Hillclimbing/sprints

[Yazza54]

Anyone do a bit??

I've been looking at doing some trackdays, but I do enjoy competition. Wondering what the costs are like with hillclimbing/sprinting as trackdays seem pretty expensive to me for a bit of track time with no competition. Also is an MSA license required? I think mines expired now

[nobodyknows]

You'll need a National B Non Race License, about £39.00. You'll also need FIA helmet, overalls & gloves.

Entry fees are typically about £75 - £95 per day (hillclimbs anyway) & due to the short length of runs fuel/tyre costs etc are very low.

I did my 1st season in 2010 & can't wait for the new season to start, you'll find most people are very friendly & helpful, even people you're up against in the same class.

As a cheap(ish) entry level motorsport I'd highly recommend it.

Good luck & enjoy!

[Sam_68]

I used to do a bit, back in the day.

As Nobodyknows' figures suggest, it's much cheaper than the average track day, but you get a lot less track time. If you're lucky, you might get half a dozen 2-minute runs over a day's practice and competition, so £75-95 might not sound such a bargain in the context of 12 minutes worth of actual driving.

I used to enjoy it for the social/technical side (as Nobodyknows says, it's very relaxed and friendny iun the main, though you do get one or two of the big boys in the big single seaters who take themselves seriously), and for the challenge of improving your driving precision, but it depends on what you want from it.

You might also want to look at the 750 Club championships, which also offer very good value, relatively speaking.

[Yazza54]

What car do you run?

I think The fury would be in class b1 looking at this.. http://www.hillclimbandsprint.co.uk/calendar.asp dunno if that's just for car engined though.

Am I looking in the right place?

Already have helmets, boots etc.. Though they could actually be dated now, better check. That to me sounds like much better value for money than a track day at 300 quid a day.

[Yazza54]

Mm my grounding is in karting so I do prefer track racing, but my car is too nice for that. Wouldnt want to risk wrecking it racing in the 750MC. I'll have to wait till I'm older and I can afford a race car. But I wouldn't be too worried about a few semi competitive blats hillclimbing.

[jason61c]

I'm following this with interest. Its something I wouldn't mind having a go at just to improve my driving and being a little bit of a geek I like the technical side of it.

[D_G]

I've been sprinting / hillclimbing for a few seasons, they are two very different disciplines though. Hills are lower speed but very tight giving a great sense of speed and need very precise driving to get a good time. There can be trees etc to hit very close to the track at some venues too. Sprints are more open and faster letting you explore the limits more safely and are generally longer per run.
It's not great value for money compared with seat time at a good trackday but when you join a good club (which you have to) you will meet some brilliant people and the competition aspect comes more alive once you know your competitors.
Don't forget the cost of the gear you need to do MSA events though as previously said, but most of it is a one off cost.
I do a mix of sprints, hills, trackdays and autosolo for the best of all worlds

Enjoy!

Dave

[nobodyknows]

Yazza54 said:

What car do you run?

I think The fury would be in class b1 looking at this.. http://www.hillclimbandsprint.co.uk/calendar.asp dunno if that's just for car engined though.

Am I looking in the right place?

Already have helmets, boots etc.. Though they could actually be dated now, better check. That to me sounds like much better value for money than a track day at 300 quid a day.

I run a road going Clio 172 Cup in Class A3. If in any doubt about what class you'd be in just contact your local motor club (you'l' need to join one anyway) & they will be more than happy to help/advise you. Depending on how keen you are to start it may pay to visit a couple of events before competing & chat to a few of the drivers in the paddock? When you renew your MSA license the Blue Book is invaluable too - can you access this on the MSA website?

As mentioned by other posters, it's not great value for money when you consider the small amount of driving time but it is cheap & it is great fun & very friendly & sociable.

[Kevp]

I run a Stylus double driving with my wife. We are about to start our 3rd season (in March).
Kitcars normally run (if roadgoing) in the "Specialist Sports Car" class. If you do not have insurance, tax & MOT, then it will be the "Modified, Sports Libre" class. Not sure about roadgoing bike engines though.

Sprinting/Hillclimbing is far more stimulating than trackdays. Some venues do hold test days before an event though.

We do the BARC Sprint series,
20th March Mallory Park
16th April Gurston
24th April Loton Park
21st May Wiscombe
22nd May Wiscombe
4th June Pembrey
5th June Pembrey
11th June Abingdon
25th June Castle Combe
16th July Llandow
7th August Hethel
13th August Curborough (long)
28th August Harewood
10th September Brands Hatch (S)
17th September Shelsley Walsh MAC (proposed)
1st October Curborough(short)

The Westfield series is very exhaustive with some 29 events, & open to anyone that is a member of the WSCC.
http://www.wscc.co.uk/managed/SpeedSeries/2011/201...

Edited by Kevp on Monday 3rd January 11:07

[Sam_68]

Kevp said:

Kitcars normally run (if roadgoing) in the "Specialist Sports Car" class. If you do not have insurance, tax & MOT, then it will be the "Modified, Sports Libre" class. Not sure about roadgoing bike engines though.

BEC's usually have a sub-class of their own within the 'Roadgoing Kitcars' class, I think, but I must admit I'm well out of touch with current regs. One of the anomalies of Hillclimbing/Sprinting is that it's by no means unusual to find yourself with the only car running in a particular class or sub-class, in which case they'll merge you with another class, usually.

The first thing you need to do is get hold of a copy of the RAC 'Blue Book' (comes with your licence, but can be purchased separately, if you don't want to apply for your licence just yet), to go through the technical regs. Mandatory rules for Hills & Sprints are pretty simple compared to some of the circuit racing classes, but you still need to make sure your car complies.

One of the problems used to be that you needed a full windscreen in the 'roadgoing' sports car classes, so any kit-car with an aeroscreen only (like my Sylva and your Fury Spyder) would be classified as Sports Libra. I don't know if this is still the case, but if so, forget about winning anything: you'll be up against Mallock and OMS sports racers and the like and will get a sound spanking at most venues. Not that it matters, though: for most people it's about competing against yourself and it's not as if you're likely to be winning much for the first couple of years, anyway.

[jeffw]

I started sprinting the Phoenix last year and I'm doing the All Circuit Sprint series through Tunbridge Wells MC as well as Sevenoaks District MC series. Great fun and I recommend it.

This is me winning my class at my 2nd ever sprint (beginners luck)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0E-HqlPMQiQ

I suggest you look around for your local club and ask them which class you will get placed in. The Blue Book doesn't appear to do anything special for BECs so you should be in the under 1700cc Specialist Cars category.

[anonymous-user]

this is the ASWMC championship class structure but other regions/championships do run different class structures. if i remember correctly, roadgoing specialist production means <1000 built in any year of manufacture.

The following regulations will apply to both the Hill Climb and Sprint Championships.
1. Classes are as follows:
A1. Roadgoing Series Production Cars up to 1400cc
A2. Roadgoing Series Production Cars over 1400cc up to 1800cc
A3. Roadgoing Series Production Cars over 1800cc up to 2600cc
A4. Roadgoing Series Production Cars over 2600cc
B1. Roadgoing Specialist Production Cars. Car engines up to 1400cc & M/C engines up to 875cc
B2. Roadgoing Specialist Production Cars. Car engines over 1400cc up to 1800cc & M/C engines up to 1125cc
B3. Roadgoing Specialist Production Cars. Car engines over 1800cc & M/C engines over 1125cc
C1. Modified Limited Production Cars up to 1400cc
C2. Modified Limited Production Cars over 1400cc up to 1800cc
C3. Modified Limited Production Cars over 1800cc up to 2600cc
C4. Modified Limited Production Cars over 2600cc
C5. Modified Specialist Production Cars. Car engines up to 1800cc & M/C engines up to 1125cc
C6. Modified Specialist Production Cars. Car engines over 1800cc & M/C engines over 1125cc
D1. Sports Libre Cars up to 1800cc
D2. Sports Libre Cars over 1800cc
D3. Rally Cars up to 1600cc
D4. Rally Cars over 1600cc
E1. Racing Cars up to 1100cc
E2. Racing Cars over 1100cc up to 1600cc
E3. Racing Cars over 1600cc up to 2000cc
E4. Racing Cars over 2000cc

[jason61c]

pablo said:

this is the ASWMC championship class structure but other regions/championships do run different class structures. if i remember correctly, roadgoing specialist production means <1000 built in any year of manufacture.

The following regulations will apply to both the Hill Climb and Sprint Championships.
1. Classes are as follows:
A1. Roadgoing Series Production Cars up to 1400cc
A2. Roadgoing Series Production Cars over 1400cc up to 1800cc
A3. Roadgoing Series Production Cars over 1800cc up to 2600cc
A4. Roadgoing Series Production Cars over 2600cc
B1. Roadgoing Specialist Production Cars. Car engines up to 1400cc & M/C engines up to 875cc
B2. Roadgoing Specialist Production Cars. Car engines over 1400cc up to 1800cc & M/C engines up to 1125cc
B3. Roadgoing Specialist Production Cars. Car engines over 1800cc & M/C engines over 1125cc
C1. Modified Limited Production Cars up to 1400cc
C2. Modified Limited Production Cars over 1400cc up to 1800cc
C3. Modified Limited Production Cars over 1800cc up to 2600cc
C4. Modified Limited Production Cars over 2600cc
C5. Modified Specialist Production Cars. Car engines up to 1800cc & M/C engines up to 1125cc
C6. Modified Specialist Production Cars. Car engines over 1800cc & M/C engines over 1125cc
D1. Sports Libre Cars up to 1800cc
D2. Sports Libre Cars over 1800cc
D3. Rally Cars up to 1600cc
D4. Rally Cars over 1600cc
E1. Racing Cars up to 1100cc
E2. Racing Cars over 1100cc up to 1600cc
E3. Racing Cars over 1600cc up to 2000cc
E4. Racing Cars over 2000cc

So a 3.0 kit car would be in C4?

[anonymous-user]

jason61c said:

pablo said:

this is the ASWMC championship class structure but other regions/championships do run different class structures. if i remember correctly, roadgoing specialist production means <1000 built in any year of manufacture.

The following regulations will apply to both the Hill Climb and Sprint Championships.
1. Classes are as follows:
A1. Roadgoing Series Production Cars up to 1400cc
A2. Roadgoing Series Production Cars over 1400cc up to 1800cc
A3. Roadgoing Series Production Cars over 1800cc up to 2600cc
A4. Roadgoing Series Production Cars over 2600cc
B1. Roadgoing Specialist Production Cars. Car engines up to 1400cc & M/C engines up to 875cc
B2. Roadgoing Specialist Production Cars. Car engines over 1400cc up to 1800cc & M/C engines up to 1125cc
B3. Roadgoing Specialist Production Cars. Car engines over 1800cc & M/C engines over 1125cc
C1. Modified Limited Production Cars up to 1400cc
C2. Modified Limited Production Cars over 1400cc up to 1800cc
C3. Modified Limited Production Cars over 1800cc up to 2600cc
C4. Modified Limited Production Cars over 2600cc
C5. Modified Specialist Production Cars. Car engines up to 1800cc & M/C engines up to 1125cc
C6. Modified Specialist Production Cars. Car engines over 1800cc & M/C engines over 1125cc
D1. Sports Libre Cars up to 1800cc
D2. Sports Libre Cars over 1800cc
D3. Rally Cars up to 1600cc
D4. Rally Cars over 1600cc
E1. Racing Cars up to 1100cc
E2. Racing Cars over 1100cc up to 1600cc
E3. Racing Cars over 1600cc up to 2000cc
E4. Racing Cars over 2000cc

So a 3.0 kit car would be in C4?

ummm, yes, but its complicated..... some clubs run events on the day with slightly different regulations and would run the A class as series production, the B class as limited production and the C class as modified series production (essentially non road legal variants of the A class), then a separate modified kit car D class..... if the car was road legal you would probably slip into B3 at most events. if you were registered for the championship however, you could be collecting points for the C4 championship. I think.....

[jason61c]

clear as mud eh!?

Next question is does anyone know of any decent clubs in the Lincolnshire/Nottinghamshire area?

[Sam_68]

jason61c said:

clear as mud eh!?

Next question is does anyone know of any decent clubs in the Lincolnshire/Nottinghamshire area?

Bit of a dearth of hillclimbing in that area. Specially Lincolnshire, on account of it not having any hills.

You might be better looking at the Midlands Automobile Club (who run Shelsley Walsh) or Shenstone & District Car Club (Curborough Sprint venue).

Full list of venues (and links to the clubs who run them) here

[Artstu]

Sam_68 said:

Bit of a dearth of hillclimbing in that area. Specially Lincolnshire, on account of it not having any hills.

Have you never seen the Lincolnshire wolds Sam? Cadwell Park? looks pretty hilly to me

[Sam_68]

Artstu said:

Have you never seen the Lincolnshire wolds Sam? Cadwell Park? looks pretty hilly to me

You've not seen proper hills, then!

Hillclimbing originated on hills so steep that it was a challenge for the early cars just to get to the top of them...

Yes, I'm familar with the Lincolnshire Wolds, though, and with Cadwell (one of my favourite circuits), but even 'the Mountain' isn't exactly mountainous when you were brought up in the Yorkshire Dales and Cumbria...

Edited by Sam_68 on Tuesday 4th January 12:52

[Artstu]

Very true Sam, having said that those little hills could lend themselves to a nice hill climb course comparable to any other hill climb course in England I would imagine.
We have hills here in the Peak District, but I will admit they get bigger and steeper further north

[jason61c]

Sam_68 said:

jason61c said:

clear as mud eh!?

Next question is does anyone know of any decent clubs in the Lincolnshire/Nottinghamshire area?

Bit of a dearth of hillclimbing in that area. Specially Lincolnshire, on account of it not having any hills.

You might be better looking at the Midlands Automobile Club (who run Shelsley Walsh) or Shenstone & District Car Club (Curborough Sprint venue).

Full list of venues (and links to the clubs who run them) here

There is one hill, I live near it

Cheers for pointing me in the right direction. I'm trying to see where my car would fit in...