Fomula Ford 2000

[Merritt]

I am in the process of looking for a single seater formula to test and find my feet in a couple of races. Until yesterday I had been looking at the 750MC and a FF but im put off by the small numbers and numerous classes all running together (there is only about 3 cars in each class!)

Sooo - FF2000... does anyone have recent experiences? Good, bad? is it a good formula? What sort of budget per race would I need (excluding accident damage)?

All comments appreciated.

Cheers

Steve

[Graham]

have you tried silverstone race school. they have graduate races and an all inclusive series, that was quite well attended not currently up to speed with it but give them a try... All arrive and drive though, but handy or toe dipping

G

[clicdallara]

You need to contact Chris of Absolute Racing.

[lanan]

You have mail.
Graham

[gary_tholl]

I run an '84 Reynard F2000. The series I'm in isn't a hugely competitive one, but the car is not hugely outpaced by 10+ year newer VanDiemens. I'm running the 'pinto' 2L and a Hewland Mk 9.

The car is very nice to drive, it's plenty fast for me to get my 'fix', but not so fast that I'm really in over my head in most circumstances. The Reynard is a good chassis, they made loads of them, their is decent support, and they are easy to work on as well as being robust/tough. The pinto is fine if you're not trying to run regional/national type races, where you need that last 0.5 hp to win. This is my second season on an unknown engine, I'll refresh it over the winter, and I'd hope to get 2-3 good seasons out of it after that.

For us in Western Canada, the biggest cost is getting to the track. We tow 7hrs to the closest tracks. We buy 'cast-off' tires from a tire guy that gets them from the money-series runners. They peel them off after practice/quali, and we get them for 1/4 of the price with 3/4 life left. Again, you can only do this if you're not running the hugely competitive series. We run our cars on premium pump gas, they seem to be fine on it. Oil gets changed every few race weekends, or whenever an oil line/cooler/etc breaks (whichever comes first!).

They are HUGE fun, I'd recommend them to anyone. A formula ford (1600) would be very similar, put an illegal cam in it, and it wouldn't be much slower at all.

Quit thinking about it and do it!! They are that much fun. We've got a fair load of pics up on blurredvisionracing.com if you're interested.

Gary

[Merritt]

Thanks guys - looking promising..! Graham - I will give you a call for a chat.

Cheers

Steve M

[number 46]

I'm run in the URS Classic FF2000 championship in a VD RF81. Its a very well supported series (25 to 30 car grids) and also very competative. Cost wise its about the cheapest 'slicks n wings' formula out there. If you are mechanically minded and can prep the car yourself then it can be very cheap as the cars are very simple and the engines are pretty much un tuned and strong, so engine costs are low. Quick idea of costs:
race entry £175
Tyres £500
Engine rebuild £1200 to £2000
One corner £200 to £350

You need at least one set of slicks a season, the engine should last 2 seasons between rebuilds( based on 10 races and 4 tests). Prep wise it takes me about half a day to clean, change ratios and check everything for each meeting. There are teams that do arrive and drive deals but that doubles the cost. If you need more info the get in touch. Its great fun and the cars are fast, top speed 130 mph, 0 to 60 less than 5 secs.

[Merritt]

Cheers Paul - just the sort of info I was looking for.

Steve