The end of sprint racing in club motorsport?

[Dynion Araf Uchaf]

Well probably not, but it's got me thinking a bit.

There are significantly more endurance style race championships today than there ever were 20 years ago and the reasons are obvious.

- someone to share the costs with
- plenty of teams to do the running/maintenance which is great if you know nothing about car prep or even a race event.

Entry fees aren't helping though, its actually cheaper per minute of track time to enter an endurance event than a sprint race and that's before you can split the costs. Most of the other expenses are the same - cost to get to the track, accommodation, with only fuel and maybe tyres costing more.

Sprint race entry circa £405, for max 45 mins track time (£9 per min) (assume 15 mins qually)
Enduro entry £785 for 150 mins of track time (£5.22 per min, before splitting the cost) (assume 30 mins qually)

I reckon I can do an event that's within 1 hour of me for £600, but that doesn't allow for new tyres, damage etc. An enduro would be £1200-1300 but split between 2, and with more track time.

I've really struggled this year to get my wallet out for the sprint racing that I do, I have a feeling that the cost of living crises may be felt particularly keenly in sprint racing before endurance racing this year. And indeed will it get to the point that sprint racing is no longer on a clubs race programme for next year or beyond?

[Dan BSCS]

The VAST majority of races at all meetings are sprint races. Almost all single make series still run sprint race formats and there is absolutely zero sign of that changing.

[andrewcliffe]

I don't think its changing much. Majority of race events will be sprint format with either single driver with 15 - 20 minute sessions, to optional multi-driver 40 minute sessions.

There has been higher end endurance races - British GT and Britcar and in recent years there has been EnduroKa and the Citroen C1 races which allowed those interested in long races to do it affordably.

[GlobalRacer]

No clue where you get the idea that sprint racing is dead. Could you give some examples of series that do 15 to 20 minute races that aren't racing this year?

[Dynion Araf Uchaf]

That’s not the point I was making. It’s more that there are significantly more enduro style events than there were and that they are cheaper for a competitor to enter as costs are shared.

It’s not helped by the fact that per min of track time sprint racing is more expensive to enter.

What I think might happen is that as racing gets more expensive there will be more focus on clubs providing enduro style championships than sprint racing.

[Dan BSCS]

That won’t happen though as there are a HUGE amount of competitors who want to compete in sprint racing championships. They are not going to just suddenly disappear.

[LuckyThirteen]

Dynion Araf Uchaf said:

That’s not the point I was making. It’s more that there are significantly more enduro style events than there were and that they are cheaper for a competitor to enter as costs are shared.

It’s not helped by the fact that per min of track time sprint racing is more expensive to enter.

What I think might happen is that as racing gets more expensive there will be more focus on clubs providing enduro style championships than sprint racing.

The issue with it is the amount of money being thrown at it.
There are teams using 8-12 tyres per event. Testing twice in the run up. And throwing endless sums at it.

There's a line between 'club' Motorsport and the type of spend by teams that individuals can't match.

There's cars on the grid that have easily have £100k in them. And teams ultimately spending £7-10k per entry per event*

So, there's 'tracktime per £1' and there's 'competing'. I suspect the sprint races, especially where all parts are mandated will provide better opportunity.

You are right about track time for the money though.

• I'd ban tyre changes except for clear punctures. And mandate only one tyre change per pitstop. Simply to reign the costs in and ensure those who can't afford multiple tyres have more chance.