Banger Racing - A Missed Opportunity?

[ribiero]

RB Will said:

This is the only thing I can think of run as an actual event over here OP, without going down the route of DIYing it in a field.

I've seen quite a few car youtubers do this and I think it's brilliant, small CC cars being raced around a drift circuit at low speed with basic safety stuff (because you dont expect anything the ncap rating cant deal with)

I just hope it stays what it is though, that the moneythrowers, karting dads, the safety police don't ruin it or "that one guy did x and they never ran it again" doesn't happen.

[bigothunter]

ribiero said:

I've seen quite a few car youtubers do this and I think it's brilliant, small CC cars being raced around a drift circuit at low speed with basic safety stuff (because you dont expect anything the ncap rating cant deal with)

I just hope it stays what it is though, that the moneythrowers, karting dads, the safety police don't ruin it or "that one guy did x and they never ran it again" doesn't happen.

Very encouraging

[Chainsaw Rebuild]

That event looks great! I rather fancy that. Has anyone here done it?

[RB Will]

I think the guy that made that video is in here, that is how I found out about it.
He also does a couple of similar things in Europe.

[mat205125]

andy97 said:

b0rk said:

vx220 said:

IIRC Top Gear did something similar to what's being suggested?

They entered Britcar from memory back the series ran long endurance distances and accepted all classes in the main series. Britcar is still around with both an endurance and trophy championship.

And Britcar is very, very expensive.

The niche thats missing is the LeMons style US version, with the focus really on the budget conscious.

[kjs62]

Been attending the short ovals since early 70s
There are non contact formulas raced on the same tracks as bangers sometimes at same meetings
Down south Spedeworth introduced Stock Rod formula in 1977 for Mot failure cars but for drivers who wanted basic non contact racing - it was 1300cc and cars popular were Anglias Alfa Romeos Fiat 124s 1100s etc - formula still going but evolved into fwd hatchbacks these days
When raced at 1st several banger drivers took part and the rules stated lights had to be left in to discourage any contact but that was soon amended as on a tight track light contact is almost impossible

[bigothunter]

mat205125 said:

The niche thats missing is the LeMons style US version, with the focus really on the budget conscious.

Intriguing by LeMons, I went to search youtube and found this video. Certainly grass roots and lots of fun to be had and collisions to avoid.

Cant imagine Motorsport UK or MSVR getting involved in anything so crude. They are focused on the upper echelons which has veered towards the right crowd and no crowding. Luckily there are enough competitors with funds to support expensive circuit racing. Unfortunately the common man needs to look elsewhere.

[ribiero]

bigothunter said:

Intriguing by LeMons, I went to search youtube and found this video. Certainly grass roots and lots of fun to be had and collisions to avoid.

Cant imagine Motorsport UK or MSVR getting involved in anything so crude. They are focused on the upper echelons which has veered towards the right crowd and no crowding. Luckily there are enough competitors with funds to support expensive circuit racing. Unfortunately the common man needs to look elsewhere.

there's loads of crapcan racing over in the US, even AER series which is a step above lemons/chumpcar(champcar now)/lucky dog etc have crap can guys turn up and race alongside decently prepped cars. It's a different world, you see huge grids for endurances and people are just as happy to be fixing the car during a race than out racing themselves. I think they just enjoy the day out rather than the result..

Our club racing in comparison is essentially professionalized club racing, racing that's not on the ladder, but sometimes it certainly feels that way with the amount of professional services in the paddock running customers.

[GlobalRacer]

bigothunter said:

Unfortunately the common man needs to look elsewhere.

Define the "common man"?

[bigothunter]

GlobalRacer said:

Define the "common man"?

Undistinguished commoner lacking class, rank distinction or necessary disposable income to afford circuit racing in UK.

Define the minimum budget for a full season of club level circuit racing?

[GlobalRacer]

I'd say the majority of the people I race with are normal, working class (hate pigeon holes like that). Yes there are some pot hunters who, with their budgets, should move up the ladder but they are the exception in my experience.

Budget depends on what you want to race in and how many races you want to do in a year. Taking building/buying a car out of the equation you can race once a month for the main season for under £5k. I know many people who would be considered "common" who spend that on holidays each year. It's all about what your priorities are as I also know people who spend that amount on a single test day.

[bigothunter]

GlobalRacer said:

I'd say the majority of the people I race with are normal, working class (hate pigeon holes like that). Yes there are some pot hunters who, with their budgets, should move up the ladder but they are the exception in my experience.

Budget depends on what you want to race in and how many races you want to do in a year. Taking building/buying a car out of the equation you can race once a month for the main season for under £5k. I know many people who would be considered "common" who spend that on holidays each year. It's all about what your priorities are as I also know people who spend that amount on a single test day.

Entry fee of £400 per race over 6 meetings consumes almost half your budget alone.

Very impressive that you contain everything else in only £2600 per season

[mat205125]

bigothunter said:

GlobalRacer said:

I'd say the majority of the people I race with are normal, working class (hate pigeon holes like that). Yes there are some pot hunters who, with their budgets, should move up the ladder but they are the exception in my experience.

Budget depends on what you want to race in and how many races you want to do in a year. Taking building/buying a car out of the equation you can race once a month for the main season for under £5k. I know many people who would be considered "common" who spend that on holidays each year. It's all about what your priorities are as I also know people who spend that amount on a single test day.

Entry fee of £400 per race over 6 meetings consumes almost half your budget alone.

Very impressive that you contain everything else in only £2600 per season

There's gotta be some very liberal man maths involved there, as the price of fuel for travel could eat over 50% of the remaining £2600.

There aren't many others at race meetings camping in tents any more, and few who are amortising the depreciation of tow/camper/trailers into their budgets either.

I'm not saying that £5000 for half a dozen meetings is impossible, however just that the true costs including hidden expenditures might push that number north ......

[cozmcrae]

RB Will said:

This is the only thing I can think of run as an actual event over here OP, without going down the route of DIYing it in a field.

Finally, some recognition haha

If you wanted to up the budget, you can do endurance racing. The cheapest legit motorsport I could find in the UK was the C1 Cup but its still like £15k to £20k all in for a season.

If you were willing to go outside the UK, there's a series called the Gumbalkan Grand Prix in the Czech Republic where you basically race cars that you buy for under €1000 euros. They run 6 hour races and they are typically about €400 entry. I did a similar event in a BMW 325ti I bought from Scotland for £600. I documented the process here if anyone is interested.

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLFc3bBlpENcmJwU...

The Gumbalkan is pretty much the same process amd it's run on the same track. What I did was basically a trail run for the next event in December.

[GlobalRacer]

bigothunter said:

Entry fee of £400 per race over 6 meetings consumes almost half your budget alone.

Very impressive that you contain everything else in only £2600 per season

You're racing with the wrong clubs if you're spending over £400 on average per meeting. One set of tyres per year , 15l of fuel for the car per meeting and half a tank of diesel for the tow vehicle at most (don't do long distance races) and it's easily done.

[bigothunter]

GlobalRacer said:

bigothunter said:

Entry fee of £400 per race over 6 meetings consumes almost half your budget alone.

Very impressive that you contain everything else in only £2600 per season

You're racing with the wrong clubs if you're spending over £400 on average per meeting. One set of tyres per year , 15l of fuel for the car per meeting and half a tank of diesel for the tow vehicle at most (don't do long distance races) and it's easily done.

High entry fees have been a bone of contention for many years. Back in 1990, I was paying £85 for a 10 lap clubbie (£200 in today's money). Current entry fee close to £400 covers 40 minutes racing, so is actually better value per lap or minute. Also there's the optional driver change which reduces costs further.

TransAm 2 in US controlled race entries to $200 for a semi-professional series. Decent value considering the strong dollar and much higher incomes.

What are you paying for race entries in UK?

[bigothunter]

bigothunter said:

GlobalRacer said:

bigothunter said:

Entry fee of £400 per race over 6 meetings consumes almost half your budget alone.

Very impressive that you contain everything else in only £2600 per season

You're racing with the wrong clubs if you're spending over £400 on average per meeting. One set of tyres per year , 15l of fuel for the car per meeting and half a tank of diesel for the tow vehicle at most (don't do long distance races) and it's easily done.

High entry fees have been a bone of contention for many years. Back in 1990, I was paying £85 for a 10 lap clubbie (£200 in today's money). Current entry fee close to £400 covers 40 minutes racing, so is actually better value per lap or minute. Also there's the optional driver change which reduces costs further.

TransAm 2 in US controlled race entries to $200 for a semi-professional series. Decent value considering the strong dollar and much higher incomes.

What are you paying for race entries in UK?

Week has gone by but still no answer. I really wanted to understand how to race on just £400 per meeting.

Perhaps it isn't so easy to explain

[Nitro182]

This is an interesting thread given that im a life long oval racing fan , infact im actually going to Northampton Shaleway this weekend for the Brisca F1 world final.

Regarding the non contact banger racing there is a formula run by Spedeworth and Incarace called Back to basic bangers. These are essentially hot hatches stripped to the bare bones , a H frame rollcage and fuel tank installed however the dash and engine bay remain intact so no need for massive watertanks or excess welding. Minimal contact is aloud however stationary hits are banned. Generally from what i see is that any excessive contact just results in the radiator bursting and the engine overheats , so therefor drivers tend to behave themselves focusing on the racing rather than the bashing.

Here are the official rules

http://www.spedeworth.co.uk/rulesdownloads/2022%20...

Here are the fixtures for this season (look for bangers - back to basics)
http://www.spedeworth.co.uk/fixtures.php

[Justlooking_]

Nitro182 said:

This is an interesting thread given that im a life long oval racing fan , infact im actually going to Northampton Shaleway this weekend for the Brisca F1 world final.

Regarding the non contact banger racing there is a formula run by Spedeworth and Incarace called Back to basic bangers. These are essentially hot hatches stripped to the bare bones , a H frame rollcage and fuel tank installed however the dash and engine bay remain intact so no need for massive watertanks or excess welding. Minimal contact is aloud however stationary hits are banned. Generally from what i see is that any excessive contact just results in the radiator bursting and the engine overheats , so therefor drivers tend to behave themselves focusing on the racing rather than the bashing.

Here are the official rules

http://www.spedeworth.co.uk/rulesdownloads/2022%20...

Here are the fixtures for this season (look for bangers - back to basics)
http://www.spedeworth.co.uk/fixtures.php

Same here, should be a fantastic weekend of Brisca f1 stock car racing, I’ve decided I’m going to go Friday night too, racing under flood lights is sooooooo much better!

[CKY]

GlobalRacer said:

I know exactly what it costs. I've been doing it for over 10 years and I know exactly how much money I earn. It's all about how much you do. I don't pay anyone to do anything on my car, I camp at the circuit and take my own food. I use one set of tyres for the whole season and use Tesco fuel.

are you using tyres made from concrete or doing 2 lap races? I shagged a set of 4 nearly-new tyres after a 45 minute race + 25 minute practice @ Thruxton and a couple of the other guys were in the same boat, lovely way to spend £900....