Motorsport

bored_of_debt

Any one here into their motorsport?? Cars, Karts and Bikes??

I love most things with an engine (hence my £20K debt I got myself into - lifes so boring now I have no cars, karts or bikes!!) and dream of racing competatively but all I can afford is a bit of karting here and there in hire karts...

Does anyone here race and manage to do it at a reasonably competative level for an 'affordable price' if there is such a possibility??

I really wanna get into it but don't really know where to start on such a tight budget? When my debts gone i'll probably have £1k a month, but for something like formula ford I will need about £50K+ for a season...

Any ideas or have I lost everyone??

Nile

Hello bored of debt

I'll move your thread to the 'Motoring & Public Transport' board.

Hi, Martin’s asked me to post this in these circumstances: I’ve asked Board Guides to move threads if they’ll receive a better response elsewhere(please see this rule) so this post/thread has been moved to another board, where it should get more replies. If you have any questions about this policy please email [EMAIL="abuse@moneysavingexpert.com"]abuse@moneysavingexpert.com[/EMAIL].

Regards

Nile

hartcjhart

start off in proper kart racing,get a good name(results) then look for sponsorship and move into FF or similar

Keith

Hill Climbing, 205 Gti 1.9 and find a local club?

smartsuit

Find your local Motorclub, Ours costs a fiver for the year!
One of the cheapest forms of motorsportis Rallying believe it or not!
Our club run regular 12 car rallies that cost about £10 to enter. You can do those in your normal road car. 12 car rallies are mainly a navigational exercise so its good for map reading skills, somthing that seems to be forgotten now with satnavs.
From there progress onto Road Rallies (night events) again, you can if you want compete in your road car but it is advisable to buy a car for it as some of the routes can be rough. you only need basic car preparation but can compete in a stage rally prepared car.
Rallying is in my opinion a lot less boring and more down to earth that circuit racing etc and is a lot less expensive.

bored_of_debt

Thanks for your responses guys; it seems there are some forms of 'cheaper' motorsport out there. The rallying sounds good, was thinking it might be worth going in with a mate to start with and take turns, helping with cost and the initial start up etc...

I've also been reading up on club 100 karting events, although it's still hire kart racing they provide you with a 2-stroke kart on a birel chassis for the days racing which will get me me away from heavy 4-stroke karting! If I can get some results then maybe I can move on from there...

Sometimes I wish I prefered football or ruggers to petrol!! It'd be so much easier and cheaper!! lol

goldspanners

i woud love to do some sort of rallying,but unfortunatly i dont have the space to keep and prep a car properly,a bit of a pain.

hartcjhart

A decent outfit should be available for a round a grand(second hand)

I use to race in the 100cc class and by god did these things move doing around the 80/90mph with your bum an inch of the tarmac was terrific.

there is was a good mag called 'Karting' with loads of info and second hand ads or try here for info.

http://www.karting.co.uk/KandK/index.html

stumpjumper

could always try marshalling while your waiting to save up.

Its free to do, and new volunteers are always welcomed. Guessing your nearest circuits being Brands Hatch, Lydden and Goodwood.
Try searching for the ten/tenths forum which has a marshaling section and the British Marshals club - BMMC
All you really need is enthusiasm to join the Orange Army on the Bank. Bonus is you get free tickets to any race you volunteer to marshal (unless they are over subscribed for events like the BTCC) and when you've collected enough signatures on your grading card to upgrade from Trainee Marshal to Experianced Marshal (min of 10 sigs on the card and training day sigs) you are eligable to apply to marshal the British Grand Prix - which means you get a weekend ticket for yourself and a guest - tho you are expected to Marshal the practice session on Thursday and friday as well as the Qaulifying on Saturday as well as the race on Sunday (camping ground is provided)

in terms of cheap series - Minis and Mighty Minis, the MaX5, Westfield, Ginettas, the 750MC club have several series for low budgets from Formula Vee single seaters (based on VW beetle parts), Stock Hatchs (205/AX/Clio/Fiesta type) etc.

bored_of_debt

Thanks again people,

goldspanners - i'm in a similar boat to you with regards to the space issue still living at home with the olds and haven't got a garage or space to store or prep a car so i'd have to look for somewhere else if I did go for a car.

hartcjhart - your dead right i know what you mean, we had a few tkm's back in school and they were rapid, I bought a rotax max about 6 months ago but stupidly didn't look at the cost of racing competatively (doh) so decided to sell it on . I actually bought it from karting mag for a bargain price!!

stuntjumper - I never really thought of marshalling, luckily my best mate works at brands so I spend half my life there foc but it would probably be good/fun experience to marshall and meet a few people aswell, plus as you say i'd get to go to other circuits and events aswell!!

I've googled some of the series you mentioned also and they all look good and reachable once i've got a bit of cash behind me - in time.

I had a chat with the old man and he suggested that I do the club 100 for a while (when money allows until my debt is cleared of course), and save my money up to move on from there after a year or so... don't think that sounds like to bad an idea??

smartsuit

Marshaling is another thing you can do in Rallying. I marshal at least once a month, sometime everyweekend.
I am a sector official on Rally GB and part of the organisation team on that event plus numerous local events.
The best thing for you to do is join your local motorclub, try to find one that covers a few different aspects of motorsport.
I am sure you will find yourself a navigators ride very quickly on a road rally, then you can see what its all about before you move to the other side of the car. The good thing with rallying is that it is a 2 person per car sport so the costs are shared.
A few clubs in your neck of the woods are on this map, click on it fr details of clubs in the area. http://www.asemc.org.uk/locmap.htm