Racer explains a new philosophy in the historics paddock, Brundle Motorsport W
hen I first drove a historic race car, I fell in love with it. It was an E-type Jaguar at Silverstone. I came in after two laps. I was convinced it had four loose wheels and I was lapping a second off the pace, but I was hooked! All racing should be like this… But even as an active modern racer, I would only have known the historic racing world existed outside Goodwood and how to support or engage in it if I happened upon it by chance. And I’m hugely lucky to have had that chance. The internet, film, or maybe gaming will be the only way a vast majority of people younger than me ever know these cars existed.
But my goodness, when they find them, they love it.
Onboard camera footage from big
V12 sportscars and interviews with historic preparers about the dyno-busting Renault EF engines blast through hundreds of thousands of viewers across online platforms, and I have the numbers to prove it.
One thread is prominent in the comments: ‘How have we never seen this stuff before!?’
A new generation of potential enthusiasts are scrolling through online feeds, wondering what to do with their time. They have energy, ideas and effort to apply to preserving classic cars. Their engagement is crucial to keeping this industry’s wheels turning.
Today’s attention will be tomorrow’s participation, boosting event attendance, racing grids, car trade, car value and all associated revenues. It’s a huge opportunity.
Four years after my initial exposure to this area of the sport, I’m launching Brundle Motorsport; aiming to reach that group, by doing what I’m good at – driving cars – and then explaining what it’s like in a way that informs and entertains.
When we went live with it, we received a great wave of pleasant and positive feedback; our audience really ‘got it’. A huge relief!
We’ll race four well-known cars at multiple festivals to give the most comprehensive view of the historic disciplines that we can. The vehicles are being prepared by engineering partners, then organised, marketed by us, and driven by line-ups of well-known drivers.
It’s a strategy to provide exposure for our partners, yes, but soaked in positivity in a way that benefits the sport and hopefully broadens the appeal of the entire paddock to a group who might never consider themselves interested in historic motorsport before viewing. In short, a rolling advert for historic racing.
Of course, this is not a universally charitable and selfless act but a business venture. In the same way, every other enterprise in the historic paddock started with somebody who thought, ‘Maybe I can have a go at this myself.’ I aim to grow and expand while
I get to race, enjoy the events, make contacts, and do business.
It would be ridiculous to suggest a racing driver without any engineering background of the ‘modern ilk’ could come charging onto the scene after some runs in this and that, declaring his capability to run and engineer myriad classic cars alone and unaided and better than the incumbents. Anyone who thinks that is what I am saying has misunderstood what we are doing.
But with time and experience transfer from respected friends in the paddock, I have a hand ready to accept a baton pass when my apprenticeship is done and the current crop of historic preparers fancy the pipe and slippers.
We look very shiny online and at the track. I’m sure there will be some ruffled feathers among the old guard but, hopefully, that’s easily calmed by being straightforward and approaching our interactions in the correct spirit.
In the short term, though, while I have been flattered by the serious approaches to running and marketing cars in the first few weeks since our launch, I am hardly charging around the paddock with my
‘Race with Brundle’ business cards.
I’d love to grow intelligently, and some collaborations will surely work out organically by bringing new clients into the environment in the fullness of time, but that’s not the focus now.
If you want to see historic race cars driven flat out, please find us and follow us on your favoured platform. Beyond that, I welcome collaborations, contact and comments on our contact forms and online feeds.
Friends, fans and competitors are welcome anywhere you see us, and we have a great coffee machine. Until then…
“The aim is to broaden the appeal to a group that might not have been interested in historic motorsport before”