Entering Motorsport - Does this budget look right??

[Count Johnny]

andye30m3 said:

I'm doing 8 double headers.

Entry fee's are about £2100
registration fee £100
Fuel for the race car £500
Fuel for the tow car £500
6 tyres for the E30 where £450
Then theres the best part of £1500 for consumables and additional tyres and a couple of test days.

On top of that there was

The car £4250
Set-up £600
Helmet £400
Overalls £400
boots & gloves £150ish
Trailer £1300

so the first year comes out at £12,500 all in.

PBMW very kindly supply food over the weekend and I tend to camp otherwise these are another couple of expenses that can add up.

With the PBMW i've let a friend use the car for the project 8 saloons which runs on the same weekend so there's some cash back in the pot from him.

This seems a little more realistic - although I'd like to bet that even this realistic this budget gets exceeded.

[dapearson]

ktm301p said:

Thanks, sorry if I'm repeating myself here but this was an estimate of price, and obviously I was way off the ball with the equipment cost. I wouldn't buy a helmet of ebay, only apparel that was in good condition if it was notably cheaper than others.

Fair enough.

Good luck with it all!

[Greensleeves]

Here's an expense to bear in mind.

Run into the back of your mate in an MR2: Donor car 200 quid.

Take the front off and put it on yours and the rear off and put it on his.

Retain middle bit or take bits off it as spares.

Cost negligible but the time in the garage excessive. If you're paying for it done by someone else. Very costly.


BTW, why are you thinking of buying a car and prepping it when the market is already saturated with ready to go cars that are already developed and will just need a spanner check before you go out in them.

[jagracer]

ktm301p said:

Agreed. Helmet I would definitely buy new without a doubt - but to an extent, I can't see the problem with purchasing secondhand overalls, as long as they're clean, and have no rips or tears there shouldn't be a problem or am I just being naive on the subject?

Don't be put off by a lot of the scaremongering on here. You don't have to do a full season and a typical race entry should be around £200-£350 depending on length, 750MC MR2s are at Brands this weekend with a double header at £303.
You can pick up a brand new Headtec Snell 2005 lid for as little as £110. New overalls are about £250-£300 and you'll need boots and gloves which can be got for around £60 providing you don't want to race abroad.
You will need racing brake pads which will cost around £100 per set and it might be cheaper to pick up a car that has been raced and is prepared.

[Count Johnny]

jagracer said:

Don't be put off by a lot of the scaremongering on here.

In fairness, I don't think anyone is trying to 'scaremonger'.

The OP has asked how much it will cost him to get started and complete a full season and people have answered him.

Yes, if he only does one race, it will be much cheaper, but I still think that his budgets for buying and preparing a car and properly equipping himself with personal safety equipment are much too low.

Furthermore - knowing how this tin-top stuff works, in terms of contact - I think his contingency estimate is woefully low.

Really, to summarise, I think it's important for people to enter motor sport with their eyes wide open as - if you've entered this silly world and had to stop when the harsh realities of cost kick in - reading Autosport and posting on PH is pretty poor and depressing substitute.

Edited by Count Johnny on Wednesday 25th April 17:52

[Lee Mack]

If you set yourself up as cheaply as possible and do 1 race, see how you like it. You can always pick up better bits as you go.

Be warned though ! Once the bug hits you along with the huge grins, you'll be selling the wife and dog to keep going back for more

If your going to go cheap on anything, make sure you don't skimp on safety.

That's paramount !

[jagracer]

Count Johnny said:

Really, to summarise, I think it's important for people to enter motor sport with their eyes wide open as - if you've entered this silly world and had to stop when the harsh realities of cost kick in - reading Autosport and posting on PH is pretty poor and depressing substitute.

Edited by Count Johnny on Wednesday 25th April 17:52

It's expensive no doubt, I'm at the point of packing up because the £ per thrill doesn't add up any more. To put price into context, when I started racing a decade ago it was pointed out that racing is like chucking £20 notes in a corner and burning them, I'd say It's pretty much the same now only substitute the twenties with fifties.

[NJH]

I reckon its gone up a good 50% in cost over the past 5 years or so, especially considering stuff like insurance and fuel. I reckon on spending about £12K this year or roughly £2K total per weekend but this doesn't include much contingency for mechanical/bodywork fixing. This last bit seems to catch a lot of ppl out, don't want to think about stretching it to cover such circumstances but you guys know what the score is everyone will do it, tell whatever lies are necessary to the Mrs to make it not seem so bad. This is to do class 2 of the Porsche Club championship in my 944.

Seems a long way from when ppl used to say you could do a season of club racing for £6K, even something like the Porsches they reckon you used to be able to do a season for about £8K in a 944. Doesn't seem remotely realistic now IMHO.

[ktm301p]

Greensleeves said:

BTW, why are you thinking of buying a car and prepping it when the market is already saturated with ready to go cars that are already developed and will just need a spanner check before you go out in them.

The idea was to spend a grand on a car, then a grand doing the safety equipment and racing necessaries to make an affordable race car. But if by ready to go, you mean cars with roll cages and full safety safety equipment in place - like bucket seat & harnesses then please direct me to the website. So far I have found that aside from the motorsport section of the PH classifieds, the choice out there seems a little sparse on motorsport websites advertising cars for sale. (in my price bracket anyway! - £1-2,500!).

[ktm301p]

Lee Mack said:

If you set yourself up as cheaply as possible and do 1 race, see how you like it. You can always pick up better bits as you go.

Thanks for the thought, I was thinking this too actually. I would be quite happy with doing the odd trackday, hillclimb or sprint instead of going full on racing to save cost, but my father doesn't get excited by the idea of track days because there is no real racing involved.

[andye30m3]

If you based in wiltshire and on a budget what about looking at the Castle Combe saloons series http://www.castlecombecircuit.co.uk/racingclub/ saves on the traveling and hotel costs.

[Count Johnny]

ktm301p said:

...the choice out there seems a little sparse on motorsport websites advertising cars for sale. (in my price bracket anyway! - £1-2,500!).

I would suggest that there's a reason for that and, don't forget, all of the above budgets assume a reasonably high level of mechanical aptitude on your part so - unless you're pretty handy with the spanners and have a decent tool kit and a fair bit of time on your hands - you'll need to factor in paying someone ~ £40 per hour to do the work for you.

[anonymous-user]

I've only had a quick scan through the regs but I think the car prep costs are a bit naive. At the very least you will want the engine rebuilt, i know the regs state that you cant do much to them but a std 20 year old engine will be so far off the pace its untrue. get it rebuilt, use a bigger water pump too also fit new plugs and high capacity leads, boht in the regs as permitted.

you can upgrade the pads and hoses so it makes sense to have some better quality braided hoses fitted.

a good set of coilovers that will be effective on track will cost more than £200. wander round the paddock and see what peopel are using. suspension wise you can fit polybushes too so thats a no-brainer.

[ktm301p]

andye30m3 said:

If you based in wiltshire and on a budget what about looking at the Castle Combe saloons series http://www.castlecombecircuit.co.uk/racingclub/ saves on the traveling and hotel costs.

Thanks, this is a series I have regularly been to watch over the years and its almost definitely one we would enter!

[ktm301p]

Count Johnny said:

I would suggest that there's a reason for that and, don't forget, all of the above budgets assume a reasonably high level of mechanical aptitude on your part so - unless you're pretty handy with the spanners and have a decent tool kit and a fair bit of time on your hands - you'll need to factor in paying someone ~ £40 per hour to do the work for you.

Good thought, luckily my father was a mechanical engineer for some years before changing profession so we would probably making the most of his skills on the car, and he has accumulated quite a few tools over his time. Thanks.

[ktm301p]

pablo said:

I've only had a quick scan through the regs but I think the car prep costs are a bit naive. At the very least you will want the engine rebuilt, i know the regs state that you cant do much to them but a std 20 year old engine will be so far off the pace its untrue. get it rebuilt, use a bigger water pump too also fit new plugs and high capacity leads, boht in the regs as permitted.

you can upgrade the pads and hoses so it makes sense to have some better quality braided hoses fitted.

a good set of coilovers that will be effective on track will cost more than £200. wander round the paddock and see what peopel are using. suspension wise you can fit polybushes too so thats a no-brainer.

Thanks, an engine rebuild would be considered given your point on the pace of the car. However, before we rushed straight into an engine rebuild, a dyno run to test the power of the car would show how much power had been lost since when it was new. I think for the first race or two, it might be an idea to test the car to see if it really is off the pace to the other competitors. I do totally agree with you on upgrading the suspension and polybushes, unless it's already been done (from purchasing a car that has already been track prepared). Cheers.

[Trev450]

Given that you are from Wiltshire, come and join us on the sprint scene here: http://www.aswmc.org.uk/sprint.htm

It would be a good way to test the water and also a comparatively low cost.

[ktm301p]

Trev450 said:

Given that you are from Wiltshire, come and join us on the sprint scene here: http://www.aswmc.org.uk/sprint.htm

It would be a good way to test the water and also a comparatively low cost.

Thanks for the link, I'll check it out now.

[Count Johnny]

pablo said:

Wander round the paddock and see what peopel are using.

You REALLY should. It's not just about power. It's also about getting the engine - indeed the whole car - to survive in a very different and mechanically stressful environment and you'll also get the low down on costs.

[ktm301p]

Count Johnny said:

You REALLY should. It's not just about power. It's also about getting the engine - indeed the whole car - to survive in a very different and mechanically stressful environment and you'll also get the low down on costs.

Ok, noted. Thanks.