Difference between revisions of "Best In The World"

Revision as of 23:12, 27 October 2017

The Best In The World is a brand that was first founded by F1RWRS driver Kay Lon. Starting out as a minor merchandising project, it now is a connected entity consisting of a number of companies and multiple investments in all types of racing-relevant enterprises along with an own driver program.

History

The concept of "Best In The World" was developed by Realgestalt in June 2013 and was based on a shocking (and shocked) exclamation of Lon after failing to qualify for the 2013 F1RWRS French Grand Prix. A series of merchandising products were developed and sold via the fanshop of Castrol Jones Racing. The campaign was a full success, using the new-found public interest in Kay Lon to its full extent. By using further opportunities for new merchandising, Best In The World became the second biggest merchandising producer in the RWS1, only slightly behind the established Holden Racing Team.

Meanwhile, Lon's financial advisor Cengiz Atali, known for being financial director of JLD Motorsport for a short period of time, invested the earnings of the brand into a number of companies. While very risky, these moves payed off, according to rumours almost quadrupling the invested money. Kay Lon decided to use the money to create a sports brand that is supposed to rival the Jordan Brand of Nike. Before the end of 2013, the brand invested in the F1 movie What Is Délétraz Doing? which became a financial success due to attaining an ironic fandom by having Samuel Jackson play Délétraz. They also took over the ailing Street Racing League series from Walther Williams.

Meanwhile, the brand purchased, together with Volkswagen Group and some Asian investors, the Akrotiri Bay International Circuit on Cyprus and founded the Akrotiri Bay Track Management KG. In early 2014 the brand name was used by Kay Lon for his entry to the short-lived Formula One Rejects Big Car Championship and the German announced his interest to start up a F2RWRS team under the brand name. The team, currently on the waiting list for one of the 11 spots, is supposed to be managed by Colin Kolles. Lon withdrew the attempted entry after purchasing Falik Arrows (see Best In The World Motorsport below).

In the first half of 2015, BITW managed to strike a major merchandising deal with Melrose Racing Team and another, currently unknown, team. The brand also released a controversial documentary about Lon's early F1RWRS career. The documentary, called Kay Lon: The Kahama Years, had to be withdrawn after a court granted Barii Mori an injuction. Currently, legal proceedings are undertaken by Lon's solicitors to allow for the sale of the film.

The brand itself has been criticized for being Lon's "publicocrap vehicle". In addition, the brand is also alleged to secretly fund Tropico Grand Prix, making it their German council.

Best In The World™ Support Group

Kay Lon had been involved in offering support to less experienced drivers since his international breakthrough in early 2012. The Best In The World brand now offers financial support to drivers from around the globe who are considered extremely talented or highly marketable.

Drivers supported by or associated with the Best In The World brand as of 2019:

Driver	Series	Team for 2019
Kay Lon	24 Hours of Le Mans	Team Bentley
Du Lon	ARWS	Euromotor International
Alberto Cara	ARWS	/ Jooky Melrose Racing Team
Simon Mestach	FIA Formula 2 World Championship	HYPERNOVA Racing
Calvin Brooks	FIA Endurance Challenge	Team Bentley
Asim Adhikari	FIA Endurance Challenge	Team Bentley
Sandra Yoo	FIA Endurance Challenge	Team Bentley
Anita Horford	FIA Endurance Challenge	BMW Efficiency Dynamics JLD Motorsport
Laurindo Coelho	FIA Endurance Challenge	BMW Efficiency Dynamics JLD Motorsport
Haílton Fidélis	Rolex GT Super Series	Best In The World Motorsport
Koyomi Setou	Rolex GT Super Series	Best In The World Motorsport
Rêdûr Jaffer	Rolex GT Super Series	Best In The World Motorsport
Marlin Hortin	Rolex GT Super Series	Best In The World Motorsport
Zaituni Dileita	Africa Racing League	Ecurie Méditerranéenne

Former members:

Driver	Reason for departure
Chacko Palaniappan	Dropped from programme
Jef Verbeeck	Retired from motorsport
Jordan Davies	Joined Voeckler Talent Troupe
Li Qi	Dropped from programme
Tomo Kazama	Left after disagreement with management

The program has so far won a number of championships and awards:

Year	Championship/Trophy	Driver
2014	Rejects World Series 3 Drivers Championship	Tomo Kazama
2015	Rejects World Series 2 Drivers Championship	Tomo Kazama
2016	Lupo Cup Woman Of The Year	Koyomi Setou
2017	GT-R Independent World Championship	Asim Adhikari
2017	GT-R Independent World Championship	Marlin Hortin
2018	Nobushige Fukuda Memorial Trophy	Kay Lon

Best in the World Motorsport

Before the 2015 Formula 3 Rejects World Race Series season, Prince Falik put Falik Arrows up for sale, citing financial reasons for the impromptu sale. Kay Lon was one of the first people to put in an offer for the team, and it was immediately accepted, with Lon taking full control of the team and renaming it Best in the World Motorsport. The drivers were not part of the package and Josh Carlisle was promoted to the Falik Arrows F2RWRS team, with Akinjide Ezerioha's contract expiring. The team decided that they would not renew his contract. Run in conjunction with Colin Kolles, the team set about hiring new drivers, with the departure of one American came the arrival of another; Anita Horford, daughter of ex-Formula One driver Roberto Horford. Already a member of the BITW development program, Anita was quickly signed to the team by Lon.

Amidst the driver merry-go round, BITW focused on securing the services of Judd McAllister, who was released at the team currently known as Aeroracing Engineering. With the possibility McAllister remaining loyal to his father despite having his seat taken from him, Lon's team set about securing the services of reigning F3 Open Series champion Takuma Taki as alternative for 2015, but McAllister agreed to become a part of the German team. Takuma Taki was said to be downhearted about the deal going out of the proverbial window, but, as his manager likes to say , "All's fair in RWRS and war", and Taki eventually found a drive at Red Bull Team Jagermeister for the upcoming season.

The team's first RWS3 season proved to be a rough one with points hard to come by. Impressive driving by young Judd McAllister were the only source of success for the new team. Kay Lon quickly became discontent with Horford's perfomances and decided to replace her after her home races had failed to bring any improvement in her results, sending her off to join BITW driver Chacko Palaniappan in the American Le Mans Series. The team snatched up the services of Jef Verbeeck, making this the first time he raced since his terrible accident in late 2011.

After selling the RWS3 entry and chassis/engine at the start of 2016, Kay Lon exchanged a significant amount of personnel for an entry as independent team in the GT-R World Championship. A season as lower midfielders followed, as a new branch, mainly consisting of former Sauber personnel, was established in Switzerland. This branch was supposed to run a RTCC entry and did so quite successfully in the 2016 season, racking up a very healthy number of points and podium finishes at the hands of Jef Verbeeck and Koyomi Setou. Despite this success, the RTCC entry was abandoned, as Cengiz Atali arranged a deal with the Volkswagen Group, earning BITW the right to produce works LMP1 cars for the ACO Le Mans Cup under the Porsche brand, thereby returning the brand to endurance racing after the end of the WEC.

A third branch was recently opened under the name of BITW Ohio, located in Cleveland. This branch will run a two-car entry from the 2017 Rejectrucks Super Series season onwards. The cars will be driven by Anton Bosevic and Cormac Frisch for the 2017 season.

Controversies

Zytek chassis

The original sale of the Falik Arrows Junior were merely for Prince Falik's debts and contracts. Prior to the sale to Best In The World, Zytek were comissioned to design and build a chassis and an engine to Falik Arrows Juniors team. Best In The World chose Mugen-Honda engines instead, and it led to Zytek demanding to use the Zytek chassis and engine for two years or face legal action. A compromise was reached between the conflicting sides which would see the team use the Zytek chassis together with the newly purchased Mugen-Honda engine.

Complete RWS3 Results

Year	Chassis	Engine	#	Drivers	1		2		3	4		5		6		7	8		9		10	Points	CC
2015	Zytek F3C15B	Mugen-Honda MF315			AUS		TUR		MON	USA		GBR		GER		BEL	ITA		JPN		SUR	0*	NC*
			40	Judd McAllister
			41	Anita Horford
				Jef Verbeeck