Starting

[davehewitsonuk]

hi,

i am very interested in racing, and was wondering what i should do.

i live in surrey, so i think i should join a local club, any suggestions?

also,

i am not sure about what to do about a car? i dont have that much money to spend, and i am only 16. would it be possible to use your everyday car as a race car? as i will probably be driving a peugeot 306 2.0litre turbo diesel.

thanks

Dave

[ss_collins]

Hello dave, the best club in that area is sevenoaks DMC thier website is www.sevenoaksmotorclub.com however local clubs don't tend to get involved in racing as that is the preserve of the big clubs such as the BRSCC and BARC. Howeverin kent there is SEMSEC who offer very good value cheap racing that sevenoaks are invited to.

It is possible to run you everyday car without modsa in most areas of motorsport - one of which - sprinting is very popular in Kent and surrey. However racing requires some mods to the drivers seat, belts, rollcage, cut off switches, extinguisher etc. I would recommend you start by joing 7Oaks and doing a few of thier sprint events in the pug to see if you really like it.

For sprinting you need

MSA non race national - B licence (about £30)
Helmet (£60 - upwards)
Overalls (£60 - upwards)
Club membership (£20)
Car with valid MOT, Tax and road insurance

and thats it. A spint event cost between £40 and £90 to enter and the actual running cost of the event is minimal.

Racing requires the following

MSA race national B (including ards test, medical etc £150)
Helmet
Overalls
Car with saftey mods (minimum £500 to convert a standard car)
Race entry fees are around £150.

May I also suggest autotesting - the sevenoaks club run an evening series in the summer with free entry for under-21s. Good place to learn.

hope all that helps if you wanna know more send me a PM or an E-mail.

[ss_collins]

ooh another top tip is to pop into east surrey college and talk to richard smith and have a look at thier race cars.

[davehewitsonuk]

Thanks very much,

i will look into sprinting to see what it is all about.

thanks for your help,

speak to you soon

Dave

[davehewitsonuk]

For the sprinting, what regulations are there on car modifications etc.

and

you said: 'Car with valid MOT, Tax and road insurance' - does this mean that i cannot enter until i am 17 and driving in the sprints.

i am only 16 at the moment, but very interested.

thanks

Dave

[ss_collins]

You can drive in sprints but you need to ask the MSA cos I dunno the details, bit late for you I think but theres a book coming out that you'd be interested in - tells you all this stuff. (and yes this is shameless self promotion)

http://www.veloce.co.uk/cgi-bin/velo...html?mv_pc=166

[woodyracing]

Dave,
most motorsport in Great Britain is controlled by the MSA (motor sports association), you should check out their website http://www.msauk.org/ its very good and contains info and links to all types of motorsport.

Woody.

[ss_collins]

'Car with valid MOT, Tax and road insurance'

doesn't have to be in your name - just proof that the car is road legal.

[graham bahr]

i suppose the first place to start is what do you mean by racing? you certainly can use your every day road car to go circuit racing in, however i dont recomend it, i race with Barc se and last we year saw an almost damage free season, although i dont think i would want to risk my means of daily transport, not to mention means of getting home again, sprinting on the other hand is another matter, there are many many drivers who drive to and from sprints in their competition cars, as in a sprint you are driving against the clock rather than directly against other competitors the chances of damaging the car are slim, a lot of circuit racers started off sprinting and progressed to racing after they had gained a lot of useful experience in car control, to my mind on a race circuit during a race is not the place to learn about car handling, neither are the roads for that matter, sprint entry fees start at around £45 at north weald air field ranging upto £85 to compete at goodwood. why not pop along to a meeting and see whats happening, and talk to a few sprinters, most are only too happy to discuss their hobby, as a sprint championship co-ordinator i have extreme difficultly getting some of them off the phone!!!!!!

[davehewitsonuk]

I have been researching, and correct me if im wrong, but does the Sevenoaks Motorclub Marketing Machine Speed League. (www.sevenoaksmotorclub.com), consist of sprint races?

if so, would that be a good championship to enter for my first year or so?

thanks

Dave

[gfm]

Hewitson - you've two threads going. Johneturbo's racing his 205GTi first time this weekend in hatch something and talks tips and website.

[graham bahr]

looking at the marketing machine speed league regs as far i can tell it is only a sprint/hillclimb speed event, and does not contain any races, which is backed by the minimun MSA licenec level of a Nat B non race

[ss_collins]

As the marketing machine PR chap, I can tell you it is a sprint and hillclimb series - ieal starting post. MM competitors are invited to races at Lydden.

[ss_collins]

probably the best way to start is the MM

[davehewitsonuk]

thanks,

what licences etc. do i need to compete within this series?

what are the restrictions on modifications?

thanks

Dave

[ss_collins]

a non race national B, availiable form the MSA for around £30 no tests need to be passed. You'll also need to join the organising club - £20.

what are the restrictions on modifications?

there are no real restrictions on modifications but there is a class structure that should be looked at, though anthing can compete. I started off in a £400 VW Golf 1.6
I've graduated to a £40 (yes forty!) special. Though some competitors use cars like evos and impreza's, even the odd metro 6R4 pops up. And a bunch of Single seaters.

When you get your licence you will get a copy of 'the blue book' which contains all the rules and regs for motorsport.