fro and the cowboy monkey

Ben posted some thoughts on "entry-level" motorsport, and in doing so, asked two questions (see below). Here are my thoughts, by way of answer, and some other things besides...

• Are the barriers to entry into motorsport too high?

I don't know that the barriers to entry into motorsport are too high, so much as there are too many.

I think of entry level motorsport as motorkhanas, hillclimbs and touring assemblies. It is a lot to get organised into your first motorsport event, and the licencing levels (particularly the split between 2S and 2NS licences) can lead to confusion and frustration.

There are various entries into motorsport, but they aren't popularised, they don't recieve the focus by CAMS that I feel they should. Brett Lee and Ricky Ponting are used promote club-level/juniors cricket, various elite athletes are used to promote their sports, but you won't see Marcos Ambrose or Mark Skaife at a club motorkhana, or ads on tele telling people that this is the sport that they could get involved with.

• Is there enough information out there on how to get started?

No. That's the simple answer. See the statement above about promotion. There are so many different arms to motorsport, that there is always the seperation between disciplines (rallying, open wheel formula, touring cars, etc), but no direction provided by the governing body for getting people involved in simple, easy, effective motorsport.

That's the real failing. Motorsport doesn't focus on the growth through entry-level. The focus remains on the top end of town. It makes sense. That's where the money is. But it doesn't make it right, nor smart...