Any cheap series with arrive & drive cars available?

[Grant.C]

Hi, I'd like to have a go at racing without committing to buying a car. Aside from the financial aspect, I don't have a garage to keep one in or a way to get one to circuits.

I've done karting in the past with club100, and various driving experiences and track days. Single seaters are my favourite, but I'll give anything a go. I'm looking at doing my ARDS test soon and seeing if I can do a couple of rounds of something in 2023.

I was aiming for Formula Vee, as there was a company that rents them out starting at £650 per race (Bears Motorsport), but they don't do it any more. (I found AHS Motorsport who might be an option for Vees, still waiting to hear back from them).

Does anyone else hire out race cars of any kind (well, the cheaper kind) for one-off races?

[anonymous-user]

Boss Racing will hire you a caterham, give them a call. There will be drives available in C1, Fun Cup, EnduroKa, City Car Cup etc too, basically anything where there is a multi driver structure. Your best bet is to wander round a paddock and talk to people

[Dan BSCS]

Depends what you want as C1/EnduroKa/etc. is a VERY different kind of racing to one make sprint stuff.

Maybe something like 750MC Locost or Ma7da or the MR2 championship may have something affordable.

Tom Sellars does arrive and drive in Ma7da and Rogue motorsport do MR2s.

I do arrive and drive stuff but not in your budget range.

[Chunkychucky]

Dan BSCS said:

Depends what you want as C1/EnduroKa/etc. is a VERY different kind of racing to one make sprint stuff.

Maybe something like 750MC Locost or Ma7da or the MR2 championship may have something affordable.

Tom Sellars does arrive and drive in Ma7da and Rogue motorsport do MR2s.

I do arrive and drive stuff but not in your budget range.

As mentioned i'd be looking at something like the MR2 championship, racing is close and the cars themselves are fun to try and maximise cornering speeds/momentum in

[Grant.C]

pablo said:

Boss Racing will hire you a caterham, give them a call. There will be drives available in C1, Fun Cup, EnduroKa, City Car Cup etc too, basically anything where there is a multi driver structure. Your best bet is to wander round a paddock and talk to people

Thanks. I think the Caterhams will be out of my price range - it's £1650+ for a C400, although they have one or two that might be cheaper I'll ask about.

EnduroKa looks interesting - not what I was thinking of, but it was the endurance kart races I used to do at club100, maybe I'll see if the old team wants to reunite.. Seems like there are several companies doing arrive & drive for those too.

Those other series look interesting too, I'll need to investigate more. I guess one alternative to arrive & drive would be a series for road legal cars which I could drive to the circuit and park outside.

[Yazza54]

Is running your own car not an option? Hire works for a lot of people but it's normally people with large amounts of disposable income.

EDIT - read the fking OP yazza.. apologies

[Grant.C]

Dan BSCS said:

Depends what you want as C1/EnduroKa/etc. is a VERY different kind of racing to one make sprint stuff.

Maybe something like 750MC Locost or Ma7da or the MR2 championship may have something affordable.

Tom Sellars does arrive and drive in Ma7da and Rogue motorsport do MR2s.

I do arrive and drive stuff but not in your budget range.

Thanks, yes I've been looking at Locost - I've reached out to TSR to find out the costs for those.

MR2s with Rogue might be an option, although it's looking like around £1300+ for the car which will make for an expensive weekend (although test days are cheaper which is good).

What do you race, out of interest?

[Grant.C]

Yazza54 said:

Is running your own car not an option? Hire works for a lot of people but it's normally people with large amounts of disposable income.

EDIT - read the fking OP yazza.. apologies

Np - it's mainly the lack of a garage which is the problem, plus the additional outlay for a trailer etc. However I'm wondering if it would be feasible to get something road legal so I could keep it outside and drive it to the circuit, I'll have to look into that a bit.

I couldn't afford to do a whole series by hiring, I'm just looking at odd races to dip my toe in the water for now.

[Grant.C]

I heard back from AHS Motorsport, they do still hire Vees. Currently £900/day, although they said it will go up next year.

[Yazza54]

Grant.C said:

Yazza54 said:

Is running your own car not an option? Hire works for a lot of people but it's normally people with large amounts of disposable income.

EDIT - read the fking OP yazza.. apologies

Np - it's mainly the lack of a garage which is the problem, plus the additional outlay for a trailer etc. However I'm wondering if it would be feasible to get something road legal so I could keep it outside and drive it to the circuit, I'll have to look into that a bit.

I couldn't afford to do a whole series by hiring, I'm just looking at odd races to dip my toe in the water for now.

I know a few people in the 750MC 116 trophy drive the cars there, for me that would put me off exploring the full limits of the car. It would allow you to dip your toe in though.

[EddyP]

If single seaters is your thing have a look at Clubmans, Mallock will rent out a car, think it's around £2k to rent a CSP2 car for a weekend which will be one practice and three races, all 15 minute sessions.

[Grant.C]

Yazza54 said:

I know a few people in the 750MC 116 trophy drive the cars there, for me that would put me off exploring the full limits of the car. It would allow you to dip your toe in though.

I figure you can always pay to get it recovered home if it's undriveable.

116 trophy looks fun.

[Dan BSCS]

Grant.C said:

What do you race, out of interest?

Mainly endurance stuff so around £4k a weekend.

[mat205125]

Dan BSCS said:

I do arrive and drive stuff but not in your budget range.

Lots of Formula One teams have an arrive and drive arrangement with one of their drivers

[Olivera]

Dan BSCS said:

I do arrive and drive stuff but not in your budget range.

I recall someone quite a few years ago quoting arrive and drive costs for British GT (GT3), started at 50 grand per weekend...

[LankyMcTally]

Grant.C said:

Hi, I'd like to have a go at racing without committing to buying a car. Aside from the financial aspect, I don't have a garage to keep one in or a way to get one to circuits.

I've done karting in the past with club100, and various driving experiences and track days. Single seaters are my favourite, but I'll give anything a go. I'm looking at doing my ARDS test soon and seeing if I can do a couple of rounds of something in 2023.

I was aiming for Formula Vee, as there was a company that rents them out starting at £650 per race (Bears Motorsport), but they don't do it any more. (I found AHS Motorsport who might be an option for Vees, still waiting to hear back from them).

Does anyone else hire out race cars of any kind (well, the cheaper kind) for one-off races?

i don't know about prices but A Reeve do an arrive and drive service in the Mini Cooper and JCW series

https://areevemotorsport.uk/arrive-drive/

[andy97]

Paul Sheard Autosport has both Mk1 and Mk3 MX5 race cars available for hire, he also has k1, Mk2 and a Mk3 rally car for hire as well.

[SparrowHawk]

Would you consider doing club level Tin Tops?

Give Colin Tester a call at Supatune Motorsport.

He's got arrive & drive Ford Fiestas and Pumas, which he can run in things like MSV Trackday Trophy for you. Or check out the CMMC Tin Tops series. I have a pal who's been doing arrive & drive with Supatune all season, and rates them highly. I've also raced with Colin and he's a top guy.

As an ARDS instructor, he's also an ideal person to give you guidance on getting your licence and getting on track for the first time.

[indigorallye]

andy97 said:

Paul Sheard Autosport has both Mk1 and Mk3 MX5 race cars available for hire, he also has k1, Mk2 and a Mk3 rally car for hire as well.

I used one of Paul's MX5's in Club Enduro at Spa 2 weeks ago. The car and team were great and I couldn't recommend Paul highly enough.

[Dan BSCS]

Yeah, Paul and his team are spot on. Highly recommended for
MX5 rentals.