Bob Barnard

 Robert  "Bob” Barnard, (born September 20, 1946 in London), is a track designer and promoter. A qualified Civil Engineer, Bob moved to Australia in 1969 and raced successfully in historic sports cars and Formula Junior. In 1985 Bob was the Engineering Project Manager for the inaugural Formula One Grand Prix in Adelaide. Bob then rebuilt the historic Phillip Island Circuit and promoted the1989,90 & 91 Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix. He also built Eastern Creek in Sydney before moving to Spain with Kenny Roberts, and subsequently the US to promote the 1993 US Motorcycle GP for Kenny at Laguna Seca. Bob rebuilt Road Atlanta while the Exceutive Raceway Director and was the Operations Director for the inaugural Petit Le Mans in 1998. Bob continues to be active in track design and track safety, and was part of the team that rebuilt Daytona in 2004. Bob is leading the SCCA program to train new track reviewers and is working on a new private track in Georgia. 

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 “I count myself fortunate to have grown up in England in the late fifties and sixties during what were probably the greatest years of sports car racing. Gendebien and Hill, Aston Martin, Jaguar, Ferrari and Mercedes, watching grainy black and white images of BBC updates from Le Mans, which was more than we had for Formula One. The World Sports Car Championship was as big as F1, if not bigger. I recall waiting impatiently during a cold winter for Motor Sport to come out with reports on the opening rounds from exotic places like Daytona and Sebring.

 Then we were treated to GT40s versus Ferrari, Derek Bell and Jackie Ickx, Gulf Mirages, Porsches and once again Jaguars. There was Can Am, running to the newsstand on a Thursday morning to buy the Motoring News to read the latest tales from the US on these amazing machines. To a schoolboy brought up on 1000 cc Fords and Austins these were from another planet. I loved sports cars. I owned three Morgans and raced one of them. But I also love F1 and raced an open wheel FJ. There is a place for both, but there is something about sports cars and sports car racing that creates a greater emotional response beyond the raw speed of F1.

 The beauty of the cars themselves, aerodynamic sculptures more than the pure techno functionality of open wheel cars. Who can look at the Peugeot, Aston, or Audi without being moved? Why is a Testa Rossa one of the most sought after historic cars? Still a vestige of similarity to road cars among the prototypes and of course real cars in the GT classes. The technology is there, even greater since the requirements to endure, because that is the heart and soul of sports cars. It is a test of not only a burst of ability, it is a mentally crushing test of drivers and teams stamina, the ability to overcome adversity, to keep going when all seems lost, because you never know.

 So how did we reach our current situation of being the poor relation? Yes, sports cars have had boom and bust periods, blamed on manufacturers coming, dominating and going, but is that really that much different than other series? Look at F1 with McLaren, Williams or Ferrari dominating, and manufacturers coming and going. Somehow it has resilience, a critical mass that keeps it going while sports cars have steadily declined. Can we blame it on two series? I doubt it, look at how many open wheel series there are on the world stage besides F1. GP2, Superleague, A1GP, World Series, F2, F3 etc etc. Yes some are struggling, but there is still no shortage of would be car builders, drivers and promoters. 

 Are the races too long for a world hooked on instant gratification? If that is true then how come the biggest race, Le Mans is 24 hours with 18 hours of live TV. Our biggest races are the Petit and Sebring, and of course the Daytona 24 hr. The current ALMS and Grand Am races are shorter than your average baseball or football game or NASCAR race. FIA GT next year is to be based on one-hour sprint races, is that sports car racing? Australian SuperV8’s run sprint races, but their showpiece is a 1000 km road race. How come 300,000 fans turn up to Le Mans but 10,000 won’t cross the road for others? 

 Something is wrong. Tony hit on a lot of it in his article on lastturnclub.com about clowns and the tent owners. Too many series, particularly in the US rely on making money from the “back gate,” i.e. the competitors, the stars that put on the show. Which performers at this level in other sports or entertainment pay for the privilege? Come to that how many theater owners put on plays knowing they are going to lose money? OK, promotion is a risk, I should know better than most, but it should be a risk, not a racing certainty.

 We need a new business model. Where do we look? Well we have a couple of examples that seem to have worked, each in their own way, NASCAR and F1. NASCAR spreads the wealth. Yes the France family makes a lot of money, but back when other promoters ran races they shared in the TV, sponsorship and the gate, and teams still make money. NASCAR kept costs down by restricting technology, and limiting competition to the big three. Australia succeeds with just the Ford/GM rivalry, but that is a cultural thing that is not readily transferable, but does indicate the importance of manufacturers. I’m not sure that this model is still working for NASCAR, a step too far towards uniformity with the CoT.

 F1 succeeds now despite itself. It is an established icon that withstands dirty laundry on both a corporate and personal level. It has its problems with Governments now the only people who can afford to be promoters and show piece tracks being built in places where no one wants to watch. But, that was not always the case. Bernie built this show from a bunch of gentlemen racers by imposing standards of presentation, facilities for teams and the public, and doing a better job of selling the TV and improving the show. When he started fees for races went up, but that made promoters do their job better to build the audience even though this has long since gone over the top of reasonableness.

 A couple of things shine through these examples. Both have been built over the last thirty years or more with a consistent strong hand at the wheel. Can we say that of sports car racing? Of course not. Is it too late to start? It had better not be or we may as well go off and tell lies of how fast we used to be. Is it going to be easy? Again of course not or else someone would have done it. Will it cost money? Yes, and a lot of hard work and commitment. Is it worth it? If you don’t think so why are you bothering to read this? How do we start?

 We start by accepting we need teams and promoters to be making money. That needs a series promoter that is willing to invest and recognize the investment of those teams and promoter with a share of the returns. A bit too much to ask? The sports car world is filled with great businessmen with a love of the sport. How else do they afford it and why else do they spend that money doing it? Should the Sanctioning body be the promoter? I do not think that is a good marriage, the sanctioning body should be the umpire, not play the game as well.

The series promoter needs to work at just that, 24 hours a day, 365 days a week, not just the day before an event. Promotion is not just ads in the local paper, it is an incessant drive to spread the word to the media, sponsors, competitors of the value of being involved. Bernie did not promote F1 in the classic sense of the word, nor did Bill France take out full-page ads. They had faith in the product and were willing to invest time and money in it. Set standards and stick by them. Do not go to places that do not show off your product at its best. Make sure the races are run properly without long periods of yellows while a couple of guys try to clean up an oil spill. Look at F1 and see how little time they take to clean up even the worst of wrecks.

 Build the heroes. All sport is based on individuals. Love them or hate them you want to watch. We have stars and need to promote them. With no offence to others look at McNish, Brabs, Kristensen, Alex Gurney and Johnny O’Connell. We also have manufacturers, Porsche, Ferrari, Audi, Peugeot, Acura, BMW, Corvette, Mazda, and the specialists like Lola, Zytek and Courage. Yes we need them, not to dominate but to provide the technology. Sports cars are not a one make series and never will be at this level, but we do need to make sure that equal equipment is available to the privateer much as Acura has done this year. Perhaps we limit direct factory involvement.    

 I do not claim to have all the answers, but I do have a deep faith that here is a product worth saving and building. I have been a track owner and promoter, built tracks and run races, and owned and raced my own cars. We need a group of like-minded individuals to take this sport by the scruff of the neck and drag it kicking and screaming to succeed despite itself. Let me know if I can be part of it.”  

Bob Barnard

Oct. 2009