Bored of trackdays. What CHEAP motorsport options are there?

[dhutch]

bigothunter said:

Kart racing does not need to be expensive, especially in the historic classes. But interest is low. Poor image maybe?

History classes? This is presumably what I raced in school karting back at the turn of the millennium?

[EddyP]

Have a look at Clubmans, it's a really great series, slicks and wings, quick cars that aren't hugely expensive to run, most race weekends are a practice and three races, each session being around 15 mins so you get an hour of track time. There's a few different classes, which are mostly to do with engines/power:

CSP1 - Any car engine up to 2L and up to 200 bhp (forget the details of the bike option)
CSP2 - 1.6 K Series engines, regulation built i.e must be built by someone the club recognises and then the engines are sealed
CSP A - Ford X flow, 1700, this is here to allow the more historical Clubmans cars run with us
CSP B - As above but Formula Ford engines

There's a few different makes of car out there, the main ones being Mallock and Phantom. There's a Phantom on Ebay without an engine and gearbox at the moment, it's just had a full rebuild. Price of any car will really depend what engine's fitted etc. an A class engine is £10K to build to a good spec which could be race winning, but I've just put a Focus ST170 engine in our Phantom to run in CSP1 and it's cost me about £5K to do and should have better reliability.

This is some onboard from a CSP 2 car at the last meeting at Silverstone a couple of weeks ago:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0K-DyytJHuw


https://clubmans.org

[I Like Tea]

PTF said:

I'm actually not that bothered about racing TBH. I used to really enjoy testing and qualifying way more than the races. I liked trying to race the clock.

I started out sprinting and hill climbing, then did a few seasons of circuit racing and like you was not actually bothered about racing, was more interested in setting a lap time, racing the clock as you say. Doing the British hillclimb championship this year, for me nothing beats punting a quick car up a 3m wide strip of tarmac. Also did a closed road event on the IoM last month, what an experience, nothing like it on the mainland! Here’s one of my runs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlwNN9MAA48

You do need a certain mindset, as has been said you get very little seat time and you need to learn courses fast, but that’s the challenge.

[dhutch]

I Like Tea said:

I started out sprinting and hill climbing, ...
Here’s one of my runs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlwNN9MAA48

You do need a certain mindset, as has been said you get very little seat time and you need to learn courses fast, but that’s the challenge.

Nice.

What is the opportunity to 'learn the course' if it's a new one to you, do you get an untimed sighting lap? Walk the course? Or straight into it.

As you say, it just becomes part of it, but interesting as it's something I've always slightly thought about. Big sprinting and hill climbing championship within the Westfield sports car club. But to date I've stuck with autotests and auto solos. Sort of similar, but obviously a lot tighter and lower overall speed.

[bigothunter]

dhutch said:

bigothunter said:

Kart racing does not need to be expensive, especially in the historic classes. But interest is low. Poor image maybe?

History classes? This is presumably what I raced in school karting back at the turn of the millennium?

Classes range from the 1960’s to the year 2000, with eight rounds for the 2022 season.

http://retroracerhks.co.uk/

[I Like Tea]

dhutch said:

Nice.

What is the opportunity to 'learn the course' if it's a new one to you, do you get an untimed sighting lap? Walk the course? Or straight into it.

As you say, it just becomes part of it, but interesting as it's something I've always slightly thought about. Big sprinting and hill climbing championship within the Westfield sports car club. But to date I've stuck with autotests and auto solos. Sort of similar, but obviously a lot tighter and lower overall speed.

Thanks. On the British courses you can walk the hill before the start of practice and at lunchtime, I also watch videos, but it only helps me a little on a new course as I still need to figure out gear changes, braking etc.. Some hills are pretty safe with run off or gravel traps on most corners (Harewood), some have real jeopardy (Shelsley, IMO). The courses are generally not high speed and are more technical so if you come from an autotest background and are any good you'll do well.

On the IoM I asked if I could walk the course at the drivers briefing and it was a firm no! Like I said it's part of the challenge, that was my 4th ever run on that hill and there's still more time to come off, but it was good enough for 1st overall by 3/10 of a sec. Was pleased with that!

[PTF]

Thanks for all of the input

I had my eye on a Westfield with a 260bhp 2.0 duratec and sequential box because a) it sounded like it would be hilariously fast, and b) because i thought hillclimbing or sprinting would be all that i'd want to do. It wasn't road registered and would potentially be overkill on trackdays.

But it was strong money (to me), and the lack of the option to use it on the road occasionally has put me off.

I went to Blyton at the weekend to watch some sprinting and had a good chat with people. All friendly. But i was put off slightly by the lack of track time and the amount of waiting around going on. I'd still like to give it a go, but i think jumping in with both feet with a one-trick-pony of a car is probably the wrong way to go.

However, i'm not that keen on just having a go with my Clio 200 as it's not really challenging enough.

I also looked at Time Attack, and i think there are several issues there for me personally. The main one is that it seems to be largely about who has the best car. The other is that they seem to all be tin-tops, and i think i want something more like a kit-car with lower consumable costs. I looked at where my Clio 200 would fit, and i think the Pocket Rocket class would be ok with just a hand-held extinguisher and new tyres, plus some new safety gear for me. But looking at the lap times i think i'd be waaaaay off the pace, which i wouldn't find enjoyable

I did briefly consider another Caterham like i've had before, with the option to have a stab at Graduates or similar once again, but a brief chat with a local motorsport team had me running for the hills. The costs, especially under the wing of a team, are just eye-watering. Even forgetting team support it's still going to be £1500 minimum per race weekend.

After a fair bit of looking round, i've settled on getting a bike engined car, which is something i've always fancied having. Ideally i want a Caterham, but they're like rocking horse poo, second would be a westfield megabusa, but they seem to be quite rare too.

The idea would be to use it on the road a little (rarely, and probably just to scare random people that are visiting and fancy a quick go), local trackdays by driving it there, or trackdays further away by trailering it there. Then maybe i'd enter it in some sprint events just for a laugh, and see how much i enjoy it, and whether i fancy taking that further.

So i've got a deposit on an MK Indy with a 190bhp ZX10-R engine in it. Factory build and road legal.

Just need to sort a trailer now.

Thanks again for the input. If there's a sprint series or similar that the Indy would be good in then i'd be interested to hear about it.

Edited by PTF on Thursday 19th May 10:31

[PTF]

Just to add, i'm still keen on doing something competitive, but i'm hoping in the meantime that the new car injects some fun/excitement back into trackdays.

[andy97]

PTF said:

Thanks for all of the input

I had my eye on a Westfield with a 260bhp 2.0 duratec and sequential box because a) it sounded like it would be hilariously fast, and b) because i thought hillclimbing or sprinting would be all that i'd want to do. It wasn't road registered and would potentially be overkill on trackdays.

But it was strong money (to me), and the lack of the option to use it on the road occasionally has put me off.

I went to Blyton at the weekend to watch some sprinting and had a good chat with people. All friendly. But i was put off slightly by the lack of track time and the amount of waiting around going on. I'd still like to give it a go, but i think jumping in with both feet with a one-trick-pony of a car is probably the wrong way to go.

However, i'm not that keen on just having a go with my Clio 200 as it's not really challenging enough.

I also looked at Time Attack, and i think there are several issues there for me personally. The main one is that it seems to be largely about who has the best car. The other is that they seem to all be tin-tops, and i think i want something more like a kit-car with lower consumable costs. I looked at where my Clio 200 would fit, and i think the Pocket Rocket class would be ok with just a hand-held extinguisher and new tyres, plus some new safety gear for me. But looking at the lap times i think i'd be waaaaay off the pace, which i wouldn't find enjoyable

I did briefly consider another Caterham like i've had before, with the option to have a stab at Graduates or similar once again, but a brief chat with a local motorsport team had me running for the hills. The costs, especially under the wing of a team, are just eye-watering. Even forgetting team support it's still going to be 1500 minimum per race weekend.

After a fair bit of looking round, i've settled on getting a bike engined car, which is something i've always fancied having. Ideally i want a Caterham, but they're like rocking horse poo, second would be a westfield megabusa, but they seem to be quite rare too.

The idea would be to use it on the road a little (rarely, and probably just to scare random people that are visiting and fancy a quick go), local trackdays by driving it there, or trackdays further away by trailering it there. Then maybe i'd enter it in some sprint events just for a laugh, and see how much i enjoy it, and whether i fancy taking that further.

So i've got a deposit on an MK Indy with a 190bhp ZX10-R engine in it. Factory build and road legal.

Just need to sort a trailer now.

Thanks again for the input. If there's a sprint series or similar that the Indy would be good in then i'd be interested to hear about it.

Edited by PTF on Thursday 19th May 10:31

There is a motorbike engined class in CSCC Magnificent 7s and there is always someone to race against.
I don’t spend anywhere near £1500 per race.