Low Cost Motorsport

[Brynmor]

Hope no-one minds but I wondered what peoples' perceptions of 'low cost' where...?
To me it's £100 to £150 entry fees and a good days sport be it road rally/hillcimb/sprint, however it seems i'm not with the times in that I don't consider the several thousand ££ entries for a touring assembly/prolonged regularity type event good value???Indeed in my world and that of my friends those sort of figures are just totally out of reach.

Is this where the Mini world is starting to fall apart in that it's becoming an area for the well off and the clubman has become very marginalised?

I look forward to any thoughts..

Cheers
Bryn

[austinisuseless]

It is the governmental red tape that is pushing costs up these days, and mental it is. Bluddy civil servents!

You can't fart in public these days without having a licence to fart!

[Dino]

£10 for a 12 car, an 'autotest' type field event, maybe the odd PCT. ~£60 for a night rally.
That's about what I reckon is cheap 'grassroots' motorsport.
I totally agree about the extended 'classic rallies' I'd love to drive over the Stelvio etc. but no way could I be paying out £x,000's just for the entry fee, I don't have that kind of disposable income.

[littler]

the dews hillclimb and sprint stuff is about £75 an event, £30 or so to join the club and championship , i cant allwase afford to do the double header weekends, but its good on fuel at like £5 for an event and tyres go a long way!!

once you have the licence/helmet and suit ect its fairly cheap.you just dont get alot of seat time, its a good day out though.

[JC T ONE]

The thing that really gets me, is the cost on gear for the cars

and then when you have finally saved enough money, and got it all, they soon after tell you to change it all again
I mean how many times does a safety belt in a racing car get opened / closed in a season??
take that & compare it to your average TAXI driver????
if he was to obay the same rules, he had to change seatbelt every morning before starting to work

[littler]

yer, that stuff is just to keep people in business

there was an independant specilist i beleve did research into seat belts,

they where tracking down belts up to 20 years old and they where still considerd safe.

its mostly jobs for the boys.....

[mk1rally]

Yes, I feel your pain and am going through a real justification process at the mo.
I've posted on another forum the same.

I do (or maybe did!!) tarmac rallying after starting with hillclimbing many moons ago. Now tarmac rallying is really getting crazy, I had to kick the historic stuff into touch because of the just increadble cost's, opens were more realistic and there is more flexibilty for the car spec (and often therefore cheaper overall).

I'm toying with just doing some track days this year and maybe the odd climb/sprint. Are 12 cars limited on specifciation, ie, could I run my modified cooper?

Historc road rallying proved awkward as they often frowned on door squares, intercom (which I need!!) and a cage..but I really just wanted the car to be able to be used for multiple types of event, instead of one set of regs and rules. Maybe I'm asking too much, I just want to enjoy it.

[JC T ONE]

Maybe I'm asking too much, I just want to enjoy it.

I agree, thats why I also just do a little Hillclimb, the other types of race, are too expensive

[Red Mist]

My outlook on racing is now 'how much track time do I get for my money'?

When I raced in '08, I paid a €345 entry fee for a 10min practice and 2 15min races. The add fuel for the tow car, fuel for the race car etc and it all adds up.

Track days seem to offer the best value for money nowadays from what I can see. Just last Sunday a pal of mine did an open lane track day in Mondello (full international circuit) with his Mini. He paid €100 and got 3 hours track time!!! He had a blast too even though he wasn't racing against anyone! Very hard to compete with in my opinon.

[wil_h]

TBH I don't even class trackdays as motorsport. I've done a few in the past but they do little for me, there's no challange, no insentive to push to the limit.

Hillclimbing is surely the worst track-time-to-entry-cost motor sport, but IMO it is good value. I typically spend £200 per event and enjoy every minute.

[mk1rally]

I agree,thereis not a lot of "sport" in it, your only against yourself to improve a line or brake later but it still gives you the opertunity to dust it off for a while. I must have done over 40 miles at my last one, mostly flat out!!

I just wish there could be some sort of series that didn't cost the earth and you managed to get more that 10 mins competative running all day.

[wil_h]

what you need is 24h 2CV racing, seriously

http://www.2cvracing.co.uk/technical/the-24-hour-race

[mk1rally]

Now wouldn't that be fun in a stock mini 1000 with 10" wheels. Cheap motorsport with no mods allowed apart from safety.

[Dino]

... Are 12 cars limited on specifciation, ie, could I run my modified cooper?
...
Historc road rallying proved awkward as they often frowned on door squares, intercom (which I need!!) and a cage.....

12 cars are quite free, the basic rules allow pretty much any road legal car, as long as it passes noise and doesn't have any signwriting. You should check with your local club though as some don't like highly modified cars and put in extra restrictions.
You're not generally allowed intercoms - you say you 'need one' - if you have a hearing condition you can get dispensation from the MSA, otherwise you'll just have to make the car quieter!

[davidnutland]

Low cost motor sport, start with autotest and slalom events (auto solo) inproves your car control, most other types of event will never fall into the low cost catagory. To make my car legal for this season I need new belts, seat, I will need new overals, club membership, series registration, MSA licence, medical examination not to mention new tyres, probably the best part of £2000.00 before it turns a wheel! Plus entry fees, tow car, trailer, petrol, B&B's, ongoing development, running costs etc..... getting depressed now!!

Probably doing some speed events and the odd auto solo this year.

If you can afford it do it!


David

[mk1]

Undoubtedly the costs of practically all motor sport has rocketed over the last few years. With the honourable exception of Night Roady 12 car events & Autotests as has already been said.

When Historic racing & rallying started 25 or so years ago it was to get away from big budget racing & sponsorship, unfortunately it seems to attract more of this than the modern events do. Hill climbing seems to be suffering from the law of diminishing returns at the moment. There are less people doing it so the costs go up to cover the overheads so less people do it because it costs so much to do, & on it goes.

The fact is that if we want to get involved in any sort of motor sport it is NOT CHEAP.

The truth is it never has been.

I tend to agree with wil_h & littler that a days hillclimbing for £150 - 200 all in with very little wear & tear to worry about & little chance of a monumental off still represents the best value for money competitive motor sport out there. I hope to be doing a bit of something again soon. Maybe in the Speedwell car when its done.

I love to watch historic racing & love the atmosphere in the paddock even more, but running the red peril for a season nearly bankrupted me, add to that the total lack of holidays that year & not seeing my wife & son much too made it a VERY EXPENSIVE year that I can't repeat unless I become a much wealthier man than I am now.

I also agree with the comments that have been made re track days. These can be fun under the right circumstances but they are certainly NOT motor sport as I understand it.

[tomkidd]

We should set up our own illegal historic street racing championship?

[wil_h]

It's interesting Mark that you say historics was setup 25 years ago to get away from big budget stuff. I guess 25 years on the historic cars are now more pricey. The modern equivalent is probably stock hatch ect where mods are minimal and entries cheap(ish) with good grids.

I can't get that excited about racing and XR2 though!

[Pete]

Anyone doing/done HSCC care to comment, looks the most affordable way into circuit racing for historics ? Can't imagine the hordes of Imp drivers are all millionaires. It's going to be interesting to see the size of the grids this year, the economic climate being as it is, and I wonder whether there's too many different historic race series when you include Masters, GTCC and CTCRC ?

[acespeed72]

HSCC is the best value historic race series really with great paddock atmospere and good events