Formula One Racing: Meet the man who helped Liam Lawson reach the top

His career began to take off when Red Bull Racing’s driver development guru Helmut Marko called, and then Rodin’s Dicker came on board.

“There’s no grand plan to any of these things (discovering young talent),” Dicker said. “As for Liam, his manager (Grant Macdonald) lives just down the road from us, so he contacted us.

“It is interesting to try to attract young people to Formula 1. Liam came here (to the Rodin Cars track) and tested the cars and it just seemed natural to invest money to keep him going.

“The problem, especially in New Zealand, is the money (for international racing) – it’s so expensive. I could be wrong, but the F4 is around $820,000, the GB3 around $900,000, the F3 around $2.8 million and the F2 around $4.5 million.

“There’s a very limited number of people who can raise that kind of money that you won’t get back. There is prize money if you win the championship, but it belongs to the team.

“In the end with Liam I decided to help them with some money to put him in an F2 seat as they were struggling to raise the money for the trip.

“Now he’s in Formula 1, I hope he’s doing well because there’s a lot of pressure at Red Bull.”

In addition to building successful and profitable businesses around the world, Dicker is a racing driver, so he understands what it takes to reach the top.

“I spent three or four seasons racing in the Ferrari Challenge in Australia in the 1990s and also raced in Christchurch.

“My interest in racing started in the 1970s when I got my license and it was a good time to get interested in racing in Australia because touring car racing was at its peak.

“I liked the Ferrari Challenge because it is aimed at guys like me. I thought about going into touring car racing in the 1990s when I was in my 40s, but decided against it because the commitment was huge.

“I would still like to race, but the older I get, the harder it gets physically. You always want to do your best, but sometimes your body lets you down.”

Dicker blames the famous Kiwi racer for getting him into motorsport. He was encouraged to buy a European racing team to create a group of junior single-seaters to help the best and brightest young drivers realize their dreams of making it to F1.

Dicker’s Mt Lifford company is partnering with Motorsport New Zealand for the Roden-backed ‘Formula Ford in F1’ initiative.

“I blame Greg Murphy for getting me involved. One day he called me and said Carlin was for sale.”

Carlin has been a respected team that has provided a pathway for many drivers into Formula 1, competing in Formula 2, Formula 3, GB3, Formula 1 Academy, British Formula 4 and Spanish Formula 4.

“We are now at a stage where drivers with talent and desire can progress. Formula Ford is still the best open-wheel category in New Zealand for young guys and is still something to race without breaking the bank, which is why we decided to support it as a track in partnership with Motorsport New Zealand.

“If we can identify fast drivers, we can support them. There have been drivers in the past who had talent and could have gone all the way if they had the support.

“It’s so expensive abroad and you also have to look at accommodation and living expenses. If we can try to help, we will, because it would be a shame if the drivers had the talent to get into Formula 1 but couldn’t because of the finances.”

Dicker attempted to complete the journey from Formula Ford to the pinnacle of single-seater racing with a bold bet.

“For a year or so I’ve been trying to get into Formula 1 without success and I’m now looking at the potential of competing in the World Endurance Championship (WEC) in the near future.

“I would like to build my own car at some stage, but it would be wiser to use a custom car for a few seasons to get some experience rather than building a whole car from scratch,” said the Cantabrian.

“I’m not going to give up trying to get into Formula 1, and the WEC races, category No. 2, in addition to the junior categories, it gives a compelling argument to get into Formula 1.”

Dicker makes an effort to attend most of his team’s races and has a passion for helping people who want to succeed, especially in motorsports.

“You have to be patient, and when talent comes along, you have to have the basic environment and opportunity to develop it, then you can make something out of it.”

Eric Thompson is a former international motorcycle racer and race mechanic who has written for Motorcycling Weekly, Motorcycle International and Classic Bike in the UK. He also dabbled in motor racing and go-karting, and has written for the Herald since 2006 on motorsport, covering New Zealanders racing at home and abroad.