>>> I would look into Karts. <<<
...Smiles knowingly! ;-)
I got bitten by the Kart Bug, and raced Class One (100cc) at national level in the UK for ten years, eventually ceasing for three prime reasons:
1) The collosal amount of time it took preparing for each race, including fitting new teflon coated pistons after every 45 minutes of running, main bearings after every few hours or running, a complete set of tyres for every second meeting, ensuring that the chassis was exactly 'true' and was set up and geared with good baseline settings for the next circuit, etc... Infact, my whole life was karting!
2) Associated cost, which ran in to thousands of pounds per annum by the time I finished. Infact, what was a hobby was costing considerably more than my mortgage.
3) Despite the high percentage of income (mine and sponsor Dad) that was being spent, we couldn't compete with the 'professionals in an amateur sport' who would turn up at the major meetings with a truck load of chassis and motors, and choose the best combination. I have nothing against that, and would have done the same given the means, but as I said, for me, it was a hobby, through which I could vent my competitive nature, and in so doing enjoy driving at speed, pitting physics against ability. Get it right, and the pleasure was immense.
So the lesson?
Yes, karting at the base level is as cheap as motorsport comes, but the costs very quickly rise if you want to push yourself and do anything other than stay on the bottom rung. After all, if you don't do that, there's no competition, which I guess applies to all sport!
|
... And I forgot: Most of the F1 boys who started in karts, did so in one of the extremely aggressive, phenomenally competitive, 100cc single gear short circuit classes, not 125cc or 250cc long circuit. You might think it strange, but it's true.
So if you think you're the Schumacher of a few years hence, you know where to start! Just remember that as with tuning your car, the cost of performance has a law of diminishing returns!
|
Well, several competitors I spoke to yesterday reckoned that theirs was the cheapest form of motorsport.
So what type of meeting was I at?
My beloved karting?
Nope.
Hill climbing?
Nope?
Hovercraft racing at Claydon House, that's what!
What a fantastic day out that was hugely family friendly, but still very competitive on the track.
Loads of action, as you would expect with a sport akin to
racing a car on ice with just 'wind' and bodyweight shifting to change direction. The skill of the best pilots was tremendous, even flipping the entire craft almost vertically sideways to use the changed balance point and air that would normally fill the cushion, to help them change direction instead.
The lower of the formulae are for kids (12-16 years old I think), going up through various levels to formula 1, with upwards of 160BHP for thrust alone (mostly from Rotax two strokes from what I could see), plus a separate lift engine.
These machines don't accelerate. They EXPLODE forwards when run up to full thrust sitting on their hulls, and only THEN opening the trottle on the lift engine. When mixed in with lesser craft in the two 'open' races, the way they carved through the field on land and water alike was terrific.
What happened when it rained?
THEY WENT FASTER, as it lubricates the skirts on land!
There ain't many sports where that happens!
So, what's the cost?
Well, several of the competitors reckoned you could buy a well maintained machine for less than a grand, and run it for £55 per race entry, plus fuel, travel, and camping (though the latter may be free I guess).
I have only one question: If the sport is so family friendly and such terrific fun to watch, WHERE WAS EVERYBODY? I counted less than forty spectator cars, and at any time of the day, you could get any vantage point you liked.
www.hovercraft.org.uk/hcgb.htm if you are interested.
In me they just found a fan (just realised the pun I wrote!)
|
I've been dreaming about getting into some kind of cheap form of motorsport for a while now, although i probably won't have the financial abilty to do so for another few years. My research pulled up the "Locost Car Series" - sounds promising right? Well basically they involve racing on many of britains tracks in cheaper versions of the Caterham 7 style openwheel racers. Looks like great fun to me, and all for less than £2000 a year championship costs, and the same for a decent car plus safety equipment. And for that you get a cross between the thrill of F1 style racing and the relative comfort of a (nearly) production style car!
Think thats what my long term goal is
|
|
|
I like the look of this!!
Going to watch it at the meet in Peterborough.
How big are they?
Would they fit in a car-size garage?
|
|
I meant the hovercraft...
|
|
|
|
|
|
