Toe in the water - first steps in cars for a young driver?

[RacingPete]

I was in the same place at that age...

I use to spend my student loan on sprints and hill climbs in an MGB, which teaches you the ability to be quick on a track and perfect the times (sprints/hill climbs are limited in time, and thus to win you have to get everything spot on - something circuit driving gives a little more lee way on).

I also think Targa Rallies, or Autosolos are good too for this too - nothing much to hit usually, and both add in the competitive element. I always found track days and driving experiences didn't have the competitive edge I needed, and just going round a circuit over and over doesn't really thrill me as much as beating other drivers. (Though I did enjoy the Palmer Sports Day as that did add that element in)

The other thing to consider is the mechanical knowledge you need for a car, setting up the car, being able to read what the car is doing on the track - having your own car allows you to understand that better, especially if you do the mechanics yourself.

Though I did get most of car setup knowledge at 1/10 scale by racing radio control cars at a decent level before racing the full things.

But be warned - I could have a lovely house and car collection if I hadn't gone down the trying to be a pro racing driver route, and though I have a nice set of mugs to drink out of and some good memories - sometimes I think about the size of house with all that money

[Skyedriver]

Think its all been said already but:
Autotests are a really good way of improving driving skills at sensible speeds
Hillclimbs are a great and generally friendly event and you can do double entries with him, only downside is there are usually long waits between runs.
12 car rallies?
Regularity events
Enter as father and son as driver and navigator
Autocross is cheap but can be a bit bump and bang
Autograss similar

[spiralp]

Around 25 years ago my wife decided that Cadet karts looked interesting, and organised a day a Buckmore Park for our 2 children, then 7 and 10. 7 year old loved it but the 10 year old decided it was not for her. My wife then bought a karting magazine, rang John Button and purchased a second hand (ex-Jenson Button) Cadet kart for something around £450 and sent me off to collect it. I am an accountant and I know very little about mechanical matters, so it was a steep learning curve. After 8 years in karts, with some success, we had probably spent around £5k per annum on average. At age 15 my son did the Jim Russell racing driver course at Silverstone, which qualified him for a race license and got him a handful of races in a Formula Ford. He also did a few races in a Locost kit car, built at his school. Handily, with all his karting experience he was winning most of these races. He then moved up to Caterham Roadsports. We bought a second hand car for around £16k and a season's racing was around £10k, finishing 3rd overall and winning a few races. We sold the Roadsport to fund a second hand Superlight and raced in Europe for a year. The racing was no more expensive and he was successful, but regular trips to Spa, Nurburgring, Zandvoort, etc added to the cost. So far so good, and if you stay at this level then costs should not get out of hand. We did employ various coaches to help him, including a then very young Andy Priaulx. I will not bore you with his remaining career in motorsports, but if you aspire to race at higher levels, such as Le Mans, then it gets very expensive and sponsorship is almost impossible however good you are. Good luck with your son. Enjoy every minute, as I did.

[Kawasicki]

A big field, an old car, hope and a prayer

[shoestring7]

Thanks for the replies, suggestions and PMs. Its a shame in some ways that the TOTD headline was 'Grassroots' motorsport as that's not really the question I was asking; I've done a couple of sprints and hills in the past and while I understand its great fun and cost effective, its not circuit racing.

The suggestions about using his own car for autotests etc. might have been more relevant if it wasn't a 30 year old diesel with 55bhp, and while a cheap warm hatch/MX5/Westfield etc would be nice at the moment he'd end up spending his annual 'budget' on insurance. Likewise we don't have the space for a shared trackday slag unless I give up my old classic.

The answer a few years ago was to sign up to Jim Russell's at Brands like SpiralP's son, but I cannot find a modern equivalent. Ironically, if I could travel to Canada I wouldn't have the same problem: https://www.jimrussell.com/en/schedules.cfm?cId=1

I think the answer for now is to try an arrive and drive trackdays, and if that works do a few more and see where that leads. He'd planning to go to Uni, so there's a possibility of karts or Formula Student. He can build his experience, make contacts, earn lots of money and then get into it as much as he wants!

SS7

[BenWRXSEi]

HughS47 said:

Javelin Trackdays run a sprint series over 6 or so tracks during a year, with different classes ranging from standard road cars, through to track specials.

Its competitive but without the cost of fireproof overalls, car prep etc. Why not enter him in that this coming season, as you can dip in and out as you see fit, get the experience by attending trackdays with instructors to learn the circuits before hand, and then see if it lights the desire to go onto bigger/more expensive things. It doesn't require a racing licence either.

I was going to recommend this - I've just finished my first season with Javelin Sprintdays (a few bits over on my Readers' Cars thread (middle of page 2 onwards) if you fancy a read). Thoroughly enjoyable and not too expensive, plus there are various classes for roadgoing cars which are pretty popular.

[Frimley111R]

panickyjabofoppo said:

Autograss.

I own a well set up and regularly tracked Caterham. I've driven many types of kart, including Rotax Senior Max. The most fun I have ever had, and continue to have, on four wheels is in the Autograss Class 10 car I bought off ebay for £1800 three years ago, racing at St Neots Autograss club.

£70 buys you a race license for a year. Then you just turn up on a race day, pay a grand total of around £20, for which you receive a few laps of practise in the morning, then two heats of around 6 laps each, then a final of around 6-8 laps, then an 'open' event of about 10 laps before close in the late afternoon.

It's basically drifting around large dirt ovals, in cars with, in Class 10 spec, damn near limitless engine regs. The only thing you cannot do is combine a bike engine with 'power adders', ie forced induction or any kind of nitrous/meth/water injection. ANYTHING else goes, with no cap on power.

Here is the first video which popped up on Youtube when I just searched for 'autograss class 10'. Almost all the competitive cars in Class 10 are now running twin GSX-R or Hayabusa bike engines, typically giving a total of 380-400hp.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ArLNhf6hEHM

Looks great, shame its just in ovals though, proper tracks would be amazing.

[Xps911]

MG Mark said:

Whatever you pitch in for:

Rule 1 - the higher the aim at the outset or going up the ladder, the more expensive it is.
Rule 2 - while being competitive, always remember that doing it is supposed to be fun.
Rule 3 - see Rule 1 and always remember Rule 2.

Karting is, indeed, one option, hugely quick and great fun - but is a bit skewed in terms of how you drive, kart/circuit lengths/widths, the racing itself etc, compared to cars.

Karting is great fun, my lad (six years old) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UdZGKUnl5DE really enjoys it.