Thinking of starting Sprinting - advice please
Discussion
Guys,
Have had to give up scuba diving on medical advice (doesn't affect driving or anything else)
- but by the time I've sold all my kit and moved house etc. I should have a bit of spare cash to buy a new toy 
Thinking of getting a 7-esque kit car as a toy, and trying to get back into motorsport (my first passion) and have been pondering doing a bit of sprinting.
Not sure whether to go car or bike engined though, would also be used on the road.
What sort of budget would I be looking at? probably wouldn't do a full season due to family/kids etc.
What sort of restrictions are there on BEC's, will also be moving to Staffordshire so not too far from Curborough - is it worth attending there sprint school?
Cheers
Have had to give up scuba diving on medical advice (doesn't affect driving or anything else)
- but by the time I've sold all my kit and moved house etc. I should have a bit of spare cash to buy a new toy Thinking of getting a 7-esque kit car as a toy, and trying to get back into motorsport (my first passion) and have been pondering doing a bit of sprinting.
Not sure whether to go car or bike engined though, would also be used on the road.
What sort of budget would I be looking at? probably wouldn't do a full season due to family/kids etc.
What sort of restrictions are there on BEC's, will also be moving to Staffordshire so not too far from Curborough - is it worth attending there sprint school?
Cheers
Likewise after 15yrs scuba diving / instructing all came to an end on medical grounds, So what do i do now
Go sprinting, never looked back, just love it, only a few minutes in the car (downside)but such full on concentration,and unlike a track day where i was burning around 70+lts of fuel now only burn around 8 lts on circuit (upside)car is trailered as i run in a none road legal class.
Would advise join a club get you Nat B licience and get to a sprint school and enjoy
Go sprinting, never looked back, just love it, only a few minutes in the car (downside)but such full on concentration,and unlike a track day where i was burning around 70+lts of fuel now only burn around 8 lts on circuit (upside)car is trailered as i run in a none road legal class.
Would advise join a club get you Nat B licience and get to a sprint school and enjoy
Costs will obviously depend on the car your running. I currently compete in the over 2600cc prod car class with an Evo 6 rs and budget for around £200 per event. That doesn't cover wear and tear or and mechanical/accidental damage though.
You may find this link useful: http://www.britishsprint.org/
You may find this link useful: http://www.britishsprint.org/
Suggest that you have a good read of the relevant regs before making a car decision. Other good links are:
http://www.hillclimbandsprint.co.uk/
http://www.midlandspeed.org.uk/
There's a Caterham series also.
Can be done all very cheaply if you're just doing the odd local event, especially if using a road car.
http://www.hillclimbandsprint.co.uk/
http://www.midlandspeed.org.uk/
There's a Caterham series also.
Can be done all very cheaply if you're just doing the odd local event, especially if using a road car.
Hi
There's plenty of venues to choose from sprint wise MIRA, Aintree, 3 Sisters and if you add in the the Hillclimbs too Shelsley & Loton are all just down the road.
The running costs don't really change much as you go from class to class, it really depends what you want to do.
If you want to keep it really simple, you could just buy a MX5 amd do the hillclimb and sprint association championship in the MX5 class, drive it to and from the events and there's plenty of rounds locally to get a championship finishing position too if you wanted.
If you went down the 'locaterfield' route again there no problem driving them too and from the events (did it myself for several seasons), but do check that the car you're looking at has a windscreen, and if bike engined has reverse (the windscreen is a north west / midlands local rule for most events, reverse in road going is a full MSA rule)
And theres all the other road going saloons too, plus there's Elises or the Porsche Club champs etc etc.
Best bet is to come along to a few local events and have a chat to the folks there and see what you fancy - Shelsley this weekend BTW..
There's plenty of venues to choose from sprint wise MIRA, Aintree, 3 Sisters and if you add in the the Hillclimbs too Shelsley & Loton are all just down the road.
The running costs don't really change much as you go from class to class, it really depends what you want to do.
If you want to keep it really simple, you could just buy a MX5 amd do the hillclimb and sprint association championship in the MX5 class, drive it to and from the events and there's plenty of rounds locally to get a championship finishing position too if you wanted.
If you went down the 'locaterfield' route again there no problem driving them too and from the events (did it myself for several seasons), but do check that the car you're looking at has a windscreen, and if bike engined has reverse (the windscreen is a north west / midlands local rule for most events, reverse in road going is a full MSA rule)
And theres all the other road going saloons too, plus there's Elises or the Porsche Club champs etc etc.
Best bet is to come along to a few local events and have a chat to the folks there and see what you fancy - Shelsley this weekend BTW..
Woody said:
I'm guessing if I'm on a budget the best option is go for the unmodified/standard road spec type car?
Yes, the cheapest option especially if it's your everyday car or can be used for track days / weekends. Only problem is that the standard classes may not be well supported (so a lack of opposition) and some series don't have classes for completely standard cars.But should be fun whatever you do and in the first couple of years it would be about gaining experience rather than winning.
Dan Friel said:
Woody said:
I'm guessing if I'm on a budget the best option is go for the unmodified/standard road spec type car?
Yes, the cheapest option especially if it's your everyday car or can be used for track days / weekends. Only problem is that the standard classes may not be well supported (so a lack of opposition) and some series don't have classes for completely standard cars.But should be fun whatever you do and in the first couple of years it would be about gaining experience rather than winning.
I suppose an MX5 would be the sensible option as they can be had relatively cheaply. Does sticking a cage/harnesses and a Fire extinguisher mean you'd be in 'non-standard' production class?
Woody said:
I suppose an MX5 would be the sensible option as they can be had relatively cheaply. Does sticking a cage/harnesses and a Fire extinguisher mean you'd be in 'non-standard' production class?
They can all be used in the 'road going series' class not sure about the standard class. Not sure the MX5 would be the best option, last year I sprinted an S2000 in the up to 2.0 road going class and the MX5 which was driven by a much more experienced driver was often slower just due to a lack of power on comparison to the S2000. some of the hot hatches like the clio 197/200's would also have a significant power advantage over the MX5.
andye30m3 said:
Not sure the MX5 would be the best option, last year I sprinted an S2000 in the up to 2.0 road going class and the MX5 which was driven by a much more experienced driver was often slower just due to a lack of power on comparison to the S2000.
But the MX5 won the class in the AEMC Sprint Championship 
Haven't seen him around this year though.
carl_w said:
But the MX5 won the class in the AEMC Sprint Championship
Haven't seen him around this year though.
I've not seen much of mark this year either, think he was at the first north weald, I generally did the Tunbridge wells and some sevenoaks championships last year didn't enter the AEMC. Haven't seen him around this year though.
Mark would sometimes beat me on the airfields but the circuits the S2000 did well due to the extra power and I have no doubt Mark was a better driver.
Dave Westy said:
Hi Dave,Nice looking motor - if it's still araound when I'm all sorted move-wise I might be in touch.
What sort of results have you had with it?
Chris
No nuffink. Fill in the form, send the MSA a photo and the money and you're done.
BTW, sprinting has an even worse "preparation to doing" ratio than scuba diving (I used to dive, also). Instead of spending hours getting the kit ready, driving 2 hours to the dive site, spending 40 minutes in the water, driving 2 hours home again and spending 2 hours cleaning up, you spend hours getting the kit ready, drive 2 hours to the sprint site, spent 6 minutes competing, drive 2 hours home again and spend 2 hours cleaning up.
BTW, sprinting has an even worse "preparation to doing" ratio than scuba diving (I used to dive, also). Instead of spending hours getting the kit ready, driving 2 hours to the dive site, spending 40 minutes in the water, driving 2 hours home again and spending 2 hours cleaning up, you spend hours getting the kit ready, drive 2 hours to the sprint site, spent 6 minutes competing, drive 2 hours home again and spend 2 hours cleaning up.
Edited by Zumbruk on Wednesday 3rd August 14:48
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