Motorsport, what's the best route in?
Discussion
PhillipM said:
Money.
Money is the best route in.
In fact, it's pretty much the only route in.
Hits the nail on the head really. The OP needs to decide what the budget is and work backwards to sort out what is going to fit it. You can have all the talent in the world, but without spending a small fortune you almost certainly aren't going to get anywhere. Ergo - it is just like any other hobby - it'll cost what you can afford and you need to set the spend before evaluating the options.Money is the best route in.
In fact, it's pretty much the only route in.
Another tip is to use the 2016 season to go and spectate at several of the series mentioned in this thread to see what they are like first hand.
You can chat with the competitors and later in the season, if you are in the market, find out who is selling their car and collect it from the final round (before they have a chance to remove all the Good Bits).
Other options:
100 Club for more karting.
Doing sprints and hillclimbs in your existing roadcar.
You can chat with the competitors and later in the season, if you are in the market, find out who is selling their car and collect it from the final round (before they have a chance to remove all the Good Bits).
Other options:
100 Club for more karting.
Doing sprints and hillclimbs in your existing roadcar.
Personally I'd sell the kart as racing a rotax max is expensive, although cheap for karting!, its eye opening just how much more stuff you need compared to testing. If you go racing the Rotax, I think you will just be wasting money that could be better spent on a car. The lap record at Clay for Snr Max is 34.07. You will need an engine rebuild from someone like Ogden or Strawberry racing (budget at least £1k for this) and probably a spare, a chassis set up and new tyres for pretty much every event to be near the sharp end. Add in all the other stuff that you will need to race a kart and think about how much that could go towards a car. I had a Rotax for a few years, just for testing and playing around at Llandow, I looked at racing but the additional costs to make it worthwhile, ie to be competitive, made it prohibitive.
As someone else said, if you are serious, you really need to sell the Fiat, buy a barge and a tin top from the 750MC or CSCC series and just do it.
At 18, there is no point throwing money at karts to learn your racecraft before jumping to cars, you already have real world driving experience so just buy a tin top car and enter some races. If you were younger and not driving on the roads, karting would make sense but as it is, it feels like there is no benefit.
No idea what the Fiat is worth but there is a race prep'd MR2 in th PH classifieds for less than £2k, even with a trailer, a good reliable tow car and racewear, helmet, ARDS test etc, you are easily under £10k.
As someone else said, if you are serious, you really need to sell the Fiat, buy a barge and a tin top from the 750MC or CSCC series and just do it.
At 18, there is no point throwing money at karts to learn your racecraft before jumping to cars, you already have real world driving experience so just buy a tin top car and enter some races. If you were younger and not driving on the roads, karting would make sense but as it is, it feels like there is no benefit.
No idea what the Fiat is worth but there is a race prep'd MR2 in th PH classifieds for less than £2k, even with a trailer, a good reliable tow car and racewear, helmet, ARDS test etc, you are easily under £10k.
Well I'm a lot older than you, and used to race both karts and FF more years ago than I care to say, but I've just decided to go Monoposto racing in a 1998 Ray FF with a 1800 Zetec. Check-out the Monoposto website, I'm sure you'll be interested, and engines range from 2L F3 etc. to motorcycle ones.
Phil
Phil
As others have said, it is all about the money.
Ditch the fancy car, buy a clio, trailer & van and take your place on the grid.
If you are brave, then drive the car to the circuit and then drive home afterwards. Someone did this in the last TinTops race I was at.
Plenty of folk who were at the sharp end in stock hatch or Clio 182 are now in touring cars. They have loads of money as well as talent.
The rest of us just have a lot less money and a lot less talent.
Ditch the fancy car, buy a clio, trailer & van and take your place on the grid.
If you are brave, then drive the car to the circuit and then drive home afterwards. Someone did this in the last TinTops race I was at.
Plenty of folk who were at the sharp end in stock hatch or Clio 182 are now in touring cars. They have loads of money as well as talent.
The rest of us just have a lot less money and a lot less talent.
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