Been reading allmost the whole thread now, and it's really nice to see how the progress has been. V1 looks like a really serious and well organized thing which i think will find a good race driver in these three chaps
As for the discussion going on about dedication and interest towards racing, i think Alans version is a bit too simplified, allthough most people can afford for example a kart. Remember that just buying a kart often ain't even half the cost of a racing season and you have to be able to keep your machine at a resonably good condition at all times, as there are very few people who wins with a kart which is not kept up to date, or looks and is like a wreck to drive... All this together often requires a push and support from either family or other people.
However, it looks like most of the guys at this forum tends to only mention their parents when there is talks about economic problems, but ain't there any other people in the world who could help you out? I know myself it's not easy to ask relatives in your family or even people you don't know about support economically, but if you believe in yourself, and think you can get far, why not just do it? It'll never hurt anybody to ask
I'm not trying to be harsh or ignorant here, just trying to find solutions
I started racing karts in 2002, and bought a well used little racer for 1900 euros included racing gear at the midsummer. I gotta mention that i had support from my family back then, and i'm really forver thankful for that! Anyway, the engine we used could go 8-10 hours at maximum performance, the tyres could go half the summer with lots of practise, and luckily enough there were allways 30 - 50 karts on the starting grid in each event in this particular category. After a very good 2003 season, me and dad made a list of 30 - 40 companies we saw as possible sponsors for the next season. We wanted to move up in the categories, and to race in an international category we'd have no chance with a regular family budget of ours. We got 10 sponsors out of the 40, who allmost covered the whole 2004 season, and we'd built up a good network of contacts. You know... one head of a company knows other guys who we could possbly ask, or they even have tips on how to present ourselves differently or in better ways to the sponsors. Even the companies who said no had really valuable words to us, which we've used ever since..
Today i am 17 years old, and i'm racing at a top european level with a factory team from Italy. Our sponsors and the team covers up most of the season, while my family use money for 2 races up here in Norway. We arrange special karting days for our sponsors, letting the fastest of them try real racing karts, making homepages, doing sponsor work every, exericising every day and so on.. Also, i started to cooperate with another former LFS member who's also in the same team. That has really made things a lot easier for us, as one deal with press releases , another make graphics for homepages, pictures, sponsor calendars and so on.. That might as well be a tip for those who are willing to try to start up racing
Generally, be creative! Send in notes and pictures to your local newspaper on your results, motorsport magazines and more. There's allways things you can do in order to get attention on yourself. After all, you have to be a bit of an egoist to get the spotlights on yourself within motorsports.
And please, i'm really not trying to put my own career thing on the table here, it's just to give you an example (and maybe a few tips)on how we dealt with the economic problems that most usually have to face during their career. We're still only on a karting level though, and moving up to cars or formulas is the next step (Thought, that's way more expensive at a professional level). Via V1racer you guys have got an unique chance of really getting your careers going! Don't waste this on a 50% effort, eat the right food, exericise regurarly (The norwgian olympic centre says every 16 year old top artist should exericise a minimum of 20 hours a week), get a job which doesn't require too much time, and find ways to make yourself even better and professional as a racing driver. Remember that you are the object the sponsors want to support
Just to give some support on Alans recent posts, the kart is a very simple car to handle. After a couple of practises, you can easily handle the thing yourself... Most of the karts now even has electric start, so you won't even need help to push it to practise. Also, at most of the tracks there are a whole load of very friendly people at all ages who can help you out if you have problems!
Good luck guys, i'm looking forward to see how this goes further on!