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They say that the life of an athlete is often more about journey than the destination, and for British Porsche racer, Gustav Burton, that tired old clich\u00e9 couldn\u2019t be truer. While this dedicated driver has all the skills required to compete with the elite in his field, the challenges around funding his participation<\/a> in such an expensive sport makes the process of securing each race just as difficult as the countless hours of training needed to compete at the highest level. Fortunately, Burton has found a way to disrupt the traditional sponsorship model, and so he maintains his body and mind while fighting to stay on track.<\/p>\n Gustav Burton must endure temperatures of more than 140\u00b0F while racing in the Porsche Supercup, but the processing of financing his sport can be just as challenging as the race itself, explains the driver who won the Renault Clio Cup UK Junior title in 2018 and the British GT Championship (GT4 Silver) in 2021.<\/p>\n Despite Burton\u2019s brilliance, recently winning the Porsche Sixt Carrera Cup Germany, financing such an expensive sport has required a new take on gaining sponsorship. \u201cIf you\u2019d asked me three years ago what my goal is, it would be to become a factory driver,\u201d Burton tells M&F. \u201cLike, where Porsche gives you a contract and you\u2019re basically employed as a driver. You don\u2019t have to worry about any of the sponsorship etc., but now that my social media following is going up, and I really enjoy doing it, I think my goal is to be self-employed and just grow our brand awareness and community.\u201d<\/p>\n As Burton chats with M&F,<\/em> the dynamic driver is once again struggling with funding because promises have been broken, and the money required to race at Monza on September 6 is now sadly lacking. Burton is not one to sit around and hope that things will go his way, however. Instead, he\u2019s been gaining traction as the founder of the BackSeat Drivers podcast<\/a>, and has also been using his own social media profile to take the traditional model of gaining huge corporate sponsors and break it up into tiny bits, offering \u201cmini sponsorships\u201d from as little as $13.50. Of course, this 6\u20194\u201d racer would rather be driving than counting each penny, but life as a modern racer requires more than track time to succeed. Fortunately, the concept showed immediate promise, because followers flooded in with financial support. \u201cI can\u2019t believe it,\u201d he says. \u201cThe power of social media!\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n While Burton waits to find out if he can gather the funds required to take himself and his team to the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup in Monza, he must stay race ready either way. \u201cWhilst undergoing G-forces, you\u2019re holding your left foot on the brake and\u00a0 your right foot next to the throttle,\u201d explains the athlete. \u201cImagine swerving in your car as hard as you possibly can, that\u2019s basically what we\u2019re doing constantly, for 30 or 40 minutes in a race. So yeah, there are a lot of muscles that get worked.\u201d<\/p>\n While the single leg press can develop the power required to push the pedal when breaking under extreme conditions, it\u2019s not just the lower body that requires strength and endurance, because Burton\u2019s helmet weighs in at around 11 pounds (5kg), meaning that the neck and shoulders must be trained with moderately weighed exercises too, such as the reverse fly, front raise, and standing row.<\/p>\n Burton must also watch his own body weight, because a car\u2019s total legal weight includes the driver. \u201cAfter every session in the car, we have to go straight to the scales with our helmet,\u201d he explains. \u201cIf you don\u2019t, you open yourself up to be disqualified.\u201d To that end, Burton bashes out morning runs, taking the opportunity to execute fasted cardio. \u201cIt\u2019s very boring,\u201d he says. Still, Burton\u2019s commitment to counting calories allows him to make less healthy substitutes when travel gets in the way, so long as he doesn\u2019t go above the daily allowance. And, fortunately, race days offer plenty of athletic options in terms of food, so long as he can secure the funding to be there. \u201cThe good thing with Porsche is that there\u2019s Porsche hospitality, so you pretty much get breakfast, lunch, and dinner at the track,\u201d he shares. \u201cSo, if you want to be healthy, you can, and it\u2019s all really high-quality stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s just as well that Burton remains committed to the journey, because we can reveal that just days out from Monza, the driver hit the required total needed to get on the track. A significant contribution from Formula Escapes<\/a>, along with generous donations from his fans and peers got him over the line.<\/p>\n \u201cThis crowdfunding, of you guys sponsoring me, was an absolute last-ditch effort,\u201d said Burton in an Instagram post following his M&F<\/em> interview. \u201cWe f***ing succeeded. I cannot believe it\u2026 We\u2019re going to Monza!\u201d<\/p>\n To follow Gus Burton on Instagram, click here.\u00a0<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\nHow Gustav Burton Disrupted Traditional Sponsorship Models<\/h2>\n
How Gustav Burton Trains for the Porsche Track<\/h2>\n
Will Gustav Burton Make it to Monza 2026?<\/h2>\n