In motorsport, if you want to play, you have to pay

ABU DHABI // Of the 12 amateur drivers competing in this weekend’s TRD86 Cup at the Yas Marina Circuit, the majority have, from their own deep pockets, paid US$40,000 (Dh147,000) for the privilege.

Such financial sums will appear as eye-watering as a chopped onion to some, so it is little surprise the Emirates’ embryonic racing series has been dismissed by critics as merely boys and their toys.

A playground for princes, they say, with no place for paupers.

However, to judge it as such would be to view motorsport as if it were football or rugby or any other sport that can be played in a park with minimal equipment and some friends.

The fact is, in the same way everybody who has ever visited a race circuit knows the mantra “motorsport can be dangerous”, everyone with a serious interest in racing also knows motorsport is expensive.

A season in Formula Renault costs $200,000.

Two weeks competing in the Dakar Rally will set a driver back $100,000. Formula One, long the top tier of motorsport, is so costly these days the paddock is flooded with drivers chosen for their sponsors – often governments and billionaires – more than their skills behind the wheel.

Shihab Al Faheem, one of six Emiratis competing in the single-make TRD86 Cup on Friday, sits second in the standings ahead of Round 2.

He acknowledges the scepticism surrounding amateur drivers paying large fees to race but says that when it comes to starting out on the road to a racing career it makes sense.

"You cannot just jump into any racing series. You need experience," Al Faheem said. "I cannot just go and hop into the Porsche GT3 Cup unless I am fully sponsored – and what is the point, anyway, if I have no experience?

“There are people who go into Porsche just because they have sponsors, but they do not do well. Just because they have sponsors does not mean they are good drivers.

“For me, if I am paying out of my own pocket, this is the best way to begin.”

When the first of six rounds of the inaugural season took place last month, both races were won by Karim Al Azhari, an Abu Dhabi-born German passport holder who is vastly more experienced than Al F aheem.

Al Azhari has competed in the FIA GT3 Series. Al Faheem’s only on-track involvement is limited to karting.

Yet after eight laps and 22 minutes, the difference past the chequered flag in both races was little more than half a second.

“This is a good series for inexperienced drivers to start,” Al Faheem said.

“It’s a tough competition. Everyone is taking it very serious, and when I sit on the grid before the start, I think only of winning.

“Yes, Karim has more experience, but I finished only 0.5 seconds behind him, so for me, the only way I will deem this weekend a success is if I finish first.”

Also on track at Yas tomorrow is the Formula Gulf 1000, the country’s national single-seater championship, and UAE Time Attack, a new qualifying-like series that involves production-based sports cars competing to record the fastest single lap.

Al Tareq Al Ameri, chief executive at Yas Marina, said the competitions – which combine to make up the Yas Racing Series – are helping to nurture future professionals.

“There is a huge appetite for affordable, entry-level racing action from both amateur drivers and spectators, and we are doing all we can to facilitate this demand,” he said.

It may not be affordable to all, but those who are intent on a career in motorsports, such as Al Faheem, appreciate the opportunity the TRD86 Cup provides.

The cost of future success is not cheap.

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