GP Future » The British Motorcycle Racing Campaign Site

Steve and Mark have discussed a number of options in the time GP Future has been in existence. Originally, we had wanted to get more media and business involvement in the higher echelons of the sport. In hindsight, that was pretty naïve of us. Our enthusiasm or ambition has not abated, however; we have merely channelled it into developing the site into something workable (for us) and making it into a portal for the goal of creating a racing team.

The plan will be to start with a single rider team to compete in either the FAB Metrakit series or the Aprilia Superteens. Both these competitions provide a good starting point for riders, helping them to learn race craft at a competitive level and providing an excellent grounding for progression into the higher levels of the sport. Estimated costs for a competitive ride would be in the region of £15,000 per season.

Once we can establish this rider, we will want to add a second rider, to compete in the Spanish CEV series. This is a particularly significant series, as it is considerd the best way in to MotoGP. We estimate a season of CEV involvement would cost £30,000.

Our final goal would be for a GP Future rider to be represented in British Superbikes, whether in the main event or in one of the senior support races (British Supersport (BSS) or National Superstock). Funding needs for this would be much greater, so this would be a later, long-term goal. Estimated cost per season for BSS would be around £25,000.

Naturally, sponsorship deals would be needed over a longer period. We would like to view this as a five year plan. If we can get at least two riders running, that would amount to around £300,000 over that five year period.

£300,000 is clearly an ambitious goal but we would seek to get this funding from a variety of sources. In particular, we are looking at creating a three tier system of sponsorship programmes:

1. Prime Sponsor.
   • We hope to get our largest source of income via Prime Sponsorship. Here, we plan to target a national organisation or business and ask them to take on the team name, for example "Ace builders GP Future". The sponsor's company name would be prominently displayed on the bike and the rider's leathers, plus all GP Future promotional material. The Prime Sponsor would be invited to all rounds where hospitality would be provided and the team would make themselves available to attend functions organised by the sponsor in order to publicise the aims of the team backers.
2. Target Sponsor.
   • The Target Sponsor will be a local business that contributes towards the cost of a local round. This would involve a lower level of funding but still get the sponsor's name prominently on the bodywork of the bike, below that of the Prime Sponsor, in the form of "In association with..."
     GP Future would offer hospitality at the funded round, along with time with the team and rider.
3. Associate Sponsor.
   • For the next level of sponsorship, we will be asking for small groups or individuals to become Associate Sponsors. This offers them the opportunity to contribute smaller amounts or one-off funding that would go towards (for example) a race entry, accommodation or tyres. It could also be in the form of donating services, such as training facilities or the purchase of a crash helmet for example. The sponsors' name would appear on the bike. The level of support would determine where and how often the name appears. For example, an individual offering, say, an entry fee would have their name on the bike for that round. Someone offering long-term training may have their name on the bike throughout the season.

For all sponsors, GP Future would organise reciprocal incentives, such as race tickets or hospitality (depending on the level of sponsorship), plus regular email feedback of the riders' progress, newsletters, photographs, etc. We will will provide more details of sponsorship packages as we develop them.