Under the epidemic, how does motorsport survive in adversity?

This is an unprecedented period, with the public being asked to stay at home, all "unnecessary" businesses have entered a shutdown period, any group activities have also been banned, and the British government has taken drastic measures to stop the further spread of the virus.

The "coronavirus" that is raging around the world has brought the motorsports industry to a standstill, from Formula one championships to major national events in the UK.

The British Touring car Championship (BTCC) and the British F4 Championship, which were scheduled to be held at Donington Park Speedway last weekend, were not held in the UK as scheduled because the Motor Sports Association had cancelled permits for all domestic races before July.

The Power Maxed Racing team has invested in two Vauxhall Astras cars in the British Touring car Championship (BTCC), as well as peripheral businesses such as classic car repair and maintenance, VW Cup and TCR UK customer racing services. Martin Broadhurst, team manager and technical director, said: "at the moment, everything is at a standstill and we can't do anything because it's not necessary."

"everyone has been affected, in this case it is inevitable, but everyone is ready to go back to work."

Similarly, this period is also unfortunate for the Fortec Motorsports team. Last year, the Fortec team won the annual runner-up of the British F3 with driver Johnathan Hoggard, riding hot iron. During the winter break, the team upgraded the chassis, aerodynamics and safety of the car, and replaced the supplier of the engine, replacing the original Cosworth engine with Mountune. Now it seems that these high costs are irrecoverable.

Richard Dutton, boss of Fortec, said: "in terms of finance, this is a really bad moment." It was a disaster, all the money was spent on upgrading the F3 car, and now we can't use it to start the race, and the sponsors won't pay for it, although some financiers have already paid part of the sponsorship fee, which makes them a little unhappy. "

"We are trying to be as optimistic as possible, and now everyone is in the same situation."

It is not just British domestic teams that have been affected by the suspension. United Autosport, the points leader in the LMP2 category of the WEC World Endurance Championships, made a "huge investment" last year when it moved into a new 62000-square-foot plant in Wakefield, and team partner Richard Dean admitted that their investment had come to the worst. "We invested a lot of money, but we never thought this would happen and no one could have seen it coming," Dean said. "

"if there is any medicine for regret in the world, I certainly won't do it again."

The Barwell Motorsport team base at the GT Championship in the UK and the GT World Challenge in Europe also temporarily turned off the lights.

"to ensure the healthy development of the business on the one hand and to consider people's welfare on the other, we have to find a balance," team boss Mark Lemmer said.

"basically, the workshops here are closed now because at this stage, racing is not the most important thing for people."

Like PMR, Barwell has a small manufacturing division that Lemer says helps them "save a lot of money" because they can know some of the parts themselves and can take orders from other teams "occasionally".

However, Mr Lemer admitted that the Barwell was "probably too small" to receive orders from the UK government for ventilators or auxiliary equipment. Broadhurst, manager and technical director of the PMR team, said he was willing to contribute to the shortage of ventilators in the UK, but said the government would not turn to their "small workshops" to produce ventilator equipment because they had found big companies like Dyson and Nissan to help. "

Rich Sunak, the chancellor of the exchequer, has said the government will lend up to £5 million to small and medium-sized enterprises through its coronavirus job retention programme (Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme) to help them survive by paying 80 per cent of their employees' wages.

In addition, the government will provide up to 5 million pounds in loans to small and medium-sized enterprises through a "coronavirus" special loan scheme (Coronavirus Business Loan Scheme). For a team with full-time staff, it may be a timely lifesaver.

"I think the government is doing everything it can to save us, and they are responding very quickly," Lemer said.

"I think they want small businesses to remain hibernating throughout the process so that we can get out of trouble and continue to hire people."

"it helps that the government sends a clear signal to small businesses that with the support of government loans, we can keep our employees at home."

However, no matter how large the fleet is, the funds are not limited, and the additional funds from the government are only limited. Dean said United Autosports has about 40 employees whose income depends on the team, including staff in departments such as road cars and racing repair projects, as well as sales staff of racing equipment.

Dean said: "our situation is no different from that of other teams. If you don't race, you don't have a job and you can't pay anyone." "I didn't go to business school, but I'm pretty sure the first class should be'if you can't invoice anyone, you don't have business'." This is our situation, no matter the size of the team is large or small. "

No one knows how long this will last, and Dr Jenny Harris, Britain's deputy chief medical officer, said it could take up to six months for British life to return to "normal".

"We have to follow government regulations and stop work for three weeks," Broadhurst said. But we can't rule out the possibility of waiting for us for another three weeks. "

Even so, everyone is optimistic that they can continue to play.

"We are lucky not to have such full-time staff," Broadhurst said. "We currently have only eight people at our headquarters."

Dean, on the other hand, said he would do his best to keep his employees, who have worked faithfully with him since the days of Formula Ford and Ginetta.

"We want life to get back to normal as soon as possible," Dean said. "our employees can get back to work as soon as possible, but if you don't have staff, then you won't have a motorcade, and no matter how big the building plant and the motorcade leave them, it's nothing."

"so we haven't fired anyone yet, and we're not going to do that." "of course we can't do this indefinitely, we look forward to the next race and the European Le Mans series at the Paulo Ricardo circuit in France in July has not been postponed."

"although smaller teams can last longer during this period, we have a large number of customers, which is our advantage."

Similarly, the Fortec and Barwell teams say they have no plans to downsize for the foreseeable future.

"We want to make sure everyone is safe at home, that's all," team boss Dutton said. "as long as we know when we can come back, we will. If there is a game this weekend, we can go. "

"A lot of teams have mortgages, so we are lucky, but if this situation lasts for a year, it may be much more difficult. We must try our best to tide over the difficulties, and as the situation changes, we must do the same. "

"our team has a solid foundation and we have no debt, but I do sympathize with those who are in more danger," Lemer added. In addition, he thanked his customers who had supported his team for a long time. "they are very optimistic about the future, so at present we all hope to start again."

Nevertheless, the future of motorsport should not be too optimistic. As Dean points out, the British racing industry is so big that not everyone can survive the disaster.

Martin Broadhurst, PMR team manager and technical director, also predicted that some teams may go into history, its impact may be further expanded, and some race organizers may change careers as a result. He said: "in the 25 years I have been in motorsports,