Cheap Motor sport with a say £15k budget per year???

[w9lje]

Hi guys, i have recently taken part in a hand full of track days in a clio 182 that i have stripped out and have found them great fun.

i am looking at entering a race series but have a budget of around £15k a year.

any ideas on what is about??

i heard that there is a series called tin tops where they are using cars like the clio 182 etc but have been unable to find any info on it.

any help or ideas would be much appreciated. i have an open mind on the cars and series.

kind regards

Daniel

[plg101]

MX5 UK series - I think a few companies do an arrive & drive lease as well. Supposed to be quite close racing and you can try it for a few races to see if you life it without committing lots of cash...

[AshVX220]

I hope to race one day too and will do the MR2 Challenge, I think annual budgets even with damage repair etc are less than £10k.
As with the MX5 post above there's a company (Rogue Motorsport I think) that do arrive drive packages or provide other services to help get you sorted.

[Kickstart]

Tin tops is run by the CSCC (google for CSCC)- it is a 40min race for one or two drivers and relatively good value for money.

For your sort of budget you could buy a very competitive car - Civic Type R etc and easily run it for the season providing no major accident damage. If you wanted to share the drive then costs come down a lot as your co-driver would be expected to cought up half the costs.

The CSCC are a great club and I have raced with them for a few years and they also race at Spa (1 hour) and if you run a future classics or swinging sixties car then you can do the Nurburgring 300km race (full GP + ring circuit) - you cannot do the ring in a tin tops car as it needs to be pre 1981

For a taster there are a couple of teams that offer arrive and drive but you may want to speak to the club for contact details.

I would really recommend some proper instruction as this will help to increase speed and reduce risk of crashing - money well spent

Have fun

[plg101]

Caterham Academy is quite well rated as well; good progression ladder.

http://www.caterham.co.uk/assets/html/showroom/aca...

For other series - Check out the back of most weeks Autosport to see the kind of coverage and range of races.

[Nicol@]

Get yoursef into the club motorsport section right here on PH for lots of ideas.

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/forum.asp?h=0&a...

[RacerMDR]

plg101 said:

Caterham Academy is quite well rated as well; good progression ladder.

http://www.caterham.co.uk/assets/html/showroom/aca...

For other series - Check out the back of most weeks Autosport to see the kind of coverage and range of races.

it'll cost much more than 15k.............more like over 20k for 4 races and a couple of sprints.

If you want to go RWD Caterham route.....much better off with

www.graduates.org.uk

15k will get you a good season with testing and maybe a crash or two..........very close competitive and all major circuits. FAB

[Phil Dicky]

Tuscan challenge, class C or at a push B car

[BoRED S2upid]

Caterham as its fully supported I believe or MX5 as it will be cheaper and you will have more room in your yearly budget.

Work colleage of mine does club racing and races a fairly standard Westfield (Ive seen better spec on road cars) but he has fun, trailers his car around the country and repairs it inbetween races.

You dont have to have a big budget to go racing.

[andy97]

w9lje said:

Hi guys, i have recently taken part in a hand full of track days in a clio 182 that i have stripped out and have found them great fun.

i am looking at entering a race series but have a budget of around £15k a year.

any ideas on what is about??

i heard that there is a series called tin tops where they are using cars like the clio 182 etc but have been unable to find any info on it.

any help or ideas would be much appreciated. i have an open mind on the cars and series.

kind regards

Daniel

Have a look here:

http://www.classicsportscarclub.co.uk/tintops.htm

and here:

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

I race in the CSCC Tin Tops series, so if you have any questions please feel free to PM me.

Your budget will go a long way in CSCC Tin Tops. Typical cars in Class A (up to 2 litre Multi-Valve): Clios (non sequential 'box), Honda Type R, MG ZR, Pug 206 etc; Class B(1601-2000 dual valve or 1301 - 1600 multi-valve: Alfa 33s, MG Maestros, Honda CRX, Peugeot 205 1.9 etc; Class C (1301-1600 dual valve or upto 1300 multi-valve): XR2, Pug 205 1.6, Pug 106, Alfa Sud, Fiat Uno etc; Class D (upto 1300): Not had much take up sadly but potentially very suitable for Minis, Metros & Fiat Unos



Andy

Edited by andy97 on Wednesday 12th August 14:38

[RogueMotorsport]

Your budget will see you comfortably through a season in the MR2 Championship either in your own car or on an arrive and drive basis.

http://www.mr2championship.com

Here's some footage of the MR2s racing at a non-championship round last year:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYVbp3kpxyk

[Salgar]

This is supposed to be one of the cheapest race series around. Production E30 318/320 BMW Series.

It was created to be cheap: http://www.pbmwc.co.uk/

[Graham]

Phil Dicky said:

Tuscan challenge, class C or at a push B car

I run my Tuscan on a lot less than 15kpa.. less than half in the year we won the series!!!

does your 15k include buying the car or is that car plus 15k a year...


you could arrive and rive my Tasmin for less than 15k :-)

[Greensleeves]

RogueMotorsport said:

Your budget will see you comfortably through a season in the MR2 Championship either in your own car or on an arrive and drive basis.

http://www.mr2championship.com

Here's some footage of the MR2s racing at a non-championship round last year:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYVbp3kpxyk

To follow up from this rather than contradict, I've just built a Mk1 MR2 which will run in a class of its own in this championship but is also eligible for the Red Dragon MR2 Racing series which is just about fielding full grids of "Identical" Mk1s. You've got a choice whether to race in this or the 750 series or just do the rounds you fancy of each.

Cars can be built for as little as £2k but if you do every modification you are allowed (shockers, springs ARBs, clutch and brake pads are about it) then you can have as much as £4.5k in a car.

I'm entered in next weeks event at Snetterton which will be my first MR2 race. See how it goes.

[americancrx]

How about Karting?

[alfa47]

Alfa Romeo Championship in Class E, established championship, great calendar / circuits. Cars from about £4.5K and very low running costs - very reliable, control tyres etc If you're looking after it yourself you could easily buy a car and run it for a full season on that budget.

See http://www.alfaracer.com for more info.

[Kelvin Hassell]

Hi there, I race in the European Late Model Series, it's dirt cheap and I love it! It's not everyones cup of tea though because it is Oval racing. I spend about £3,000 including tyres, fuel and travel. There are no entry fees and the series is televised on Motors TV. I have raced circuits for a long time in Cosworths and still do the odd Stock Hatch round here and there in my dad's Saxo, but there ain't much that compares to a big V8 on a banked short oval!

[AshVX220]

Greensleeves said:

RogueMotorsport said:

Your budget will see you comfortably through a season in the MR2 Championship either in your own car or on an arrive and drive basis.

http://www.mr2championship.com

Here's some footage of the MR2s racing at a non-championship round last year:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYVbp3kpxyk

To follow up from this rather than contradict, I've just built a Mk1 MR2 which will run in a class of its own in this championship but is also eligible for the Red Dragon MR2 Racing series which is just about fielding full grids of "Identical" Mk1s. You've got a choice whether to race in this or the 750 series or just do the rounds you fancy of each.

Cars can be built for as little as £2k but if you do every modification you are allowed (shockers, springs ARBs, clutch and brake pads are about it) then you can have as much as £4.5k in a car.

I'm entered in next weeks event at Snetterton which will be my first MR2 race. See how it goes.

Good Luck Greensleeves, let us know how it goes and what you thought of it all.