Far from the glitz and glamour of Formula 1, there are family-run racing teams just trying to make ends meet.
TCR Australia Series up-and-comer Michael Clemente is one of those privateer drivers reliant on sponsorship dollars to race.
The fan favourite has been a force in 2023, twice winning at Phillip Island and Winton earlier this year.
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However, his season is on the verge of collapse after coming up short on dollars.
The Cupra pilot confirmed via social media that he'll not contest the forthcoming night races at Sydney Motorsport Park on Friday and Saturday owing to a funding shortfall.
"Unfortunately we won't be able to make this weekend's TCR Australia round at Sydney," he wrote.
"We've done absolutely everything we could to try and put together the funds to make it there but ultimately there just wasn't enough left in the kitty.
"It's a massive shame to miss such an incredible opportunity to race against the internationals, something I've been looking forward to all year and have been super focused on, as well it being a track that I thought would suit our Cupra perfectly."
There is still hope Clemente will raise enough dough to get to the season finale a week later at Mount Panorama for the three-day Bathurst International on November 10-12.
"We're still working nonstop to attend the final round at Bathurst, where hopefully we can put in a strong performance against the world's best," Clemente concluded.
Although Clemente will be absent, there will still be a bumper 25-car grid at Sydney Motorsport Park for back-to-back nights of racing.
Catch race one of the TCR World Tour and National Trans Am Series live and free-to-air on 9Gem and 9Now from 2pm on November 4.
Of those 25 cars, 10 of them will feature international drivers as part of the TCR World Tour.
World Touring Car Cup champions Norbert Michelisz (2019) of Hungary, Frenchman Yann Ehrlacher (2020, 2021), and Spaniard Mikel Azcona (2022) will form part of that grid.
The international contingent is completed by Jimmy Clairet (France), Thed Bjork (Sweden), Santiago Urrutia (Uruguay), Frederic Vervisch (Belgium), Nestor Girolami (Argentina), Ma Qing Hua (China), and Rob Huff (United Kingdom).
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Stan Sport will have all the action from the penultimate SpeedSeries event at Sydney Motorsport Park from 5pm AEDT on Friday and 2pm on Saturday.
Live free-to-air coverage will be on 9Gem and 9Now from 2pm to 5pm.
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