getting into casual racing.

[karavias1]

Hi guys,

not sure if this is the correct place for posting, but i remember reading an article about clio racing, where you pay for a season racing, turn up, race and leave with no maintenance/storage/transporting of the car.

does anyone know any details including prices etc and pro and cons of such? and any alternatives?

thanks

[andy97]

I don't think anyone would call Clio racing "casual". Highly frentic is more likely. Don't know the costs but its well out of my league, this side of a reasonable size win on the Premium Bonds!

[MSP]

karavias1 said:

Hi guys,

not sure if this is the correct place for posting, but i remember reading an article about clio racing, where you pay for a season racing, turn up, race and leave with no maintenance/storage/transporting of the car.

does anyone know any details including prices etc and pro and cons of such? and any alternatives?

thanks

Simple! Buy a car @ £15-20k, pay Grovewood Sport £15k Entry Fee - includes all racing & test day the Friday of the race meeting - (already thats £30k+ & you've yet to race!), pay a team £20k+ to maintain/transport/store the car, then £5-10k on tyres, similar on brakes, more on spares, then insure it or mend what you bend... Pros - all you've got to do is drive it. Cons - it ain't cheap (but then, what is?!)

Alternatively run it yourself - can be a very time consuming exercise in the summer months especially if you need to re-shell it...

[Adrian Gumball]

The MX5 series is much better for a novice and far...far cheaper, but still not what I would call affordable with my income and expenditure (average and married!).

Motorsport aint cheap.

[Adrian Gumball]

The MX5 series is much better for a novice and far...far cheaper, but still not what I would call affordable with my income and expenditure (average and married!).

Motorsport aint cheap.

[Mr_Thyroid]

I don't think the Clios are any cheaper that Formula Palmer Audi. FPA being advantageous in my opinion because it's open wheel and therefore aren't driven like bumper cars.

[FNG]

Also full of ex-karters trying to make their name.

Too many professional teams to make it worthwhile if you want to run near the front.

Too many drivers making contact so the need for body repair is an inevitability.

Expensive to run - you won't get away with a couple of sets of tyres per season! - and a high standard of car prep needed, which is no advantage unless you need sponsorship exposure (that is, exposure that will persuade an existing sponsor to stump up even more cash to run the season).



Alternatives - Fast Ford, Stock Hatch, XR Challenge, MX-5, Caterham Graduate, VW Cup, and loads of lower categories that accept a mishmash of entries from older saloon cars to keep grids full.

There's usually arrive'n'drives to be found in most race series, especially if a driver can't afford to run their own car that season. Don't expect a professional operation in the lower reaches of the sport, but you don't have to pay for same.

Something like Caterhams or MX-5s have a mixture of owner-drivers and pro-run cars, and is worth looking at but you have to accept that you're likely not to be a frontrunner in those types of series unless professionally run. And that just comes down to budget, or lack of.

A friend of mine can't generally afford to race his car at the moment due to new children toddling about, therefore he was looking for someone to run his car. He trailers it and spanners it and repairs it and takes the money. Next season he might have enough saved to run the car himself again.

You might think about looking for some lower categories that you like the look of, go to a meeting, and ask around. These series have a close community and people will generally be very happy not only to see new blood coming into a series, but also to see a struggling competitor get some money in their pocket so they can continue racing.

But the best way to find that out is definitely to get into the paddock at race meetings and ask people directly. You won't find many economical arrive'n'drive deals on the internet but you'll find some by floating the prospect of cash under peoples' noses.

[anonymous-user]

by casual i prefer you mean clubbie stuff... i would look at the championships where the drivers are more interested in preserving their cars and driving standards are enforced, a good paddock atmosphere etc rather than a bumper car championship...

anyhting is fun when you are on a track with 20 other cars around you, i'd look at the MGB championship or something, limited mods, easy to get hold of, good clubbie feel and most importantly, no one is going to push you off for the sake of one place further up the finish sheet...

[Alfie Noakes]

Sprints?

[DSM2]

Mr_Thyroid said:

I don't think the Clios are any cheaper that Formula Palmer Audi. FPA being advantageous in my opinion because it's open wheel and therefore aren't driven like bumper cars.

But at least the Clios were built in this century............

[lewis1]

DSM2 said:

Mr_Thyroid said:

I don't think the Clios are any cheaper that Formula Palmer Audi. FPA being advantageous in my opinion because it's open wheel and therefore aren't driven like bumper cars.

But at least the Clios were built in this century............

dont knock an fpa till you have actually driven one.. For me casual would mean mx5's or mk1 mr2 championships. IF you can afford it theres a few people running formula fords in things like monoposto and formula 4 that will run you and do everything so all you need to do is turn up.

[karavias1]

sounds great, what sort of cost are we talking about for the mx5 to lets say formula fords per season?

thanks for the resonse thus far...

[lewis1]

well mx5: www.ma5daracing.com will have all the info you need
I ran a formula ford in formula 4 which has a range of different power single seaters..prices were around 1000pound a weekend all in.

Edited by lewis1 on Tuesday 7th July 17:13

[andy97]

lewis1 said:

well mx5: www.ma5daracing.com will have all the info you need
I ran a formula ford in formula 4 which has a range of different power single seaters..prices were around 1000pound a weekend all in.

Edited by lewis1 on Tuesday 7th July 17:13

I would guess that it would be similar in Monoposto - try Nick Edgington (F Ford Zetec & F4 Zetec, I think) or Phil Anstruther (Vauxhall junior). PM me for phone numbers if interested.

[1]

karavias1 said:

sounds great, what sort of cost are we talking about for the mx5 to lets say formula fords per season?

thanks for the resonse thus far...

IMO I wouldn't even consider running yourself in one of the more serious/high end championships, unless you have lots of support and experience.

In terms of costings here is roughly what a season will cost if you are being run by a decent team and are looking to give yourself a fair crack at being competitive, i.e. testing, tyres etc

MX5 = £10k (£7k if you run yourself)
Ginetta G20 = £40k
Clio's = £70k
National FF = £100k
Ginetta G50 = £100k
Porsche Cup = £200k
BTTC = £350k
GP2 = £1.2m

With the exception of BTTC and GP2 these costings are based on you owning own car.

[stifler]

andy97 said:

Nick Edgington (F Ford Zetec & F4 Zetec, I think) PM me for phone numbers if interested.

Is Nick Edgington still involved in Motorsport? I bought my Formula Ford from him. His website www.ercr.co.uk hasn't worked for a while. I thought he was out of the game.

[andy97]

Yes, Nick is still involved. Not sure why the website is down.

[FNG]

1 said:

In terms of costings here is roughly what a season will cost if you are being run by a decent team and are looking to give yourself a fair crack at being competitive, i.e. testing, tyres etc

MX5 = £10k (£7k if you run yourself)
Ginetta G20 = £40k
Clio's = £70k
National FF = £100k
Ginetta G50 = £100k
Porsche Cup = £200k
BTTC = £350k
GP2 = £1.2m

With the exception of BTTC and GP2 these costings are based on you owning own car.

So you own the car already?

Or the cost including buying the car?

[scoobydude]

FPA is a good series to get into. The driving standards aren't too bad and for 60 odd grand + some extra cash put aside for the insurance pot / travel costs and unexpected extras you get a pretty kick ass championship to race in. I reckon if you're careful you could do a season for 70K. If your any good you'd get that back in sponsorship / prize money fairly quickly ( if the whole industry wasn't on it's arse).

Edited by scoobydude on Wednesday 8th July 16:16

[stifler]

scoobydude said:

FPA / prize money