Amateur Single Seaters?
Discussion
I was wondering if you guys might be able to shed some light on the club racing scene for single seaters. I've been thinking about getting back into racing for a while now, and have always been tempted to give single seaters a shot. What are the choices? Mainly I want a car with enough power to be exciting and some close racing on a budget. I'd aim for about 15k for the car to keep a decent running budget and allow me a reasonable towing car to go with it. I work away a lot, so a full calender would be a good bonus. I'm not looking to win championships or go further than this as I'm away too much to complete a whole season but would like close racing in similar cars.
Google doesn't seem to be my friend here, and a lot of the websites aren't really that clear on the types of drivers, and the format. What I've found so far is:
Formula Jedi:- seems to tick all the boxes
Formula ford:- Zetecs? Are duratecs available? what series? Are they all 15year old drivers trying to make it to F1?
Club Formula Renault:- Not much info on the cars or series
Club F3:- probably a touch out of budget but looks competitive and good cars
750ssc:- so much choice, I don't even know where to start
Monoposto:- much and such as above with less meetings?
There's a lot of info here, and it's hard to find a comparison. Is anyone able to give a quick overview of the real differences? What are the cars like, what are the opportunities for test days etc, etc. Any info that may be useful I'd love to hear.
Thanks.
Google doesn't seem to be my friend here, and a lot of the websites aren't really that clear on the types of drivers, and the format. What I've found so far is:
Formula Jedi:- seems to tick all the boxes
Formula ford:- Zetecs? Are duratecs available? what series? Are they all 15year old drivers trying to make it to F1?
Club Formula Renault:- Not much info on the cars or series
Club F3:- probably a touch out of budget but looks competitive and good cars
750ssc:- so much choice, I don't even know where to start
Monoposto:- much and such as above with less meetings?
There's a lot of info here, and it's hard to find a comparison. Is anyone able to give a quick overview of the real differences? What are the cars like, what are the opportunities for test days etc, etc. Any info that may be useful I'd love to hear.
Thanks.
Formula jedi or monoposto i cannot comment on having not had any experience of them or their series but i shall do my best with the others.
club formula renault no longer exists really, being barc renault now and purely a training ground for those wishing to be the mext jenson button. using older tatuus frenaults its basically the old formula rnault from btcc support.
club f3 is now msvr f3 cup. i suppose you could say its cheap for what you get but a good car is costly including engine and running costs can be high, especially to run at the front. formula 3 is also hard to run as an individual. you would need some good handy mates!
As for formula ford Zetec and duratec ar a dying breed in my oppinion and I'd steer clear, grids are low and getting smaller.
Formula ford 1600 or formula vee I'd say are the two worth considering. On your budget you would be able to buy a top running vee with change to spare or equally a complete 1600 (albeit with less change to spare after)!
Formula vee ( I think the website is veecentre I think) just put that in google and it should come up. Race with the 750mc. Cars are incredibly simple, based on old beetles! But don't let that put you off, they are rapid through corners and when I was testing at silverstone in the wet I was overtaking formula fords left right and centre! Friendly bunch too from my experience!
Formal ford 1600 is where you will have too much choice of races to do! And that's a good thing! There's usually a 1600 race anywhere in th country on a given weekend. Cars from the 90's are most popular here though cars from '00s are appearing more and more. It's split into classes of pre 90' post 90 and post 00. I'd say avoid pre 90 as they aren't historic yet and are uncompetitive against the 90's and 2000's cars. 90's cars still win races outright. Grids are usually healthy of 20+ and you can race in many different championships - castle Combe even has its own championship as does brands. Also there is the Walter Hayes at the end of the year where 120+ cars enter!
Both have a range of ages and are not at all just young guns going for f1. Imfact it is often the the old guard that come out on top!
It is also worth considering that a formula ford 1600 you could enter in other series such as monoposto or even hillclimbs so it does give you the option to do a variety of stuff.
Best thing is to try and get to a meeting, speak to competitors and organisers too, get involved on their forums and just say you are looking for more info, usually people are more than happy to help!
club formula renault no longer exists really, being barc renault now and purely a training ground for those wishing to be the mext jenson button. using older tatuus frenaults its basically the old formula rnault from btcc support.
club f3 is now msvr f3 cup. i suppose you could say its cheap for what you get but a good car is costly including engine and running costs can be high, especially to run at the front. formula 3 is also hard to run as an individual. you would need some good handy mates!
As for formula ford Zetec and duratec ar a dying breed in my oppinion and I'd steer clear, grids are low and getting smaller.
Formula ford 1600 or formula vee I'd say are the two worth considering. On your budget you would be able to buy a top running vee with change to spare or equally a complete 1600 (albeit with less change to spare after)!
Formula vee ( I think the website is veecentre I think) just put that in google and it should come up. Race with the 750mc. Cars are incredibly simple, based on old beetles! But don't let that put you off, they are rapid through corners and when I was testing at silverstone in the wet I was overtaking formula fords left right and centre! Friendly bunch too from my experience!
Formal ford 1600 is where you will have too much choice of races to do! And that's a good thing! There's usually a 1600 race anywhere in th country on a given weekend. Cars from the 90's are most popular here though cars from '00s are appearing more and more. It's split into classes of pre 90' post 90 and post 00. I'd say avoid pre 90 as they aren't historic yet and are uncompetitive against the 90's and 2000's cars. 90's cars still win races outright. Grids are usually healthy of 20+ and you can race in many different championships - castle Combe even has its own championship as does brands. Also there is the Walter Hayes at the end of the year where 120+ cars enter!
Both have a range of ages and are not at all just young guns going for f1. Imfact it is often the the old guard that come out on top!
It is also worth considering that a formula ford 1600 you could enter in other series such as monoposto or even hillclimbs so it does give you the option to do a variety of stuff.
Best thing is to try and get to a meeting, speak to competitors and organisers too, get involved on their forums and just say you are looking for more info, usually people are more than happy to help!
Edited by designndrive62 on Tuesday 25th June 09:43
Edited by designndrive62 on Tuesday 25th June 09:45
Pre 1980 FF2000 with the HSCC? All the good tracks, decent grids, close racing with very high standards, plus you get to share race weekends with f5000, super tourer and martini trophy races.
http://www.hscc.org.uk/championships
Edit to add- This video shows a good example of the performance potential of the cars and the driving standards. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_oc4uzdM78s
http://www.hscc.org.uk/championships
Edit to add- This video shows a good example of the performance potential of the cars and the driving standards. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_oc4uzdM78s
Edited by Forbes82 on Wednesday 26th June 00:00
Forbes82 said:
This video shows a good example of the performance potential of the cars and the driving standards. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_oc4uzdM78s
Great drive.A few years ago I raced in both Monoposto and the old (750mc) F4 in a Vauxhall Junior and then a Vauxhall Lotus. I firmly believe that these sorts of single seater series offer fantastic value for money and the best performance per £ that you can buy.
The trouble is that I found that I didn't have enough talent for single seaters! You have to be committed, smooth and happy with the car moving around beneath you. I wasn't, hence a move to FWD tin tops!
However, if I was looking at single seaters again, I would look no further than Monoposto 1800 in a Formula Ford Zetec. The cars are easy to work on, parts are easily available and the engines are bullet proof, not even needing regular rebuilds (unlike FF1600). Its probably the cheapest racing I have done - I used to buy second hand slicks off the national F Ford teams at £5 a corner and these would last me 4 races probably. fuel costs were negligible and the engine never needed re-building.
Monoposto is a good club and well run and they have good grids. If you went down the F Ford Zetec route then you could also use the car in the 750 single seater series (I think), regional series like SEMSEC and even the Zetrec race at the F Ford Festival (I think). The cars are relatively cheap to buy, too.
The trouble is that I found that I didn't have enough talent for single seaters! You have to be committed, smooth and happy with the car moving around beneath you. I wasn't, hence a move to FWD tin tops!
However, if I was looking at single seaters again, I would look no further than Monoposto 1800 in a Formula Ford Zetec. The cars are easy to work on, parts are easily available and the engines are bullet proof, not even needing regular rebuilds (unlike FF1600). Its probably the cheapest racing I have done - I used to buy second hand slicks off the national F Ford teams at £5 a corner and these would last me 4 races probably. fuel costs were negligible and the engine never needed re-building.
Monoposto is a good club and well run and they have good grids. If you went down the F Ford Zetec route then you could also use the car in the 750 single seater series (I think), regional series like SEMSEC and even the Zetrec race at the F Ford Festival (I think). The cars are relatively cheap to buy, too.
Bumping an old topic.
Monoposto is an ideal place for novices or people coming back to racing to have a go. Its not as fiercely competitive as some series, but you'll always find someone of similar speed/ability to have a race with and a diverse mix of cars makes it interesting.
Bike engined cars require a lot of maintenance - the things sound great as they rev to 12000rpm but they can be fragile.
I'd agree that a Formula Ford Zetec is about the best value you can probably get - quick, reliable and a open to running in various races in either standard or modified forms so you can pick and choose your events.
Alternatively there are a number of cars with aerodynamics that are there for purpose rather than for show which will lap most circuits at laptimes which will make British GT, BTCC or Porsche Carrera Cup look slow at a fraction of the budget.
A Jedi in F.Jedi spec can be run in Mono, likewise a FF Zetec or 1600 in standard trim can be run.
We've raced with both Mono and now in F3 Cup. Both good series, but Monoposto better suited for a beginner.
The current bike engined champion (2 years running), and currently 2nd in the 2013 table designed and built his own car, so if you're clever you could do the same...
Monoposto is an ideal place for novices or people coming back to racing to have a go. Its not as fiercely competitive as some series, but you'll always find someone of similar speed/ability to have a race with and a diverse mix of cars makes it interesting.
Bike engined cars require a lot of maintenance - the things sound great as they rev to 12000rpm but they can be fragile.
I'd agree that a Formula Ford Zetec is about the best value you can probably get - quick, reliable and a open to running in various races in either standard or modified forms so you can pick and choose your events.
Alternatively there are a number of cars with aerodynamics that are there for purpose rather than for show which will lap most circuits at laptimes which will make British GT, BTCC or Porsche Carrera Cup look slow at a fraction of the budget.
A Jedi in F.Jedi spec can be run in Mono, likewise a FF Zetec or 1600 in standard trim can be run.
We've raced with both Mono and now in F3 Cup. Both good series, but Monoposto better suited for a beginner.
The current bike engined champion (2 years running), and currently 2nd in the 2013 table designed and built his own car, so if you're clever you could do the same...
Pre 90 or Classic Formula Ford would also be well worth a look. Pick up something like a Van Diemen RF80 and you can run in both classes meaning twice the track time over the course of a weekend. Good competitive racing and enough respect you are not constantly replacing corners on the car
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