Smart cars & Prototypes
Discussion
Hi all, long time lurker here; thought I would open my account with a question of 2 extremes.
what info do people have on the planned smart car support series? - the organisers ran a car at the Crystal Palace sprint and it actually looked kind of cool being thrashed about (in a so wrong it's right way)
And at the other end of the scale, are there any concrete plans on the inclusion of prototypes that has been rumoured for 2011?
what info do people have on the planned smart car support series? - the organisers ran a car at the Crystal Palace sprint and it actually looked kind of cool being thrashed about (in a so wrong it's right way)
And at the other end of the scale, are there any concrete plans on the inclusion of prototypes that has been rumoured for 2011?
That's Calum Lockie and Kevin Clarke showing a keen interest in Paul Bates' (the first ever Britcar series winner) new project. More info can be found at www.smarts4uracing.com
http://smarts4youracing.com/racing-series/
Isn't £625 + VAT a bit excessive for 2 X 20 minute races and a 35 minute practice?
Isn't £625 + VAT a bit excessive for 2 X 20 minute races and a 35 minute practice?
legaleagleboy said:
granted other series around would be quite a bit cheaper for 75 minutes of tracktime, of course you would save overall by doing this series as the cars and bits are relatively cheap. So you would get plenty of smiles per mile!
The cars are something like £18K+VAT, so not cheap at all, especially when you consider how slow they are and quite frankly how ridiculous they look. Just another daft money making scheme someone has dreamt up that IMHO will not be a successLets compare it to similar championships we have already.
Fiats 500's. 12 cars at the last round.
Clio Cup. 10 cars at the last round.
So where does that leave smart cars...
Another unnecessary championship for a market that is seemingly well covered already....
I did say when the smart was released that one day there would probably be a race series for them!! I just don't think its the right time. What would be sensible would be to introduce it as a class within an existing championship while it gains strength... This rarely seems to happen.
Fiats 500's. 12 cars at the last round.
Clio Cup. 10 cars at the last round.
So where does that leave smart cars...
Another unnecessary championship for a market that is seemingly well covered already....
I did say when the smart was released that one day there would probably be a race series for them!! I just don't think its the right time. What would be sensible would be to introduce it as a class within an existing championship while it gains strength... This rarely seems to happen.
Hi everyone. Just to answer a few of the questions above. Having done motor sport for many years and won the Britcar I know motorsport very well and believe me, I would not have built a slow sloppy car. We have spent 9 months building the cars with the best cost effective British motorsport components. The suspension has been designed by us and Leda, the Cage has been carefully designed and well built and we have the full backing of Dunlop using Direzza tyres and Compomotive wheels. The seats are made for us by Corbeau and Luke harnesses.
The car is a BRABUS smart fortwo and heavily modified by us, costing £17,860 +VAT. This is a road legal race car and can be driven to the track. The series can be split between 2 drivers, hence reducing the costs.
Estimated cost to run the car for 3 years are as follows. Car, race entries, tyres, brakes and allowing for minor damage. Split this between 2 drivers = £7,500 per driver per year. And you still own the car.
As for a quick money making plan. Believe me it is not. We make no money on the cars and unless we have 20 cars on the grid we make no money on the race entries. We are selling the parts back to the drivers at a trade discount that we get from Mercedes. this series helps us market our after market parts for smart cars, which is where we make our money.
We are also running with the Britcar and we have full use of all their hospitality. So you will be running in a great series along side some of the big names in motor sport, this only adds to the excitement.
As for the other series, Fiat 500 cup and Clio cup. Check out the size of budget needed, Last I heard they were in excess of 50k per season. A lot more than us. We are not out to compete with them.
Our aim is to introduce good fun motor sport to people who thought it was out of their budget. I have had 3 guys sign up who are complete novices and realise that motor sport can be affordable.
If you want to ask more questions please email me paul@smarts4youracing.com
The car is a BRABUS smart fortwo and heavily modified by us, costing £17,860 +VAT. This is a road legal race car and can be driven to the track. The series can be split between 2 drivers, hence reducing the costs.
Estimated cost to run the car for 3 years are as follows. Car, race entries, tyres, brakes and allowing for minor damage. Split this between 2 drivers = £7,500 per driver per year. And you still own the car.
As for a quick money making plan. Believe me it is not. We make no money on the cars and unless we have 20 cars on the grid we make no money on the race entries. We are selling the parts back to the drivers at a trade discount that we get from Mercedes. this series helps us market our after market parts for smart cars, which is where we make our money.
We are also running with the Britcar and we have full use of all their hospitality. So you will be running in a great series along side some of the big names in motor sport, this only adds to the excitement.
As for the other series, Fiat 500 cup and Clio cup. Check out the size of budget needed, Last I heard they were in excess of 50k per season. A lot more than us. We are not out to compete with them.
Our aim is to introduce good fun motor sport to people who thought it was out of their budget. I have had 3 guys sign up who are complete novices and realise that motor sport can be affordable.
If you want to ask more questions please email me paul@smarts4youracing.com
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