Mk1 MX-5 (x3), Westy
Foreword: This is a copy and paste from a different forum, so it may seem a little out of context at points, but it seems a few CS members are interested too so hopefully it will be useful info 
Hello all,
After reading Alan's blog on mx5nutz forum (here), I decided it would be good to do something similar, since the amount of info available for people looking to get into Max5 Racing seems to be relatively thin on the ground and/or spread about. I'm going to try and document my 'journey' in one thread, with all the things I needed to consider and buy easily visible.
So, here goes...!
I'm fairly new to MX-5s, got one at the start of the year and have done one trackday at Blyton in it (video - me driving from 7:13 onwards), but have done about a dozen track days over the last couple of years. I still find them great fun, but I am one of those people who likes to try and better myself, and learn new stuff.
My thought process went something like this:
Trackdays are great, but what's next?
Sprints? Hmm. Not great value in terms of £/minute of driving. Need all the safety kit too which isn't all that cheap.
Racing? Hmm. Can end up a bit 'wallet racing'. Not keen on that. Still need all the safety kit... Much better £/minute than sprints though, and can always use the car for trackdays too.
So - racing it is. What's a relatively cheap series where the cars are controlled by fairly strict regulations, and it's not going to just end up with a 'who can spend the most money wins' scenario? Looked at stuff like Formula Vee (single seaters, based on the old aircooled VW Beetle), Formula Ford, Trackday Trophy... then realised I had already driven an MX-5 on track. and it was a bloody brilliant car.
I found out that Ma5da and Max5 were the two series for MX-5s, and while both seem to use a very similar car there appear to be subtle differences. Ma5da has televised races, more sponsorship and seems to be more competitive, whereas Max5 have smaller grids and it looks a bit more chilled out.*
(*Just my feelings after doing some research - I can sense some 'bad blood' between the two championships which I don't want to delve into or drag up!)
For my first racing experiences, Max5 definitely seemed the way to go. With so much to learn already, having less other cars muscling their way past certainly seems like it will make it a bit less stressful!
Ok, so I've decided which series to enter. Time to start looking at cars. Prices seem to vary from around £5k up to £7k, depending on how new the car is and what spec it's got.
All the cars eligible for the series have the same roll cage, tyres, wheels, suspension, no upgraded anti roll bars, very few engine modifications are allowed, no bodywork mods (splitters, flat floors, etc), a plumbed in fire extinguisher, standard calipers and discs etc, but bits like the harnesses, seat, condition of bodywork, exhaust, previous race results and so on seem to dictate the prices.
The spec the cars have to meet is listed in the regulations document, which can be found here.
After a bit more research, I found out there were cars available to 'Arrive & Drive', at pretty reasonable prices. 'rodders' on the forum (Paul Roddison), who runs Roddisons Motorsport, is well worth speaking to if you are interested in this.
Having spoken with a couple of other guys who compete in Max5, I hadn't heard anything but huge praise for everything Paul does, and so far my contact with him has been extremely positive too. Even if it's a weekend or evening, he is always happy to chat!
Anyway, I looked at the costings involved to give it a try for one race or so (more on that later), and decided that I would just go for it. The cars, although initially they seem relatively expensive for a 20-year old vehicle, are extremely well specced and they hold their value amazingly providing you don't bend them!
I'd posted in the Max5 Racing thread saying I was interested in having a go, and Chris (SEO Musketeer) sent me a PM and offered further help (it's his first season too), and a few other chaps were also straight in there with their phone numbers for chats and assistance.
The guys usually get a few paddock passes for each race weekend and these were offered to me free of charge so I could come along and watch. Very friendly, thank you - exactly what you need when trying to get into something completely new!
After an hour on the phone (and a load of PMs) to Chris and a good half hour to Paul (who informed me of a car he had for sale...), my mind was made up. I wanted to get into Max5. You only live once, and that can be taken away/jeopardised so flippin' quickly (this last year has taught me that), so I decided it was all systems go.
Some thinking and an excited sleepless night later, I sent Paul a text asking if I would be able to leave a deposit on the car he had for sale:
From here there was no going back! Time to research into what licenses and safety stuff I would need...
I'm still not 100% on the procedure for getting licensed and registered, but it seems to be something like this (anyone feel free to correct me! Don't want to be responsible for misleading information):
- MSA 'Go Racing' pack: £65
- ARDS Test (for National B License): ~£250
- Medical (some tracks have the facility, or your GP): ~£50-100
Edit: Quick update - the medical should be done BEFORE the ARDS test, and the certificate taken with you to the ARDS test so they can sign it all off properly.
Once the above three are done, send the forms off to the MSA with a cheque for ~£51 and your license arrives a few weeks later. Until you hit 45, when you need a yearly medical, it's just the £51 a year fee to keep the license active, which isn't too bad.
Also needed is Max5 championship registration: £75, details are on max5racing.com.
So, my pack is now on the way and I'll be booking an ARDS asap. Looking to try and race at Anglesey on 16th & 17th June, I know the circuit(s) pretty well already so I figure that will reduce the amount of learning... Gonna be tight on time though!
Kit you'll need:
- Snell 2005 (or above) approved helmet. The V2 Pro is about the cheapest available at ~£150 IIRC.
- Race suit, gloves and boots to meet FIA 8856-2000. These don't have an expiry date (but scrutineers could refuse if they look too tatty), so you can get 2nd hand stuff pretty cheap. Also recommended are Nomex (fireproof materal) socks, balaclava and underwear. You can get this stuff from places like Demon Tweeks, plays-kool.co.uk or eBay.
I managed to find a chap who had recently given up sprinting so did me a good deal for all his old gear - £400 for everything required (not bad considering the helmet was less than a year old and £750s worth when new!). Trawl a few sprint club forums and something will pop up I'm sure.
Next: Go and watch at Croft this coming weekend, get the car, try and get it on a track day before Anglesey, and get my ARDS passed. I'll try and update this thread as and when anything interesting happens
Cheers!
Adam
PS: If you read all that, I owe you a biscuit :cheers:
Hello all,
After reading Alan's blog on mx5nutz forum (here), I decided it would be good to do something similar, since the amount of info available for people looking to get into Max5 Racing seems to be relatively thin on the ground and/or spread about. I'm going to try and document my 'journey' in one thread, with all the things I needed to consider and buy easily visible.
So, here goes...!
I'm fairly new to MX-5s, got one at the start of the year and have done one trackday at Blyton in it (video - me driving from 7:13 onwards), but have done about a dozen track days over the last couple of years. I still find them great fun, but I am one of those people who likes to try and better myself, and learn new stuff.
My thought process went something like this:
Trackdays are great, but what's next?
Sprints? Hmm. Not great value in terms of £/minute of driving. Need all the safety kit too which isn't all that cheap.
Racing? Hmm. Can end up a bit 'wallet racing'. Not keen on that. Still need all the safety kit... Much better £/minute than sprints though, and can always use the car for trackdays too.
So - racing it is. What's a relatively cheap series where the cars are controlled by fairly strict regulations, and it's not going to just end up with a 'who can spend the most money wins' scenario? Looked at stuff like Formula Vee (single seaters, based on the old aircooled VW Beetle), Formula Ford, Trackday Trophy... then realised I had already driven an MX-5 on track. and it was a bloody brilliant car.
I found out that Ma5da and Max5 were the two series for MX-5s, and while both seem to use a very similar car there appear to be subtle differences. Ma5da has televised races, more sponsorship and seems to be more competitive, whereas Max5 have smaller grids and it looks a bit more chilled out.*
(*Just my feelings after doing some research - I can sense some 'bad blood' between the two championships which I don't want to delve into or drag up!)
For my first racing experiences, Max5 definitely seemed the way to go. With so much to learn already, having less other cars muscling their way past certainly seems like it will make it a bit less stressful!
Ok, so I've decided which series to enter. Time to start looking at cars. Prices seem to vary from around £5k up to £7k, depending on how new the car is and what spec it's got.
All the cars eligible for the series have the same roll cage, tyres, wheels, suspension, no upgraded anti roll bars, very few engine modifications are allowed, no bodywork mods (splitters, flat floors, etc), a plumbed in fire extinguisher, standard calipers and discs etc, but bits like the harnesses, seat, condition of bodywork, exhaust, previous race results and so on seem to dictate the prices.
The spec the cars have to meet is listed in the regulations document, which can be found here.
After a bit more research, I found out there were cars available to 'Arrive & Drive', at pretty reasonable prices. 'rodders' on the forum (Paul Roddison), who runs Roddisons Motorsport, is well worth speaking to if you are interested in this.
Having spoken with a couple of other guys who compete in Max5, I hadn't heard anything but huge praise for everything Paul does, and so far my contact with him has been extremely positive too. Even if it's a weekend or evening, he is always happy to chat!
Anyway, I looked at the costings involved to give it a try for one race or so (more on that later), and decided that I would just go for it. The cars, although initially they seem relatively expensive for a 20-year old vehicle, are extremely well specced and they hold their value amazingly providing you don't bend them!
I'd posted in the Max5 Racing thread saying I was interested in having a go, and Chris (SEO Musketeer) sent me a PM and offered further help (it's his first season too), and a few other chaps were also straight in there with their phone numbers for chats and assistance.
The guys usually get a few paddock passes for each race weekend and these were offered to me free of charge so I could come along and watch. Very friendly, thank you - exactly what you need when trying to get into something completely new!
After an hour on the phone (and a load of PMs) to Chris and a good half hour to Paul (who informed me of a car he had for sale...), my mind was made up. I wanted to get into Max5. You only live once, and that can be taken away/jeopardised so flippin' quickly (this last year has taught me that), so I decided it was all systems go.
Some thinking and an excited sleepless night later, I sent Paul a text asking if I would be able to leave a deposit on the car he had for sale:
From here there was no going back! Time to research into what licenses and safety stuff I would need...
I'm still not 100% on the procedure for getting licensed and registered, but it seems to be something like this (anyone feel free to correct me! Don't want to be responsible for misleading information):
- MSA 'Go Racing' pack: £65
- ARDS Test (for National B License): ~£250
- Medical (some tracks have the facility, or your GP): ~£50-100
Edit: Quick update - the medical should be done BEFORE the ARDS test, and the certificate taken with you to the ARDS test so they can sign it all off properly.
Once the above three are done, send the forms off to the MSA with a cheque for ~£51 and your license arrives a few weeks later. Until you hit 45, when you need a yearly medical, it's just the £51 a year fee to keep the license active, which isn't too bad.
Also needed is Max5 championship registration: £75, details are on max5racing.com.
So, my pack is now on the way and I'll be booking an ARDS asap. Looking to try and race at Anglesey on 16th & 17th June, I know the circuit(s) pretty well already so I figure that will reduce the amount of learning... Gonna be tight on time though!
Kit you'll need:
- Snell 2005 (or above) approved helmet. The V2 Pro is about the cheapest available at ~£150 IIRC.
- Race suit, gloves and boots to meet FIA 8856-2000. These don't have an expiry date (but scrutineers could refuse if they look too tatty), so you can get 2nd hand stuff pretty cheap. Also recommended are Nomex (fireproof materal) socks, balaclava and underwear. You can get this stuff from places like Demon Tweeks, plays-kool.co.uk or eBay.
I managed to find a chap who had recently given up sprinting so did me a good deal for all his old gear - £400 for everything required (not bad considering the helmet was less than a year old and £750s worth when new!). Trawl a few sprint club forums and something will pop up I'm sure.
Next: Go and watch at Croft this coming weekend, get the car, try and get it on a track day before Anglesey, and get my ARDS passed. I'll try and update this thread as and when anything interesting happens
Cheers!
Adam
PS: If you read all that, I owe you a biscuit :cheers:
