Career in Motorsport

[Dylan144GT]

Hi Guys

This is my first post, my name is Dylan and I am from Cape Town, South Africa. I love reading the analyses after every race, this is a truly awesome forum with a heap of knowledge!

Wanting to break into the world of professional motorsport after completing my BSc in Mechanical Engineering. I'm an absolute motorsport fanatic, although that does not need to be explained on a forum such as this - I suspect we are all on here for the same reason! Looking for some advice or leads to contacts which could help to achieve my life's dream! If anyone can help that would be amazing and deeply appreciated! Feel free to ask any questions, I'm an open book!

Kind regards,

Dylan

[Websta]

I have a question as well - I read that quite a few of the top engineers/technical directors in F1 have aeronautical engineering degrees - is there a reason why this is the case, or have I been misinformed? I can see where there are similarities between aeronautics and F1, but I would have thought the majority of these head engineers would have mechanical engineering backgrounds.

[kiev the great]

I would guess that it's because aerodynamics is the biggest design concern in F1.

[Jersey Tom]

Hi Guys

This is my first post, my name is Dylan and I am from Cape Town, South Africa. I love reading the analyses after every race, this is a truly awesome forum with a heap of knowledge!

Wanting to break into the world of professional motorsport after completing my BSc in Mechanical Engineering. I'm an absolute motorsport fanatic, although that does not need to be explained on a forum such as this - I suspect we are all on here for the same reason! Looking for some advice or leads to contacts which could help to achieve my life's dream! If anyone can help that would be amazing and deeply appreciated! Feel free to ask any questions, I'm an open book!

Kind regards,

Dylan

Not to sound too silly here... but if you want to work in racing, what's stopping you? Find a place. Are you going to jump straight into a F1 team with a BSc? Probably not. If you want to work at the top, establish yourself by working up from the bottom. Are there amateur or semi professional race teams around you? F3, etc? How far can you go there? If there answer is "not very" then you may have to consider doing graduate school elsewhere in the world (England, for example).

[Kiril Varbanov]

http://www.racestaff.com is a good place to start. I have seen intern programs, for example - a good way to develop a career in motorsport.

[Dylan144GT]

Morning Guys

Thanks for the replies.

I don't expect to get straight into F1, I am more than willing to start from the bottom. Anywhere really, I just want to get a foot in the door at the moment. I would really like to start in the UK though as in SA the racing is not that big. The biggest single seater category we have is Formula Ford. We are big enthusiasts, we just don't have the money that Europe has. I have posted my CV on http://www.racestaff.com but there doesn't seem to be much on there at this point in time, or am I missing something? Its mostly F1 stuff and I think that is too high level for me right now. I want to make the right career decisions and not rush it, experience is key in motorsport I think and I need to gain some. Also I have registered with a few recruitment agencies in the UK but none have gotten back to me thus far. Hence my enquiry as to whether anyone has a lead or contact for me.

Doing grad school is an option, can anyone suggest a good institution?

Again, thanks for your time guys, much appreciated!

Dylan

[Jersey Tom]

You may find that it is quite difficult to get employment in other countries without a work visa or sponsorship. It can be a non-trivial process from what I'm told. Applies to anyone, but for a smaller team in particular - from their view there are equally qualified candidates at home and overseas. Why go through the extra trouble if they can hire someone locally?

Consider also that depending on what series you're starting in, the schedule, level of competition, whatever... is the pay from that alone going to be able to support yourself?

[G37Sam]

I think you should consider graduate studies in England