Which motorsport?

[Jonboy_t]

Morning all. Apologies if this is covered all the time in here, but it's my first foray into this forum!

I absolutely love driving, but I'm getting bored with the daily monotony (100 mile per day commute, traffic, scamera's etc) so want to get into something where I can have a little more fun behind the wheel and let off some steam. What kind of motorsport can novices get into, for as little money as possible that will give me a chance to have a bit of a hoon but in a friendly, competitive atmosphere?

Budget would be dependant on how much fun it could be, but as an idea - up front cost of <£1k for the car, servicing and maintenance can be done by me on the drive and race costs kept to as much of a minimum as possible. I'm not averse to something along the lines of building myself a kart/buggy (could do with a project actually!), but I'm a keen novice, rather than being well versed in engineering, so I'd guess that certain regs would be difficult to cover before I could race something that I built.

This will just be a bit of fun for me (maybe wifey too) to have rather than getting seriously into it. Only stipulation for a car/kart/buggy would be that it would need to accomodate 'someone of a larger stature' as I'm 6"4' and mid-teens (stones) in weight.

As above, apologies if this is the equivalent of a 'What Car?' thread on here!!

[ajprice]

A rear drive car like a 3 series, MR2 or MX5, and go do some track days .

[Munter]

1x cheap small car of any description.

Sign on for Auto test.

Enjoy.

http://www.gomotorsport.net/en-GB/godrive/autotest...

[Jonboy_t]

ajprice said:

A rear drive car like a 3 series, MR2 or MX5, and go do some track days .

I've got an M3 at the moment and have done one or two in that, but track days always seem to me to be a little tame. It may have just been the one's I've done in the past, but I found them to be full of people who had little interest in it other than showing off to their mates - a kind of legal McDonalds car park brigade, almost!

[Munter]

How about Car Trials. That way the Mrs can join in as...er...ballast.

http://www.msa-cartrial.org.uk/

[EDLT]

I don't think you'll be building much for <£1k unless you just happen to have all the required bits in the shed, Wheeler Dealers style.

If you can fit in a kart then give club 100 a go http://www.club100.co.uk Arrive and drive karting and the entry fees (which include renting the kart) plus suit rental costs less than the entry fees for many race series.

[Jonboy_t]

Munter said:

1x cheap small car of any description.

Sign on for Auto test.

Enjoy.

http://www.gomotorsport.net/en-GB/godrive/autotest...

WOW! Never heard of that before, but it looks amazing! Useful website too, cheers!

[Jonboy_t]

Munter said:

How about Car Trials. That way the Mrs can join in as...er...ballast.

http://www.msa-cartrial.org.uk/

I can just imagine that conversation now!

[DanDC5]

EDLT said:

I don't think you'll be building much for <£1k unless you just happen to have all the required bits in the shed, Wheeler Dealers style.

If you can fit in a kart then give club 100 a go http://www.club100.co.uk Arrive and drive karting and the entry fees (which include renting the kart) plus suit rental costs less than the entry fees for many race series.

Any ideas on the costs for entry to events? I like the idea of this but can't find them anywhere on the website.

[EDLT]

DanDC5 said:

EDLT said:

I don't think you'll be building much for <£1k unless you just happen to have all the required bits in the shed, Wheeler Dealers style.

If you can fit in a kart then give club 100 a go http://www.club100.co.uk Arrive and drive karting and the entry fees (which include renting the kart) plus suit rental costs less than the entry fees for many race series.

Any ideas on the costs for entry to events? I like the idea of this but can't find them anywhere on the website.

The sprint series is £166 according to the website

[DanDC5]

Not a bad price to be fair. Shame all the tracks they go to are all 2-3 hour drives from where I live.

[onomatopoeia]

Alternative to buying a car for motorsport, use the one you have. Sprinting in the roadgoing classes usually requires no modifiactions to the vehicle beyond a bit of yellow tape around the battery earth lead and a label on the ignition switch to indicate the OFF position. Your budget can be spent on the required helmet, overalls and gloves. Entry fees are £80-100ish, usually due to circuit hire costs.

If you don't want to use the M3, then in addition to autotesting and trials suggested previously, there is also autosolo, which is a sort of big brother to autotesting, the tests are forwards only and more open to avoid the need for handbrake turns and so on. Cars must be road legal, including tax & MOT and theoretically should be driven to the event. Small "shopping" hatchbacks can be very effective, have seen things like old Rover 200s contending for overall honours against scoobies, caterfields etc.

[pistol pete]

If you want to actually race against other people rather than the clock & can look after the car yourself, you could get out in the Metro Cup for not alot of money.
The need for a trailer, entries/travel costs/fuel/running costs that sting when racing though.
I recon you can do a season on £3-4k all in.
www.mgmetrocup.co.uk

Pete

[andye30m3]

Could sprint the M3, cheaper non race license would save outlay on the ARDS test.

I used my CSL last year, couldn't quite keep up with the GT3's as the two regulars were both running in the region of 440-450bhp and semi slicks but the over 2.0 class had a fair number of other competitors.

You could quite easily spend a good chunk of your £1k on racewear so using your current car could well be an option.

[EDLT]

pistol pete said:

If you want to actually race against other people rather than the clock & can look after the car yourself, you could get out in the Metro Cup for not alot of money.
The need for a trailer, entries/travel costs/fuel/running costs that sting when racing though.
I recon you can do a season on £3-4k all in.
www.mgmetrocup.co.uk

Pete

I think this is the biggest problem. I could have afforded £3-4k a year (not any more though ) but I would need to rent a garage and buy a suitable tow car/trailer plus all of the none-racing costs you mention.

[playalistic]

Jonboy_t said:

I've got an M3 at the moment and have done one or two in that, but track days always seem to me to be a little tame. It may have just been the one's I've done in the past, but I found them to be full of people who had little interest in it other than showing off to their mates - a kind of legal McDonalds car park brigade, almost!

Yep, it's just the ones you've been to.

[Crafty_]

Drag racing ? can start at any level, even with your daily. Bracket classes mean you don't have to have the quickest car or the deepest pockets to win. People like Paul Marston even do tuition and "arrive and drive" type deals.

[P I Staker]

Munter said:

1x cheap small car of any description.

Sign on for Auto test.

Enjoy.

http://www.gomotorsport.net/en-GB/godrive/autotest...

I did my first Auto test a couple of weeks ago, I borrowed a K10 Micra from the club and had a great time.

Next one coming up at the weekend.

[pistol pete]

EDLT said:

I think this is the biggest problem. I could have afforded £3-4k a year (not any more though ) but I would need to rent a garage and buy a suitable tow car/trailer plus all of the none-racing costs you mention.

You better come & see us at a couple of races next year then. You'll be hooked very quickly.

Pete

[Marc W]

playalistic said:

Yep, it's just the ones you've been to.

The last track day I did at Donington Park seemed to be entirely populated by racing cars including a GT3 Lamborghini! Quite intimidating when you're driving a Smart! (Albeit a full racing Smart!) Loads of fun though.