Advice needed for which series to choose!
Discussion
Hi all
I'm a complete novice to motorsport and new to Piston Heads also!
Having done a F1 driving experience at Rockingham a couple of years ago I now have the bug for what could be a VERY expensive hobby!
I have no mechanical experience and don't have the time or space to be constantly tinkering with my chosen machine.
Been looking at the Caterham Academy which seems to offer decent value / open top racing, my question is would you guys recommend this route or is there something better value wise?
Also if Caterhams are chosen as the way to go do you recommend the academy route or would a 2nd hand car and direct entry to the Tracksport series with some coaching be a better value option?
Cheers in advance for the advice!
I'm a complete novice to motorsport and new to Piston Heads also!
Having done a F1 driving experience at Rockingham a couple of years ago I now have the bug for what could be a VERY expensive hobby!
I have no mechanical experience and don't have the time or space to be constantly tinkering with my chosen machine.
Been looking at the Caterham Academy which seems to offer decent value / open top racing, my question is would you guys recommend this route or is there something better value wise?
Also if Caterhams are chosen as the way to go do you recommend the academy route or would a 2nd hand car and direct entry to the Tracksport series with some coaching be a better value option?
Cheers in advance for the advice!
I coach a number of drivers in both the Academy, roadsport, tracksport and the graduates side of Caterhams.
The academy is very good if you have little experience of driving on circuit, as a large percentage of the entrants will be in a similar position, nobody is allowed to have held a race licence previously, all will be race novices. There are a few ex karters or people who have spent a small fortune on track days and coaching who are likely to be at the front, but whatever your experience level there will be somebody to race with.
Team support is not allowed, but caterham offer mechanical support during the weekends, so this is good if you have limited mechanical skills.
The overall cost per race is relatively high compared to the graduates, but you do get to do a couple of sprints to get you into the competitive mindset before you go to proper circuits, and you have a brand new car. Also the cars don`t devalue very much, so can be sold for not a huge amount less than you bought it for.
Caterham guide you through the whole preparation process, getting your licence, how to set the car up etc.
You also have a guaranteed 4 years of racing with the same car, as the car gets upgrades each year, so gets faster and better but is the same car.
The graduates side is very good if you don`t have the budget to go and buy a new car, are happy fettling it yourself and don`t mind not having somebody to hold your hand the entire way through.
You get more races than the academy as you don`t do the sprint thing, you are straight out onto circuit racing.
There is no guarantee who you`ll be sat next to on the grid, anybody can enter, so people who have been racing for years could be there as well as the novices.
Both offer excellent close racing, which is tightly controlled both in terms of car specification and driving standards.
If I had the budget and wanted the easiest route into racing with everything organised and a new car then the academy wins hands down, but if you want a less controlled slightly better value route then the graduates would be the choice.
There is also the magnificent sevens, which offers endurance style racing in a seven, grids are open to any seven and performances are balanced using a class structure.
Costs can be shared between multiple drivers.
A number of my clients race in a full series (Academy, roadsport, graduates etc) but then to add extra races to their season also do selected races in the mag 7s.
There are many options when you own a seven, as they can also be generally entered in various one off events similar to the dave allen trophy which recently ran at Castle Combe.
Hope this helps, get in touch if I can be of anymore help.
Scotty
The academy is very good if you have little experience of driving on circuit, as a large percentage of the entrants will be in a similar position, nobody is allowed to have held a race licence previously, all will be race novices. There are a few ex karters or people who have spent a small fortune on track days and coaching who are likely to be at the front, but whatever your experience level there will be somebody to race with.
Team support is not allowed, but caterham offer mechanical support during the weekends, so this is good if you have limited mechanical skills.
The overall cost per race is relatively high compared to the graduates, but you do get to do a couple of sprints to get you into the competitive mindset before you go to proper circuits, and you have a brand new car. Also the cars don`t devalue very much, so can be sold for not a huge amount less than you bought it for.
Caterham guide you through the whole preparation process, getting your licence, how to set the car up etc.
You also have a guaranteed 4 years of racing with the same car, as the car gets upgrades each year, so gets faster and better but is the same car.
The graduates side is very good if you don`t have the budget to go and buy a new car, are happy fettling it yourself and don`t mind not having somebody to hold your hand the entire way through.
You get more races than the academy as you don`t do the sprint thing, you are straight out onto circuit racing.
There is no guarantee who you`ll be sat next to on the grid, anybody can enter, so people who have been racing for years could be there as well as the novices.
Both offer excellent close racing, which is tightly controlled both in terms of car specification and driving standards.
If I had the budget and wanted the easiest route into racing with everything organised and a new car then the academy wins hands down, but if you want a less controlled slightly better value route then the graduates would be the choice.
There is also the magnificent sevens, which offers endurance style racing in a seven, grids are open to any seven and performances are balanced using a class structure.
Costs can be shared between multiple drivers.
A number of my clients race in a full series (Academy, roadsport, graduates etc) but then to add extra races to their season also do selected races in the mag 7s.
There are many options when you own a seven, as they can also be generally entered in various one off events similar to the dave allen trophy which recently ran at Castle Combe.
Hope this helps, get in touch if I can be of anymore help.
Scotty
Do you want to do circuit racing or is the brief wider? I ask because, normally, people will assume you want to do circuit racing. There's a plethora of different disciplines out there and budgets range massively. Circuit racing is one of the most expensive. Tarmac or loose? Road car or racing car? On the road or on the track? Answer those questions and you're getting closer to your answer.
The closest thing you'll get to that F1 car on a budget (ha!) is sprinting or hillclimbing. You can pick up V8 single seaters for about £40k and they'll be quicker than the Forti you drove at Rockingham. They're not cheap to run and not a one-man job. However, I run a sports racer and many others run a less picky single seater on their own. I don't work on it myself and I'm an absolute pleb with mechanics, so I just do the bare minimum and have someone else look after it between events. I do a whole season for about £3k. If I were to do circuit racing, the budget would be at least double that and the risk of being in someone else's accident is pretty high, so I stick to sprinting. You can get a Jedi and nab a few outright wins (with some experience) for £6-8k and do a season for £3k.
The closest thing you'll get to that F1 car on a budget (ha!) is sprinting or hillclimbing. You can pick up V8 single seaters for about £40k and they'll be quicker than the Forti you drove at Rockingham. They're not cheap to run and not a one-man job. However, I run a sports racer and many others run a less picky single seater on their own. I don't work on it myself and I'm an absolute pleb with mechanics, so I just do the bare minimum and have someone else look after it between events. I do a whole season for about £3k. If I were to do circuit racing, the budget would be at least double that and the risk of being in someone else's accident is pretty high, so I stick to sprinting. You can get a Jedi and nab a few outright wins (with some experience) for £6-8k and do a season for £3k.
If caterhams are not your thing, then there are an endless list of possible alternatives dependant upon budget.
Radical SR1 cup
Atom cup
lotus elise trophy
Lotus UK Cup
VW cup
MR2 challenge
Toyo tyres Porsche championship
Performance BMW championship
Max5`s
Hot hatch championship
Classic Formula Ford Championship
Ginetta challenge
Aston Martin GT4 challenge
To narrow the list down, you need an idea of budget, what kind of racing you would like to be involved in, and an idea of the kind of car.
Scotty
Radical SR1 cup
Atom cup
lotus elise trophy
Lotus UK Cup
VW cup
MR2 challenge
Toyo tyres Porsche championship
Performance BMW championship
Max5`s
Hot hatch championship
Classic Formula Ford Championship
Ginetta challenge
Aston Martin GT4 challenge
To narrow the list down, you need an idea of budget, what kind of racing you would like to be involved in, and an idea of the kind of car.
Scotty
Scotty Dog's advice is perfect.
I also would advise the Academy series as the perfect starting place for a novice. Some people have a lot more driving experience than others - but no one would have held a race licence before.
The Caterham Seven is still some of the most fun you can have in a car.
Arrive and drive is your only other real alternative at your point. You have to have a team help you setup the car - otherwise you'll be wasting yr time and money
I also would advise the Academy series as the perfect starting place for a novice. Some people have a lot more driving experience than others - but no one would have held a race licence before.
The Caterham Seven is still some of the most fun you can have in a car.
Arrive and drive is your only other real alternative at your point. You have to have a team help you setup the car - otherwise you'll be wasting yr time and money
lightninslo said:
Just checked the Graduates website out and it look like exactly what I've been looking for!
I obviously want to have as much fun as possible, which category would you recommend and how much would you recommend spending on the car?
Cheers
It really is a fantastic club, My dad and I have been competing for several seasons and both of us would have to think long and hard before considering doing anything else. I think it is the most cost effective way to get into a proper RWD spaceframe chassis race car in british motorsport.I obviously want to have as much fun as possible, which category would you recommend and how much would you recommend spending on the car?
Cheers
The club has five categories, Each of which with it's own strengths and weaknesses, however the features consistent with all five are a friendly, well managed club, healthy grids, close and exciting racing, a dedicated driving standards team, fixed car spec with an anti-chequebook emphasis, Superb calendar and venues and finally the possibility to take part at a competetive level without spending a fortune (e.g. tyres limited to 3 sets per season).
A brief summary of the technical differences between the 5 categories can be found here: http://www.graduates.org.uk/info.asp?s=classes
Here's a further summary, in ascending order of performance!
Classics The cheapest (and arguably the closest!) category, Classics are the oldest spec cars on the grid. However they are still amazingly reliable if maintained and dispite their age the category still enjoys very good performance parity across the cars. They still attract grids of 15-20 cars. Even with only 100bhp, open diffs and road tyres, a Classic can get 'round Brands Indy in less than 58s. Set of tyres ~£220. Seasonal engine and gearbox refreshes are not necessary. A good car can be had for £8k.
Sigmas Latest spec 1.6 Ford engines (~120bhp) and Metric chassis,open diffs- essentially the same as an academy car. You can enter a brand new car if you like, or buy a used Academy car. The club created the Sigma class a few years ago and it currently attracts grids of 8-12 cars with numbers steadily increasing as more ex-academy boys trickle in. Brands Indy lap time- ~56s. Yokohama semi-slicks ~£360/set. Pick up a ready-to-race car for ~£13k
Supers 1.6 K-series (~125bhp), cars produced from 2001-2007 (older academy cars). Open diffs. Supers have been regularly attracting big grids and shows no sign of declining. Dispite the stigma, the k-series engine is fantastic in these cars and they are quicker over a lap than the Sigma. B.I. lap time ~55s. Same tyres as Sigma. Decent car ~£10k
Megas upgraded 2001-2007 Academy cars with their 1.6 K-series engines having been tuned (~135bhp). Open diff, Widetrack suspension, straight cut gearbox... a very racey experience to drive. 20+ car grids. Budget for a gearbox inspection/refresh every season and an occasional top end engine refresh. B.I. lap time 53.5s. Same tyres as Sigma. Decent car ~£13k.
Sigmax Upgraded Sigma with 140bhp engine, widetrack suspension and limited slip diff. Like the Sigmas, these are newer cars and the club has a healthy growing grid of 12+ cars. B.I. lap time 53s. Same tyres as Sigma. Cars are ~£16k.
Personally I'm racing full seasons at a competetive level in a classic on a budget of about £6k. My Dad races in Megas (budget is secret! probably about £8k per season). Neither of us are professionally supported and both of us have won races on our budgets. If fun and budget are your priorities, I would heartily recommend classics. The one currently for sale on the club's page came 3rd in the 2009 championship and although it has only done pertial seasons with novice drivers since, I have met each of it's owners and I believe it has been well looked after and is still a strong car.
Another great thing about the club is the overseas round at the end of the season, this year we're racing at Spa Francorchamps! This season we've also been to Silverstone Grand Prix and Donington next month. The club is one of the biggest in the country and benefits from good buying power when negotiating track time and grids.
Where abouts are you? I'll happily give you a free ticket to any of this season's remaining races (Donington, Cadwell, Spa) so you can come along and meet the club.
Feel free to PM me or post on the club's forum for more info!
Edited by HustleRussell on Monday 1st July 14:29
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