Sharing a race car

[steve z]

Me and a mate of mine are both doing our ARDS next month with a view to doing some racing next year. We're looking to minimise our costs by sharing a car.

Anyone any advice on what sort of series we could enter doing it in this way, and how much we should budget for a) the car and b) a years running costs.

Thanks.

[1]

Lots of different series to look at, the most popular budget series mentioned on here are;

PBMW
Mazda MX5 Racing
Stockhatch
Lo-Cost
750MC MR2

IMO the easiest way to share a car is to alternate weekends and support each other when you are not driving. It becomes more complicated when you try and alternate races on the same weekend.

You will be looking at around £5k for the car, £1k for a trailer and around £500 for a basic set of tools, a trolley jack, jerry cans etc, depending on what you already have. You will then need to budget around £500 for a race weekend.

Obviously these are very rough figures and assume you will be running the car yourselves. The cost for a weekends racing will depend on crash damage, mechanical breakdowns, how far away from the circuit you live, if you intend to camp or stay in a hotel, if you want to test the day before etc.

You can, and probably will, spend a small fortune going racing. At times it can be a complete pain in the arse, full of low points out of your control. However it is also about the most fun you can have with your cloths on and is completely addictive. Good luck, I am sure you will love it.

[andy97]

The post above is all about sharing a car at alternate race meetings and that is certainly one way to do it.

I would recommend that you have a look at the Classic Sports Car Club's (CSCC) "Tin Tops" or "Future Classics" series. There are several threads on here about them but in essence both series offer 30 minute practice sessions and 40 minute races for one or two drivers so you can both drive in the same race. ie there is a complusory pit stop for a driver change. Even single drivers have to come in to the pits & get out & back in the car to simulate an endurance race driver change.

Tin Tops caters for almost any saloon or hatchback up to 2 litres (no turbos & no sequential 'boxes). Future Classics for any saloon, hatch, GT or Sports Car up to 1990 & of any capacity. Turbos are allowed but no sequential boxes.

CSCC series are novice friendly, the standard of racing is good & on track behaviour is good. Both Tin Tops and Future Classics are affordable series. Of course you can spend almost as much as you want but plenty of people race in relatively cheap cars such as (Tin Tops) XR2, Alfa 33, Fiat Uno, MG Maestro, Peugeot 205; (Future Classics) BMW 3 Series, MX5, Toyota MR2, Porsche 924 etc. You could probably buy one of these sorts of cars for anything between 2 & 6 grand. I know I paid £2K for my Fiat Uno and £650 for a scruffy but race ready Alfa 33. "Jemco Andy" paid a similar amount for his Alfa 33 (and after a bit of elbow grease that's a very smart car)

Race entry fees vary from £245 at Anglesey to £285 at Oulton Park, Brands etc.

A set of tyres (eg Yoko A048 or Toyo 888) will probably last half a season. Ditto brake pads etc.

Call the costs £500 per race between you.

Happy to answer any questions you want. The next race of the season is at Snetterton on 17/18 Oct if you want to come along and see for yourself what its all about.

Edited by andy97 on Sunday 27th September 08:23

[juliann]

Ref PBMW above. The Championship runs with a sister series, TTRS which has a class for PBMW cars. Most of the car sharers do one series each or alternate between PBMW / TTRS so they both get to race over each weekend. Costs are probably as low as you'll find in circuit racing

[Simon Mason]

If your sharing far and away the best thing to start out in is the Classic and Sports Car Club (CSCC) Tin Tops or CSCC Magnificent 7's as Andy suggests.

Its pure grass roots motor racing and very easy going. Costs as little as your car choice realy.

If you can afford it the Fun Cup is a very competitive way of going racing as a pairing. But you'll need a minimum £15K each a season plus car for that.

Sharing cars for sprint series like MR2 or MX5's, VW Golf etc etc always seems a bit of a waste. What happens if for example the other party breaks the car a few weeks prior to your race and doesnt have the time and money to fix it. At least if your sharing in 2 driver races chances are you'll always get some mileage in. Besides you'll be competing diectly with each other which helps you learn faster.

[Jemco Andy]

Simon Mason said:

If your sharing far and away the best thing to start out in is the Classic and Sports Car Club (CSCC) Tin Tops or CSCC Magnificent 7's as Andy suggests.

Its pure grass roots motor racing and very easy going. Costs as little as your car choice realy.

If you can afford it the Fun Cup is a very competitive way of going racing as a pairing. But you'll need a minimum £15K each a season plus car for that.

Sharing cars for sprint series like MR2 or MX5's, VW Golf etc etc always seems a bit of a waste. What happens if for example the other party breaks the car a few weeks prior to your race and doesnt have the time and money to fix it. At least if your sharing in 2 driver races chances are you'll always get some mileage in. Besides you'll be competing diectly with each other which helps you learn faster.

Another vote from me for CSSC Tin Tops / Future Classics. I'm a 1st year racer, and as mentioned by Andy97, race a trusty old Alfa 33.

Simon is right about the series being easy going - the paddock is a great place to be, and don't forget we had Andrew Jordan on the grid at Cadwell Park - if it's good enough for BTCC drivers . . . . . .