Nissan Sentra Cup Promoter Takes Over From Marcel Lafontaine

By Bryce Turner

TheQuebec-based F1600 Canada series will have a new promoter for 2024. An announcement was made during the Grand Prix de Trois-Rivières that Nissan Sentra Cup promoter Jacques Deshaies will take over operations of F1600 Canada from Marcel Lafontaine, who has led the series for 25 years.

Deshaies has a bold vision for the future of the class, where he sees increased alignment with the Ontario-based Toyo Tires F1600 Championship as an important step. Both series race the same cars and have the same presenting sponsor.

“I would like to do a Canadian championship and I think the drivers (will) welcome that,” said Deshaies. “I think, if you do that correctly, the drivers in Ontario and the drivers in Quebec will be happy to race together and to have a big crowd…you have 26 cars (at CTMP), in Trois-Rivières, we had only 15 cars. Just image you join the two series, it’s 40 cars on the grid per race.”

Deshaies says that he’s heard of there being 100 or more F1600s in Canada, but that many are sitting in garages. He would like a championship purse to be created and hopes to convince more drivers to come race, emphasizing the importance of treating them like customers. He says that it’s the job of the promoter to answer questions, take suggestions and create an open dialogue.

“When you race in a series, you like to see the promoter, the guy who takes care of you,” said Deshaies. “It’s not complicated what you have to do and you have to be sure that you will (communicate) after each weekend and during winter…after that, the drivers just know that they are a part of the series.”

Beyond an increased alignment of F1600s, Deshaies hopes to work alongside other entry-level organizations to provide options for young racers, ensuring the longevity of the sport and a quality of competition for the fans.