Newbie needs help
Discussion
I will be shortly relocating to UK for 2-3 year period.)to the next ashes series) In this time I wish to become involved in MS at a serious but amateur level.
From a distance it would seem necessary to compete in 2 champiopnships so as to attain the max track time, Bearing in mnind ny age, mid 50's I have no serious profesional ambitions but would wish to advance as far as possible in a 3 year period as talent and finance permit.My initial thoughts were to conmence in FVEE in year one and club FR or clubF3 in the second year while possibly doing Fun Cup races and entering in one off FF1600 events on free weekends
I do not have any difficulty with the racing budget but I am interested to find out the cost of track hire for practice as I wish to do as much as possible. Is there a private track in the midlands that could be hired for practice on a regular basis and if so how much, What are readers views on doing substantial hours in karts as a form of training as itwould seem to me that the average club driver would be lucky to do 40 hours track time a year
Can readers advise the name of good driving coach, I can look after the physical side my self
My thoughts are to purchase a second hand car and have it maintained on a arrive and drive basis, by owning the car I should have greater cost control, tentatively I have budgeted for fifteen-twenty thousand pounds in year1 and 25000-thirty thousand in year 2
allowing for the cost of purchasing a car and the sale price at the end of the venture Looing at the AHS website I beleive that Fvee could be done for less than 10K excluding accidents but F3 or BARC renault could possibly be dearer Does anyone have spreadsheets showing their MS expenditure that could be seen even if on a private basis
I would prefer to link up with a competitor with similar aspirations rather than a professionally managed team which obviously need to show a profit for their efforts.An experienced mid field runner in need of some financial and managerial assistance would be ideal as I could suply management and financial input to a team which has the necessary facilities
From a distance it would seem necessary to compete in 2 champiopnships so as to attain the max track time, Bearing in mnind ny age, mid 50's I have no serious profesional ambitions but would wish to advance as far as possible in a 3 year period as talent and finance permit.My initial thoughts were to conmence in FVEE in year one and club FR or clubF3 in the second year while possibly doing Fun Cup races and entering in one off FF1600 events on free weekends
I do not have any difficulty with the racing budget but I am interested to find out the cost of track hire for practice as I wish to do as much as possible. Is there a private track in the midlands that could be hired for practice on a regular basis and if so how much, What are readers views on doing substantial hours in karts as a form of training as itwould seem to me that the average club driver would be lucky to do 40 hours track time a year
Can readers advise the name of good driving coach, I can look after the physical side my self
My thoughts are to purchase a second hand car and have it maintained on a arrive and drive basis, by owning the car I should have greater cost control, tentatively I have budgeted for fifteen-twenty thousand pounds in year1 and 25000-thirty thousand in year 2
allowing for the cost of purchasing a car and the sale price at the end of the venture Looing at the AHS website I beleive that Fvee could be done for less than 10K excluding accidents but F3 or BARC renault could possibly be dearer Does anyone have spreadsheets showing their MS expenditure that could be seen even if on a private basis
I would prefer to link up with a competitor with similar aspirations rather than a professionally managed team which obviously need to show a profit for their efforts.An experienced mid field runner in need of some financial and managerial assistance would be ideal as I could suply management and financial input to a team which has the necessary facilities
I am sure that you can have a great deal of fun racing here in the sunny UK. If you have the time and cash you could test a car at a circuit virtually every day of the week.
The Midlands is close to most circuits and there is normally weekly testing at Donington Park, Silverstone, Mallory Park plus testing at Snetterton and Oulton a little further afield, costs from about £90 per 1/2 day at Mallory to nearly £400 per day at Donington.
Having raced and spectated on and off for more years than I care to admit I would strongly advise you to come and have a look at a few races covering series that you are interested in. FVEE is certainly very friendly with big grids and is probably a good way into UK racing so that you can learn the various circuits. There are also lots of teams that would run a car for you at "amateur" prices.
If you are looking for longer seat time then the VW Beetle "fun Cup" might be up your street, there is a link about this somewhere on this website. Basically it is an arrive and drive series with races from 4 hours - 25 hours in length. It represents very good value for money in respect of track time.
When you come to the UK I think there are some must drive circuits which IMHO are Brands Hatch GP circuit, Oulton Park Int circuit, Donington Club circuit and Spa in Belgium being the daddy. I would point out that the fun cup do a 25 hour race there.
Given that you are not in the first flush of youth (no offence intended) maybe historics would be more your thing ? The advantage of this type of racing is that you can often get to race at the better circuits (eg Brands GP) and hopefully if you buy the right car it will actually go up in value during your stay in the UK.
Have a look at the heritage series, which in my view has the best dates at the biggest meetings www.heritagegtcc.co.uk not cheap to enter but you get what you pay for.
You could buy a decent car for this type of thing for £15k up although dont expect to win with a £15k car. On a lesser level the swinging sixties series offers decent track time (30 mins practise and 40 mins races) www.classicsportscarclub.co.uk
As regards teams just remember that this business is full of more villans that the used car trade. I would have a look at any team that you are thinking of running with at a race meeting without them knowing.
If you want to know anything further then PM me
Have a good time
Kickstart
The Midlands is close to most circuits and there is normally weekly testing at Donington Park, Silverstone, Mallory Park plus testing at Snetterton and Oulton a little further afield, costs from about £90 per 1/2 day at Mallory to nearly £400 per day at Donington.
Having raced and spectated on and off for more years than I care to admit I would strongly advise you to come and have a look at a few races covering series that you are interested in. FVEE is certainly very friendly with big grids and is probably a good way into UK racing so that you can learn the various circuits. There are also lots of teams that would run a car for you at "amateur" prices.
If you are looking for longer seat time then the VW Beetle "fun Cup" might be up your street, there is a link about this somewhere on this website. Basically it is an arrive and drive series with races from 4 hours - 25 hours in length. It represents very good value for money in respect of track time.
When you come to the UK I think there are some must drive circuits which IMHO are Brands Hatch GP circuit, Oulton Park Int circuit, Donington Club circuit and Spa in Belgium being the daddy. I would point out that the fun cup do a 25 hour race there.
Given that you are not in the first flush of youth (no offence intended) maybe historics would be more your thing ? The advantage of this type of racing is that you can often get to race at the better circuits (eg Brands GP) and hopefully if you buy the right car it will actually go up in value during your stay in the UK.
Have a look at the heritage series, which in my view has the best dates at the biggest meetings www.heritagegtcc.co.uk not cheap to enter but you get what you pay for.
You could buy a decent car for this type of thing for £15k up although dont expect to win with a £15k car. On a lesser level the swinging sixties series offers decent track time (30 mins practise and 40 mins races) www.classicsportscarclub.co.uk
As regards teams just remember that this business is full of more villans that the used car trade. I would have a look at any team that you are thinking of running with at a race meeting without them knowing.
If you want to know anything further then PM me
Have a good time
Kickstart
kickstart said:
If you are looking for longer seat time then the VW Beetle "fun Cup" might be up your street, there is a link about this somewhere on this website. Basically it is an arrive and drive series with races from 4 hours - 25 hours in length. It represents very good value for money in respect of track time.
Kickstart
Kickstart
www.pistonheads.co.uk/gassing/topic.asp?t=337412&f=42&h=0
If you're interested in finding out more, pm me..
sydneyboypp said:
I do not have any difficulty with the racing budget but I am interested to find out the cost of track hire for practice as I wish to do as much as possible. Is there a private track in the midlands that could be hired for practice on a regular basis and if so how much,
Might be an idea to suscribe to Circuit Driver magazine - it has a complete listings for all track days and circuit test days:
www.circuitdriver.co.uk/
sydneyboypp said:
Can readers advise the name of good driving coach,
Try Simon Mason. Recommended & he coached several very succesful Caterham racers last year including a double championship winner from scratch. PM me and I can supply his Phone number or have a look at the Britcar threads (particularly the thread about Matt James' MN article) under the Motorsport Forum and you will see him appear on there with the ability to PM him directly.
Edited by andy97 on Monday 8th January 12:31
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