Track Racing! How??

ChroniC

ChroniC

ChroniC

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18 Oct 2002
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Having always want to be involved in some sort of racing since I have been able to drive (maybe longer) and after a single seater and several super car track days, I have come to conclusion that I need to some how start.
A friend of mine is also interested and I am hoping to convince others. I know a very good mechanic that could do any and all work as part of the team.

Now that said I am not necessarily atm looking to race in events, just be part of track days, and am looking for advice having never done anything like this before.
With a cost of sub 5k+ I have looked about but I just don't know the full cost involved.

Things I have thought of.

-115cc Go karting.
-Mx5 turbo'd track car
-Single seater Formula Vee.

Each has it merits and it's problems, ones I know about and ones I don't probably.

* The go karting is guarenteed to be a hoot, and probably the cheapest, but obviously the least safe, and we would require a trailer or similar to transport it. A kart, unbelievably is more expensive that a crap Mx5 (not including turbokit) but doesnt need modifying.

* A cheap modified car, most probably an mx5, since they are cheap rwd and easy to mod, seems like an idea, but then you have the hassle of insurance mot, etc, unless you sorn it, but then you have the hassle of trailers etc.
Although this one could be the cheapest, it could also turn into the most expensive when we get modification madness. More speed!!!!

*Lastly and my most favourite, is getting a 3k-5k single seater.
I want to do this one so badly, with maybe the possibility of one day racing. Obviously this one is the most expensive, but the fastest and most fun, imo.

I don't really know the cost of trackdays, and I live in Portsmouth on the southcoast, so have some if not quite a few tracks about this area. I have search a bit but have found it hard to find out the cost of a full day. I think around 150quid per person, or about 300 or 400 a car, then I don't know the cost of insurance on the track for any of the above vehicles. Really I am a bit naive and need a little help before I scrap my dreams or save more money.
Soooo OcUK, how would you weigh up the pro's and cons. Cheap verse slow, fun vs cost, ease vs safety. Etc etc.
 
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When I did my track day it was £129 plus £10 for a passenger (who also drove my car), but that was in December. Fog delayed it by an hour plus it was quite slippery.

I think it's normally between £199 to £299 a day depending on the company/time etc.

It's an expensive hobby and that's before you account for wear and tear, fuel etc. I personally didn't have track day insurance as my Type R is probably only worth £2k, if it was worth £5k I probably would, but I have no idea how much it costs.

I would imagine to be part of a race series you're going to need to budget about £400-£500 per 'race' and I would imagine there must be 10+ races a season, so you're looking at £thousands a year, not £hundreds.

Edit: your budget of £3k-£5k might be a bit unrealistic for a single seater unless you opt for something other than a Westfield/Caterham but even still they'll have old Ford running gear and won't be mega fast, still be fun I'm sure.

I think a decent Westfield is about 6-7k+ and a Caterham add about 50% on top.
 
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Go karting is the only easy way imo to do proper racing.

I looked into this recently both racing in a saloon series and karting.

Car racing is not cheap, plus you would need a trailer to get the car to places. Or if you mean track days then these can cost upwards of £300 a day depending on where you go, plus fuel, hotel?, tyres and wear and tear.

I looked at Rotax max karting, the kart was sub 2k. You dont need to do tyres every round, engine rebuilds at 40 hours ish, track hire is unbelievably cheap. Also to test is just so cheap. Whilton Mill near me have test days every Wednesday, its £30 for the day to put your kart out there.


My track days I used to do would on average cost me £500 a day. £250 ish track hire, one R888 tyre every track day (using rotation) £160, fuel £100 and so on.
 
Isn't there a karting series where you pay 2k a year. Turn up and your race kart is provided for you? Can't remember the name! !
 
AndrewNR said:
When I did my track day it was £129 plus £10 for a passenger (who also drove my car), but that was in December. Fog delayed it by an hour plus it was quite slippery.

I think it's normally between £199 to £299 a day depending on the company/time etc.

It's an expensive hobby and that's before you account for wear and tear, fuel etc. I personally didn't have track day insurance as my Type R is probably only worth £2k, if it was worth £5k I probably would, but I have no idea how much it costs.

I would imagine to be part of a race series you're going to need to budget about £400-£500 per 'race' and I would imagine there must be 10+ races a season, so you're looking at £thousands a year, not £hundreds.

Edit: your budget of £3k-£5k might be a bit unrealistic for a single seater unless you opt for something other than a Westfield/Caterham but even still they'll have old Ford running gear and won't be mega fast, still be fun I'm sure.

I think a decent Westfield is about 6-7k+ and a Caterham add about 50% on top.
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The Formula vee are 0-60 in 4.5secs and 130 top end. It feels twice that though, which is the appeal to me. There is one for sale on Pistonheads for 3.5 atm. http://www.pistonheads.com/classifi...eaters/--spyder-formula-vee-for-sale/1795690#
I would probably not be looking at using it in race seasons due to cost, but instead just funding it with friends for track days at our leisure. That would be the same for all the cars except maybe the go kart as it would be cheap, but frankly I can't be bothered with all the transport to tracks around the uk.
 
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Track days will cost you anything from £100-£300 depending on the time of year and circuit. Forget about second drivers imo, this will drastically dent your seat time and/or lead to arguments. You will get through a lot of fuel, tyres and brakes so budget for that too, at very least £100 for the day.

MR2 and MX5 racing is a good shout for low budget grass roots racing, forget about wild modifications and turbocharging though, you need to build the car to the series regulations. Typically this would be stock engine and body, spec tyres, suspension free, MSA spec cage. Realistically you will want to trailer the car, race car on the road won't be fun and if you break it during a meeting you are screwed without.

I would imagine that the single seater option would be an expensive game, and you would most likely be walking into an ass whooping. Many public trackdays will not allow these if you planned on that.

Don't know about karting, probably the best way to have fun racing without a sizeable budget.
 
Track days with something cheap and then move into the Trackday Trophy.

A single seated won't be allowed anywhere other than race events or testing days which aren't for the casual guy looking for fun.
 
Skeeter said:
Track days with something cheap and then move into the Trackday Trophy.

A single seated won't be allowed anywhere other than race events or testing days which aren't for the casual guy looking for fun.
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I had thought this may be the case, :( Which is a huge shame as I thought motorbikes and cars mixed. Maybe they don't either. Dear god I want to race these things. I need to win some money bad. :D

How much fun can be had with a car that's not that powerful?? This is my issue atm.
I have only ever done things with a lot more ooomp than I can afford, but essentially buying a crap car stripping it out and paying 300-400quid between some friends to rag it to death round a track.
 
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My experience of kart racing doesn't extend beyond your typical 4 stroke hire kart so I can't add much there other than chose your series carefully, from what I've seen karting can easily get as expensive as full size racing if you're in a particularly competitive series and there are no measures in place in the rules to keep costs down

Don't even think about circuit racing until you've got plenty of trackday experience. Compared to trackdays racing will be more expensive by an order of magnitude so you are much better off doing as much of your learning as you can in the cheaper trackday environment. The only consideration you want to give to racing at the moment is to possibly identify a series you might want to race in eventually so that you can buy a suitable car now and start to build it to a spec that will be eligible once you make the step up.

If you're following the above path you then need to stay away from open wheeled single seaters, you'll struggle to find a trackday that will let you run one. If a conventional production car doesn't appeal then you'd be better off with a caterham or other seven of some kind as it's the closest thing you'll get to the single seater experience whilst still being able to do track days

If you want the competitive element with lower costs and no risk of someone else's mistake trashing your car then look at other forms of Motorsport such as sprinting (which I've done for the last 6 years) or hillclimbing
 
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I don't think any for of motorsport is 'cheap'. Well worth the £ though :) rather than worry about speed of any potential road car, I concentrate on finding a good instructor. No point in having a fast car if you can't drive a slow car at its limit IMO.
 
Skeeter said:
Being snobbish about power is the wrong attitude to have.

Have you ever done a track day (in your own car)?
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It wasn't meant to be snobby, but no i haven't. I suppose I was just comparing the level of fun between a lambo and a single seater. A fraction of the price but easily more fun imo. I suppose the reality of it is, being in the mx5 for an hour is going to be as fun as a single seater for a few laps.
I would love to do something with an instructor.
 
ChroniC said:
The Formula vee are 0-60 in 4.5secs and 130 top end. It feels twice that though, which is the appeal to me. There is one for sale on Pistonheads for 3.5 atm. http://www.pistonheads.com/classifi...eaters/--spyder-formula-vee-for-sale/1795690#
I would probably not be looking at using it in race seasons due to cost, but instead just funding it with friends for track days at our leisure. That would be the same for all the cars except maybe the go kart as it would be cheap, but frankly I can't be bothered with all the transport to tracks around the uk.
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As mentioned after this I'm not sure how viable this 'car' would be on a normal track day.

1. I'd feel a bit of a knob driving it.
2. It can't be used on the road so will require a trailer.
3. If you bin it there's a good chance you'll end up breaking something other than the car (looks less safe than a Caterfield).

But for its purpose (race series) I'm sure it's great if you have a pretty decent level of driving skill and can afford/have the time to compete.

http://www.750mc.co.uk/ugc-1/1/28/0/4cf04ac6-af96-4088-82e9-6f6788197271.pdf suggests there are quite a lot of races.
 
ChroniC said:
It wasn't meant to be snobby, but no i haven't. I suppose I was just comparing the level of fun between a lambo and a single seater. A fraction of the price but easily more fun imo. I suppose the reality of it is, being in the mx5 for an hour is going to be as fun as a single seater for a few laps.
I would love to do something with an instructor.
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A track day in any car is fun. I've only done one in my EP3 at Snetterton and it was great fun. Sure there were faster cars (E46 M3s, Caterfields), although not many. There were also a lot of other cars I could keep up with (new Minis, RX8, Saxo etc).

There was one Lambo there (ST10 LAM if anybody wants to find out which type), that was pretty sweet. Although he went home when the fog kicked in.
 
When you race you will have an accident at some point, regardless of fault. I prefer to remove the risk of other competitors hitting my pride and joy and do sprints and hill climbs. It's all about you and the clock, if you want to make it competitive then try and win your class. If you crash, it's your fault :)

My single seater cost me 5k and I've done 2 seasons with it and loved every second of it. Having owned an mx5 turbo, mr2 turbo and currently an S2000 nothing compares to the speed and grip a single seater has. - Not me but my favorite hillclimb - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdXtIt4xd_Y
 
Remember if you want to actually race in competition you will need to join the MSA and then get your licence signed off (not sure how it works for circuit racing as I drag race).

You won't need an MSA race licence for track days of course as that is not actually racing (same as RWYB on a drag strip isn't racing) it all depends on how far you want to take it.
 
As some have already recommended, get a cheap proven track day car (e36, mx5, 172/182, saxo, 106 et) and just have some fun while learning how to drive on track. Most of those cars have series they can be raced in too. Don't dive straight into racing unless your pockets are seriously deep and you like losing!

Track day costs depend on circuit, time of year and format. For example, Brands Hatch GP open pit lane on a saturday in the middle of summer is going to be £500 odd, where as Brands Hatch Indy open pit lane, on a week day in early feb/march is going to be £100. Most performance car insurance companies offer track day insurance and again depends on circuit and the car. I've never had track insurance, but from memory i believe it ranges from £60-£200 per day. Petrol cost will obviously depend on the car and track size. I normally do 1.5-2 tanks of fuel. I use race pads and tyres, and normally change these every 4-5 track days (although my car is very light so they don't do much work :p ) Tyres, pads and discs all round are about £650 for the clio.

Do a few track days in what ever car you buy BEFORE modifying it. It will give you a good idea of where the weaknesses lie and what needs upgraded. Generally speaking though, standard discs/pads will get cooked after 5-6 laps, and you will probably ruin a set of road tyres in one day. So it may make sense to upgrade these with some decent brake fluid too(ATE super blue!).
 
A single seater paid for out of your own pocket on track with pros when you have no experience doesn't sound fun, it sounds terrifying!

Like alexisonfire says, buy something cheap and give it a go, and progress from there. There's a reason why track day pitlanes are full of MX5s and Clios.

Side note, you wouldn't be allowed to use that Formula Vee at track days. Most frown upon slick shod race cars anyway, but none at all allow open wheelers. That would strictly be test days and hired venues only.
 
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