Bored of trackdays. What CHEAP motorsport options are there?

[PTF]

I'm mulling over taking a step into some kind of budget (edit: non-racing?) motorsport, but don't really know what's out there.

I raced on and off a bit in Caterham Graduates for a while up to about 10 yrs ago, but quit when my kids were born as i was fed up spending so much on it. I'm not that keen on having to get my race licence again. Plus all of my safety gear is old now. I quit just as the HANS requirement came in.

I've dabbled with trackdays since then but find it a bit boring unless in something very raw and reasonably powerful. I have a Clio 200 track car that i'll be selling soon as it's just not quite doing it for me on track.

I've had my "dream" (to me) road car (BMW M2) but got bored with it in less than a year, so have recently sold it.

I have a towcar in place.

I have space in my garage, and can do a fair bit of spannering at home.

So, what can i do that's got some competitive element to it, but doesn't cost the earth?

Things i've thought of but not looked at yet:
Hillclimbs
Sprints

erm....

I'm stocky/heavy, so karting is probably out.

I quite fancy having something bonkers like a westfield with a bike engine in it, but would need to do something competitive in it, maybe with the odd trackday to scare passengers.

Help/advice wanted!

Budget to buy a car+trailer is up to about £25k if i sell the clio, but ideally i'd like to have something all sorted for around £15k if possible.

Edited by PTF on Thursday 12th May 12:28

Edited by PTF on Thursday 12th May 12:29

[PTF]

I'm actually not that bothered about racing TBH. I used to really enjoy testing and qualifying way more than the races. I liked trying to race the clock.

[PTF]

mat205125 said:

Hill climbs and sprints are beaten only by drag racing for terrible cost to time/mileage ratio

I think if i'm mixing trackdays with it, where there's as much track time as i can take available, then that would probably be ok.

mat205125 said:

Key cost consideration is whether you want to win or just have fun?

With racing i think this is a really, really important point. Thanks i'd not thought of that.

[PTF]

charltjr said:

...but from the sound of it you want higher performance?

Yeah i think i do. I really fancy having a go with something quite bonkers.

Not blowing my own trumpet or anything, but i tend to get to grips with cars and tracks quite quickly, like within a few laps, then i'm a bit bored.

Quite fancy something that's hard get to the limit with.

An elise has been top of the list for a while, because the mid-engined layout isn't something i'm used to on the limit.

[PTF]

MG CHRIS said:

If you like the qualifying element more than racing why not try out time attack that budgt could get you something quick in the club classes. Also get good track time compared to sprints an hill climbs etc.

Just had a look on the website. That actually looks really good. 4x 15 min sessions (min), so still a reasonable amount of track time, but you're racing against the clock rather than eachother.

Hmmm. I might take the kids to Brands in June and have a chat with some people there.

Thanks for that.

[PTF]

John Laverick said:

Have you considered a switch to bikes .... your question has motocross written all over it.

Been riding motorbikes since i was about 12. Not done much offroad though apart from round a field in my teens.

Not sure i've got the confidence for motocross TBH. Though getting an offroad bike might be fun if i could find somewhere local to play on it.

My kids would want one though!!

I do a reasonable amount of cycling/mountainbiking, so sort of feel like i've got that covered....ish.

[PTF]

emicen said:

PTF said:

I'm actually not that bothered about racing TBH. I used to really enjoy testing and qualifying way more than the races. I liked trying to race the clock.

If you weren’t so far south I would have suggested Super Lap Scotland. Sounds like exactly what you are looking for.

First time i've ever heard Lincolnshire descibed as "so far south"

[PTF]

brillomaster said:

if you've got the ability to have a trailer, and dont mind a bit of spannering yourself, then i'd go for some kind of bike engined mk indy or the like.

went out in one at snetterton and it was absolutely incredible. 12k redline, sequential gears, slick tyres. ran rings around everything else there.

That alone would make trackdays fun again, but if that wasnt enough, i'd probably say sprinting.

http://www.javelinsprintdays.co.uk/sprint/

http://www.britishsprint.org/default.asp

Yeah that's the kind of thing

Most powerful caterham i tried was a 140bhp 1.6. It made most other cars look very pedestrian at Cadwell, but not so much at places like Donington/Silverstone.

I'd really love to have a go in something properly rapid.

This has caught my eye
https://www.hhcsportscars.co.uk/car/westfield-cosw...

At trackdays i'm used to things like my Clio 200, or 1.8 MX5, and having to absolutely throw them round in order to avoid having to spend half the day with indicator on letting people through.

I pretty much exclusively do Cadwell at the mo. I did Silverston last sept in the clio and it was massively frustrating.

Edited by PTF on Thursday 12th May 13:35

[PTF]

Thanks for all of the input

I had my eye on a Westfield with a 260bhp 2.0 duratec and sequential box because a) it sounded like it would be hilariously fast, and b) because i thought hillclimbing or sprinting would be all that i'd want to do. It wasn't road registered and would potentially be overkill on trackdays.

But it was strong money (to me), and the lack of the option to use it on the road occasionally has put me off.

I went to Blyton at the weekend to watch some sprinting and had a good chat with people. All friendly. But i was put off slightly by the lack of track time and the amount of waiting around going on. I'd still like to give it a go, but i think jumping in with both feet with a one-trick-pony of a car is probably the wrong way to go.

However, i'm not that keen on just having a go with my Clio 200 as it's not really challenging enough.

I also looked at Time Attack, and i think there are several issues there for me personally. The main one is that it seems to be largely about who has the best car. The other is that they seem to all be tin-tops, and i think i want something more like a kit-car with lower consumable costs. I looked at where my Clio 200 would fit, and i think the Pocket Rocket class would be ok with just a hand-held extinguisher and new tyres, plus some new safety gear for me. But looking at the lap times i think i'd be waaaaay off the pace, which i wouldn't find enjoyable

I did briefly consider another Caterham like i've had before, with the option to have a stab at Graduates or similar once again, but a brief chat with a local motorsport team had me running for the hills. The costs, especially under the wing of a team, are just eye-watering. Even forgetting team support it's still going to be £1500 minimum per race weekend.

After a fair bit of looking round, i've settled on getting a bike engined car, which is something i've always fancied having. Ideally i want a Caterham, but they're like rocking horse poo, second would be a westfield megabusa, but they seem to be quite rare too.

The idea would be to use it on the road a little (rarely, and probably just to scare random people that are visiting and fancy a quick go), local trackdays by driving it there, or trackdays further away by trailering it there. Then maybe i'd enter it in some sprint events just for a laugh, and see how much i enjoy it, and whether i fancy taking that further.

So i've got a deposit on an MK Indy with a 190bhp ZX10-R engine in it. Factory build and road legal.

Just need to sort a trailer now.

Thanks again for the input. If there's a sprint series or similar that the Indy would be good in then i'd be interested to hear about it.

Edited by PTF on Thursday 19th May 10:31

[PTF]

Just to add, i'm still keen on doing something competitive, but i'm hoping in the meantime that the new car injects some fun/excitement back into trackdays.