As you’ll see in the latest issue of CAT Magazine I was recently a guest of Team Engstler sponsor Liqui Moly at the latest round of the World Touring Car Championship in Hungary.
Aside from the sheer spectacle of a WTCC event, I was surprised at just how geared up for the race the locals were. Every other radio or TV advert was devoted to the action and the Hungaroring itself was near overflowing with spectators.
It must be a humbling experience for the 25 men and women who make up the team. As a private enterprise, it’s difficult for Team Engstler to compete with the manufacturer works teams – but that doesn’t stop the team putting everything it has into each and every race.
A team of 15 mechanics services the team’s two cars at each race, spending weeks on end away from home. In fact, during a single season the cars will travel twice around the globe to get from race to race, mostly by plane.
Fuel? That’s particularly expensive. It was €5,80 per liter in Hungary, and the team will use 4000 litres of it during the season. Add in the 370 litres of lubricants used, the 400 tyres needed and the ten tones of equipment and materials carried to each race and you see the scale of the operation.
Add up the costs of all those materials and it’s easy to see why sponsorship is such an important factor in motorsport of any kind. Team Engstler has been partnered with Liqui Moly off and on since the late 1980’s – with the relationship growing each time the two come together for a new venture.
You can read more about my adventure in Hungary in the May issue of CAT Magazine.
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