How to get into racing?
Discussion
Hi, I'm wondering about joining a relaxed race series of one sort or another, had anyone got any experience and can reccomended a good place to start.
I have a fair bit of experience in fast cars and some track experience, but just looking to add that competitive element to it, where should one start?
I have a fair bit of experience in fast cars and some track experience, but just looking to add that competitive element to it, where should one start?
I would go to the autosport show in January and ask.What sort of budget. Anything partially take your fancy Saloon cars, Single Seaters Sports cars? Historic's? If your a bit mad or had a very hard knock to your head Superkarts?Tom,
Go to your local track on a club day, mill about, chat to people.
Just getting started, local is easier thgan national.
You will quickly take a shine to something or other, be it hot hatch, classic, caterhams, open wheel, GT, thundersaloon, whatever. If you don't, try another meeting etc
Go to your local track on a club day, mill about, chat to people.
Just getting started, local is easier thgan national.
You will quickly take a shine to something or other, be it hot hatch, classic, caterhams, open wheel, GT, thundersaloon, whatever. If you don't, try another meeting etc
Have a look around the clubs websites BARC BRSCC etc and see which series/championships you fancy. If you've not already got a race car then you will spoilt for choice on where to race, so i think its best to have a car in mind first and see where it would best fit.
Track racing can start from around £3k for a cheap entry level car plus £2-3k per year on entry fees depending on club and track. Look into ARDS tests as well as you will need to pass that before getting into a race car.
My current favourite race series is the BARC South East Cannons Tin Tops which generally uses southern tracks and you can get racing with a virtually standard car, but theres room for development when you really get the bug!
Track racing can start from around £3k for a cheap entry level car plus £2-3k per year on entry fees depending on club and track. Look into ARDS tests as well as you will need to pass that before getting into a race car.
My current favourite race series is the BARC South East Cannons Tin Tops which generally uses southern tracks and you can get racing with a virtually standard car, but theres room for development when you really get the bug!
Any of the CSCC series are good places to start and are relaxed series suitable for novices, but with loads of track time. Plenty of people will offer good advice and are very friendly and we have some instructors amongst the membershp who will offer help.
The driving standards are good and there's plenty of help available in the paddock at meetings.
Drop me a PM if you want to find out more but in the mean time have a look at the club's website:
http://www.classicsportscarclub.co.uk/
There is a series suitable for most budgets.
The driving standards are good and there's plenty of help available in the paddock at meetings.
Drop me a PM if you want to find out more but in the mean time have a look at the club's website:
http://www.classicsportscarclub.co.uk/
There is a series suitable for most budgets.
Start with a large fortune. It'll soon turn into a small one.
I don't think there's such a thing as a "relaxed" series.
There will be plenty on here who will try to sell you "their" championship, or "their" favourite car.
Take your time, do your research, if money is tight, walk away now!!! This stuff makes crystal meth seem non-addictive, and will ruin your bank balance quicker! Be warned, the £300 that would buy you a day on a decent circuit as a trackday will only buy you 20-40mins race time depending on the series.
Decide whether you want to do single seaters, saloons, sportscars, GT's, kitcars, classics, historics, vintage, etc..... in each genre there will be numerous other choices. The world's your lobster!!
If you're only thinking about a toe in the water exercise, then MSVR run something for Trackday types that want to go that bit further.
I don't think there's such a thing as a "relaxed" series.
There will be plenty on here who will try to sell you "their" championship, or "their" favourite car.
Take your time, do your research, if money is tight, walk away now!!! This stuff makes crystal meth seem non-addictive, and will ruin your bank balance quicker! Be warned, the £300 that would buy you a day on a decent circuit as a trackday will only buy you 20-40mins race time depending on the series.
Decide whether you want to do single seaters, saloons, sportscars, GT's, kitcars, classics, historics, vintage, etc..... in each genre there will be numerous other choices. The world's your lobster!!
If you're only thinking about a toe in the water exercise, then MSVR run something for Trackday types that want to go that bit further.
thunderbelmont said:
Start with a large fortune. It'll soon turn into a small one.
I don't think there's such a thing as a "relaxed" series.
There will be plenty on here who will try to sell you "their" championship, or "their" favourite car.
indeed, in my experience though most club series are as friendly as each other and in general everyonenwants to see evyone on the track and will help out.I don't think there's such a thing as a "relaxed" series.
There will be plenty on here who will try to sell you "their" championship, or "their" favourite car.
my advise would be to start with a car you like or are intrested in. i like tvrs so race them.
a word of warning though it will take over your life and it will cost a fortune.
polo - a sport of kings
motorsport - a sport of future bankrupts!!!!
Graham said:
my advise would be to start with a car you like or are intrested in. i like tvrs so race them.
It's important to decide whether your're insterested in the racing OR the cars. You can race virtualy any car you want but it may not be competitve or the quality of the racing in a series that it's eligible for may not be very good.For example Mazda MX5 racing is extremley popular because the quality of the racing is so good, despite nobody being particularly excited by MX5s as a car. Multi-class championships where the drivers race because they like that particular car type tend to have poor racing.
Graham said:
my advise would be to start with a car you like or are intrested in. i like tvrs so race them.
I'm afraid i disagree with this strongly. Cars that you like that are designed for the road may not be suitable as race cars, or may be very expensive to run, or have limited motorsport parts or tuning potential. Better to forget Marque loyalty and look at what you can afford and then try to find the most suitable series and race prepared car for it.There is no doubt that racing is expensive but it can be done more cheaply than is often imagined. Don't forget single seaters either. Again most people assume that these are very expensive but the cheapest racing i have ever done was in a Formula Vauxhall Junior 16v in the Monoposto 1800 series, particularly as i used to use second hand Formula Ford tyres from the national teams at £5 a corner.
Sharing a sallon/ sports car is one way of lowering overall costs; either doing alternate racers with a mate or sharing a car in 2 driver races such as CSCC or MSVR. Buying a car for one of these series and renting out the shared drive can also help significantly with costs.
When you are starting out choice of car is important but don't be too proud. I raced a Fiat Uno for a while, a surprisingly good little car that i picked up for £2k, I have also raced a scrufy alfa that i bought for £600. OK they are exceptions maybe but there is a Ford Fiesta for sale at the moment for about £1400. Think about the spares availability, and the availability of race parts and knowledge. The aforementioned Fiesta should be quite cheap to run on that score but sone cars that look cheap in the adverts may be expensive to run if motorsport parts or mods or engine re-build knowledge is poor.
Remember that the object is to enjoy yourself and not to think you will become a professional!
have a look at SEMSEC for probably the cheapest race day you will find and they will always find a place for your car, Friendly and on the whole clean racing too. Most rounds at Lydden and Brands Hatch. www.semsec.org.uk
Edited by eastlmark on Wednesday 26th December 14:18
eastlmark said:
have a look at SEMSEC for probably the cheapest race day you will find and they will always find a place for your car, Friendly and on the whole clean racing too. Most rounds at Lydden and Brands Hatch. www.semsec.org
Possibly the wrong link.andy97 said:
Graham said:
my advise would be to start with a car you like or are intrested in. i like tvrs so race them.
I'm afraid i disagree with this strongly. Cars that you like that are designed for the road may not be suitable as race cars, or may be very expensive to run, or have limited motorsport parts or tuning potential. Better to forget Marque loyalty and look at what you can afford and then try to find the most suitable series and race prepared car for it.There is no doubt that racing is expensive but it can be done more cheaply than is often imagined. Don't forget single seaters either. Again most people assume that these are very expensive but the cheapest racing i have ever done was in a Formula Vauxhall Junior 16v in the Monoposto 1800 series, particularly as i used to use second hand Formula Ford tyres from the national teams at £5 a corner.
Sharing a sallon/ sports car is one way of lowering overall costs; either doing alternate racers with a mate or sharing a car in 2 driver races such as CSCC or MSVR. Buying a car for one of these series and renting out the shared drive can also help significantly with costs.
When you are starting out choice of car is important but don't be too proud. I raced a Fiat Uno for a while, a surprisingly good little car that i picked up for £2k, I have also raced a scrufy alfa that i bought for £600. OK they are exceptions maybe but there is a Ford Fiesta for sale at the moment for about £1400. Think about the spares availability, and the availability of race parts and knowledge. The aforementioned Fiesta should be quite cheap to run on that score but sone cars that look cheap in the adverts may be expensive to run if motorsport parts or mods or engine re-build knowledge is poor.
Remember that the object is to enjoy yourself and not to think you will become a professional!
Running what you "like" may not be a good idea either!! A lot of the cars that I "like" would cost a bigger fortune to run in bog-standard form, compared to my crazy old Thundersaloon in it's utter mental form! The comment regarding MX5's is bang on. I HATE MX5's, to me they're like sleeping draft! BUT they do make good racing in the hoards that they turn up in - providing the BRSCC's latest attempt to destroy a series doesn't achieve success. 2CV's (love 'em!) used to fall into this category too - though their numbers have dwindled over the years, where they've gone - not sure, perhaps dissolved like the old Renault 5TS' that used to pack 'em in back in the late 80's/early 90's. I could go on....
In many ways it comes down to two things. 1. Where you want to go with the sport. 2. How deep is your money pit.
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