Looking at competing - Help needed (not sure if right section)

[TRH_Racing]

Hi guys !

I've always wanted to compete in a racing series, Circuit / sprint .. I've looked at into how much the license and that is .. Buts its just the other costs / how hard is it to get into a series?

I know it's expensive .. Its just the parts for the car / my self!

It wont be anytime this year as ive only really started doing track days!


Ali

 

[andye30m3]

I race in Production BMW which is probably about as budget as you can get with regards to cost

Car £3-8000
Tow car … as little or as you like but when your paying entry fees you'll want to make sure you get there
Trailer £1500ish to what ever you want to spend
Racewear best part to £1k for suit, helmet, hans device, gloves, boots and underwear.
License - Been a while but I guess around £5-600 min

Once you've got that sorted
Entry fees for the Weekend will be around £300 for a budget series
Fuel for race car £30-40ish
If you want to test you can double the above.
Fuel for tow car depends on distance burt can be as much as £100
Hotels if you need them, I'm poor so a £40 tent did the trick for years but use a 7.5t truck with sleeper cab now

Tyres I generally get away with 2 sets of R888's a year which is about £650
One set of decent front pads and a couple of sets of discs £250
A couple of sets of rear road pads and a set of discs £100
A couple of services a year

Obviously if you start having accidents or blowing engines things can get expensive pretty quickly

All figures are off of the top off my head but give you an idea of what you looking at

 

[andye30m3]

If the above sounds outside of budget, worth looking at Sprinting

Clio 182's seam to do well in the unto 2.0l class, less safety gear is needed, you can use a non race national B license so no adds test is required.

when I did it entries varied from about £60 for North Weald (run by sevenoaks motor club) up to around £150+ for Goodwood or Brands hatch. Not to sure who your local club would be but sevenoaks motor club get invited to loads of events through out the south and midlands. http://www.sevenoaksmotorclub.com

 

[Twofatladies]

I think Andy has summed up the costs pretty well. I race in TARCs mr2 series and the costs are broadly similar. You can occasionally pick up a car for around £1500 for that, although £3k is more normal. But it really isn't the cost of the car that drives the cost. Close one make racing does tend to involve contact and that can quickly push the bills up. Personally I budget about a grand per event.

If you just want to dip your toe in racing have a look at arrive and drive. You could probably do an arrive and drive for about £1k depending on what you fancy trying. Which is obviously a lot of money for 45 minutes, but never look at it that way!

If it's a Clio you want to race there are plenty on here who race in TARCs tricolour trophy. You could build a car for the production class for less than £5k.

 

[TRH_Racing]

I've looked At sprints a few times, they look like good fun, a bit cheaper from the looks of it as well!

To race in the tricolour trophy, what would be needed on the car ?

 

[Adam G]

You can do production class which is essentially strip it, fit roll cage, seat, harness, fire ext, killswitch and go. Standard car to keep cost to a minimum. No coilovers but springs, shocks, exhaust and air filter are free. Then there are a further two higher classes depending on budget or look at CTCRC Pre 05 like I'm doing this year, similar to above but coilovers allowed.
Here's my thread:
http://www.cliosport.net/threads/adams-budget-racing-thread.710683/

 

[TRH_Racing]

cheers guys!

 

[coverman]

If you are on a limited budget, stay out of circuit racing. Do sprints and hillclimbs instead, starting in roadgoing classes as they are by far the cheapest( no expensive mods or tyres etc), there is nothing to hit you, and you can only hit the scenery( and armco in places) but if you do so it will be your fault entirely; entry fees are relatively low; certain events have low entries so you can have up to 12 runs in a day( and that is enough for anyone); you can drive to the events so no tow car or trailer needed; and there are events every week throughout the season of which some will be reasonably local thus avoiding hotel bills etc.

 

[Adam G]

^Startup costs are far less in hillclimbing and sprinting too.

 

[eon172]

^^what they said. I started last year and did a few sprints (still learning the car and techniques). It's not the same cost vs track time as say a track day, but the thrill of competition is what it's all about, I love it and it's certainly addictive. I started by driving to local'ish events, I now want to venture further out this year so now want a trailer. Good luck with what ever you decide.