Single seater racing what to do?
Discussion
Alright lads, I've done the silverstone track day and the advanced one and I want to get into it properly! I've got an idea of getting licenses etc but I haven't a clue what class to go into! Looked at the monoposto website just unsure what route to go down. Also I've not got a clue really when it comes to maintenance. I've got a rough idea of budget... 10 grand to start out then maybe 4k a year from then on? Would that be accurate? And coming back to not having a clue about running one how much more will this cost me as I doubt I'll be able to get any help! All the money will be my own wages so you can understand I'm slightly put off by it but I couldn't think of a better hobby!!!
Thanks in advance
Thanks in advance
Hi Lee
Your numbers look a little light, I would suggest you will be spending closer to £8k a year if you include all costs, tyres, brakes, transport, damage etc and winter maintenance. I spend about £9k racing an MX5.
Then for start up. Don't forget to budget around £1000 for boots, gloves, helmet, hans, suit.Also consider tools Around £500, awning £300. Then trailer £1200. The car depends what you want. Ards is about £200 Medical is about £80.
With racing it is all the little things that add up and cost you money like oil, filters, bearings etc.
Monoposto is one of the best ways to race fast cars on great tracks for not alot of money. I seriously considered it when looking.
Hopefully that hasn't put you off.
Your numbers look a little light, I would suggest you will be spending closer to £8k a year if you include all costs, tyres, brakes, transport, damage etc and winter maintenance. I spend about £9k racing an MX5.
Then for start up. Don't forget to budget around £1000 for boots, gloves, helmet, hans, suit.Also consider tools Around £500, awning £300. Then trailer £1200. The car depends what you want. Ards is about £200 Medical is about £80.
With racing it is all the little things that add up and cost you money like oil, filters, bearings etc.
Monoposto is one of the best ways to race fast cars on great tracks for not alot of money. I seriously considered it when looking.
Hopefully that hasn't put you off.
A cheaper alternative if you don't specifically want to 'race' would be sprints and hill climbs. There are a number of very hotly contested championships around the country, and the single seater classes range from Formula Fords up to V8 Judd and Nicholson Mclaren engined Goulds and the like. A season of competition with something like a 1000 cc OMS would probably cost you no more than about £15k including buying the car.
Good point. I was spending about £3k a year running a Jedi thats 14 events . A good car can be bought for about £10k.
Check out www.uphillracers.com for a good active forum.
And the Hill Climb and Sprint Association for all other info.
If you need any info or contacts drop me a PM, i'm fairly well involved. Note the Season is all but finished bar the 11th October Curborough Sprint meeting near Lichfield.
Check out www.uphillracers.com for a good active forum.
And the Hill Climb and Sprint Association for all other info.
If you need any info or contacts drop me a PM, i'm fairly well involved. Note the Season is all but finished bar the 11th October Curborough Sprint meeting near Lichfield.
Edited by Bertrum on Friday 3rd October 10:37
I started racing about 12 years ago in Monoposto and I strongly recommend it. I looked at several alternatives including F Vee but I don't agree that Vee is the cheapest. The engines are quite highly stressed and need re-building fairly regularly for a start.
In contrast a F Vauxhall Junior or a F Ford Zetec should have a bomb proof engine which will virtually never need re-building. The performance of these cars per £ has be up there with the best. They are also relatively cheap to run, and my 4 years in Monoposto was the cheapest I have done, as well as the quickest. Parts are readily available from a small number of specialist fabricators or race cars sales specialists like Dermot Healy and tyres can be bought cheaply from the national F Ford teams if you are prepared to use second hand tyres. I was.
A F Ford Zetec can be bought for about £5-10K and sold for similar money to what you paid for it, several years later.
I reckon I raced for £500 per round a few years ago but that included petrol, maintenance, entry fees, accom and paying someone to help me out at the circuit.
Another alternative is the Clubmans K - Sports series. Quirky looking front engine sports racers. Quick and cost effective. http://www.clubmans.org.uk/
In contrast a F Vauxhall Junior or a F Ford Zetec should have a bomb proof engine which will virtually never need re-building. The performance of these cars per £ has be up there with the best. They are also relatively cheap to run, and my 4 years in Monoposto was the cheapest I have done, as well as the quickest. Parts are readily available from a small number of specialist fabricators or race cars sales specialists like Dermot Healy and tyres can be bought cheaply from the national F Ford teams if you are prepared to use second hand tyres. I was.
A F Ford Zetec can be bought for about £5-10K and sold for similar money to what you paid for it, several years later.
I reckon I raced for £500 per round a few years ago but that included petrol, maintenance, entry fees, accom and paying someone to help me out at the circuit.
Another alternative is the Clubmans K - Sports series. Quirky looking front engine sports racers. Quick and cost effective. http://www.clubmans.org.uk/
I do not know where in the country you are , neither do I have any experience in this area so I may be talking bollards. My local circuit (castle coombe) does a single seater championship. The benefit being if you live nearby you can reduce travel costs such as fuel for the towing vehicle and no hotel/B&B/camping costs.
If you aren't near coombe see if your local circuit does similar.
If you aren't near coombe see if your local circuit does similar.
I'd go for ff1600 to get the feel of a proper single seater. I'm not decrying Formula Vee and the closeness of its racing, but I have seen one close up and its a single seater VW beetle IMHO.
http://www.750mc.co.uk/formulae/formula-vee.htm
http://www.750mc.co.uk/formulae/formula-vee.htm
The vast majority of competitors running in Monoposto are running themselves with the help of family and friends. Father and son. Man and wife. Brother and sister. Couple of long term friends. A few drivers employ either a team to look after the car, so all they do is turn up on the day, or hire assistance on the race day.
Away from the circuit, there is routine maintenance and preparation. Most of this is common sense or things well within the realms of amateur mechanics - setup is more of an advanced art although nothing that can't be learnt, and hopefully most cars will have a record of previous setups. For geometry you need a flat surface and to be able to build a string box for tracking. Camber/Caster can usually be measured and its then understanding what impact an adjustment has on others. Corner weight scales are useful but not essential at least not to start, and some people have used bathroom scales to start with. There are things you can buy which will save time, but parallel strings and a rule is cheap.
At the circuit, preparation should already have been done and its a question of running the car. Assuming no car problems, then a helper is needed for the final strapping in of the driver and to look after slave battery (if the car does not have an alternator) and to show a pit board and to help change tyres if it suddenly starts raining 15 minutes before the race.
If you have a problem, then having a chum who is reasonably handy with tools helps - assuming you have the necessary spare parts with you - but you should be able to cope without actually needing to hire someone for the day.
Motorsport has a knack of being able to consume all available funds and more, so remember there are things you need, and non-essential things that are nice to have.
To start with, unless you are a bit of a data geek, you don't need datalogging. Some drivers spend far too long looking at data without actually learning much from it. Many very quick and successful drivers have it because the car came with it, but never bother looking at it, or only look at it briefly to check that oil pressure and water temperature are within limits and there are no worrying trends.
Some sort of camera system is a good idea, as being able to replay a previous session is a good idea to learn and review. Why was lap 3 better than all the others - fast forward to lap three to discover that the way you took the hairpin was better.
Monoposto have the final 2 races of their autumn championship at Snetterton in a fortnight and an end of season race at Brands Hatch at end of November if you wanted to see the cars and talk to drivers.
Away from the circuit, there is routine maintenance and preparation. Most of this is common sense or things well within the realms of amateur mechanics - setup is more of an advanced art although nothing that can't be learnt, and hopefully most cars will have a record of previous setups. For geometry you need a flat surface and to be able to build a string box for tracking. Camber/Caster can usually be measured and its then understanding what impact an adjustment has on others. Corner weight scales are useful but not essential at least not to start, and some people have used bathroom scales to start with. There are things you can buy which will save time, but parallel strings and a rule is cheap.
At the circuit, preparation should already have been done and its a question of running the car. Assuming no car problems, then a helper is needed for the final strapping in of the driver and to look after slave battery (if the car does not have an alternator) and to show a pit board and to help change tyres if it suddenly starts raining 15 minutes before the race.
If you have a problem, then having a chum who is reasonably handy with tools helps - assuming you have the necessary spare parts with you - but you should be able to cope without actually needing to hire someone for the day.
Motorsport has a knack of being able to consume all available funds and more, so remember there are things you need, and non-essential things that are nice to have.
To start with, unless you are a bit of a data geek, you don't need datalogging. Some drivers spend far too long looking at data without actually learning much from it. Many very quick and successful drivers have it because the car came with it, but never bother looking at it, or only look at it briefly to check that oil pressure and water temperature are within limits and there are no worrying trends.
Some sort of camera system is a good idea, as being able to replay a previous session is a good idea to learn and review. Why was lap 3 better than all the others - fast forward to lap three to discover that the way you took the hairpin was better.
Monoposto have the final 2 races of their autumn championship at Snetterton in a fortnight and an end of season race at Brands Hatch at end of November if you wanted to see the cars and talk to drivers.
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