RE: Nissan pioneers drone training

[I'm Spartacus]

The Wookie said:

I race BTCC at the moment, but I started in Caterham club racing. I was about 20 stone back then, so trust me if I can win races in a 120bhp Caterham with a 40 odd kilo weight disadvantage then being heavy isn't the end of the world.

Having said that, it is pretty frustrating when you're 20-30kg down on your team mate and you can see the time ebbing away on the data.

Unfortunately I am just a big bloke rather than being completely fat (powerfully built?), and having a day job and social life limits enthusiasm for epic workout regimes.

Oh wow, what do you drive? I also had a pic of a blue and yellow Renault Laguna signed by Alain Menu and Jason Plato on my wall, so I've always loved a bit of the BTCC! How long did it take to get to the BTCC from Caterham Racing, and how old were you when you started racing Caterham's in the first place?

Unfortunately my only experience of real life racing was go karting with friends. I'm not sure if I just had a slow kart or if it was the extra weight but I could hold them off in the corners only for them to fly past on the straights. In the end I got a bit fed up and just tried to see how big a slide I could do around the longer corners. I'm not massively heavy, I'm 6ft 3 and about 15 stone, but they were about 5ft 10 and about 10/11 stone so quite a difference really on a tiny little kart.

So would you recommend Caterham racing as the best place to start? I'd love to own a Caterham one day and was hoping to get involved in a series, but I've just moved to Oz so it isn't possible at the moment. I've always hoped to get involved at some level or another but finances are the main thing that holds me back. Hopefully when I return to the UK in a few years my finances will have improved enough to allow me to get involved in some competetive driving.

Good luck in the BTCC this year anyway!

[canucklehead]

Maybe the drone could be equipped with AGMs and you could call in an airstrike to aid overtaking :-)

[The Wookie]

I'm Spartacus said:

Oh wow, what do you drive? I also had a pic of a blue and yellow Renault Laguna signed by Alain Menu and Jason Plato on my wall, so I've always loved a bit of the BTCC! How long did it take to get to the BTCC from Caterham Racing, and how old were you when you started racing Caterham's in the first place?

Unfortunately my only experience of real life racing was go karting with friends. I'm not sure if I just had a slow kart or if it was the extra weight but I could hold them off in the corners only for them to fly past on the straights. In the end I got a bit fed up and just tried to see how big a slide I could do around the longer corners. I'm not massively heavy, I'm 6ft 3 and about 15 stone, but they were about 5ft 10 and about 10/11 stone so quite a difference really on a tiny little kart.

So would you recommend Caterham racing as the best place to start? I'd love to own a Caterham one day and was hoping to get involved in a series, but I've just moved to Oz so it isn't possible at the moment. I've always hoped to get involved at some level or another but finances are the main thing that holds me back. Hopefully when I return to the UK in a few years my finances will have improved enough to allow me to get involved in some competetive driving.

Good luck in the BTCC this year anyway!

I drive for Speedworks in the second Avensis. I did the Academy in 2005 age 21, but the big jump was from C400 Superlights in 2008 to Porsche Carrera Cup in 2009.

Never did any karting short of stuff like you say, and my only track experience was a couple of Palmersport days before I did the Academy! To be honest even having done what I've done I can still go karting with a bunch of mates and get slaughtered because of straight line speed, although the bds can't get anywhere near me in the wet

Caterhams are a good place to start but there's lots of series depending on what you want to do. There's MX5's, BMW's, Porsche Club Championship, Formula V if you want to go single seaters, etc etc.

The best place to ask is in the Club Racing forum, they're a friendly bunch in there and there's a wide range of experience in different series that they're happy to share.

Thanks for the good luck, I need it at the moment

[I'm Spartacus]

The Wookie said:

I drive for Speedworks in the second Avensis. I did the Academy in 2005 age 21, but the big jump was from C400 Superlights in 2008 to Porsche Carrera Cup in 2009.

Never did any karting short of stuff like you say, and my only track experience was a couple of Palmersport days before I did the Academy! To be honest even having done what I've done I can still go karting with a bunch of mates and get slaughtered because of straight line speed, although the bds can't get anywhere near me in the wet

Caterhams are a good place to start but there's lots of series depending on what you want to do. There's MX5's, BMW's, Porsche Club Championship, Formula V if you want to go single seaters, etc etc.

The best place to ask is in the Club Racing forum, they're a friendly bunch in there and there's a wide range of experience in different series that they're happy to share.

Thanks for the good luck, I need it at the moment

Thanks for the info, it's always great to hear from someone who has been there and done it. Like I said I've just moved to the other side of the world so I'm a few years away from being able to have a go for financial reasons. I don't even have a road car at the momenent. Hopefully one day I'll be in a postion to have a crack at it.

I've always wanted to have a go at rallying but single seater or sports car racing appeals to me just as much really. I guess I've got to find the money first before I start worrying about stuff like that though!