Hi Graham and Merry Christmas.
Not sure if you’re posting this in the right place but we can move it elsewhere if necessary. Also we may be just talking UK here so if David Patterson wants to join in I’d be more than happy to hear his views.
I’m not sure that you need to be a high roller in the computer industry, (although that would certainly give you a large amount of free time) to be an amateur racer. As you can tell from my website I certainly don’t work in the computer (ing?) industry.
You do need to have a good job that pays a reasonable wedge. When I raced Metros I was pretty quick and only failed to win the championship because of my job, which meant that I missed the last three rounds of the championship due to overseas travel. I finished second in class and fourth overall. So the job actually stopped me from achieving. Hey Ho. My sponsors had a good time though.
For guidance. To put a competitive car on to the CSCC Group 1 grid will set you back 15 to 30 K (Sterling) and even then you don’t know if you can beat the others because skill and talent come into the equation. However its definitely cheaper to run with the CSCC than (say) the NSCC, which is possibly the only viable alternative saloon car championship.
With the CSCC you can run as a team and a mini cooper (S?) would fit into the historic and post historic championships. The BARC is starting a championship for sports cars which will be based on the Group 1 regulations and will pass over to the stewardship of the CSCC once it is up and running.
As to starter championships, within the UK there are many choices. The 750 MC or the MG Car Club have many various championships of which the MG Car Club Metro and 750 MC Stock Hatch Championships are possibly the cheapest starter championships of them all. You have an affinity with Castle Combe, however it caters (very ably) for local championships and does not usually carry a round for the championships, which I have mentioned. If you want to progress beyond novice, I would not recommend a single circuit championship.
On th subject of TVRs. There is a Tuscan for sale in this week’s Autosprout for Pst 25K. Not bad value but if you bought it you’d spend another ten K just getting on to the track. (New engine, tyres, springs etc.).
If you ask Florian how much he and his team have spent on racing he would probably cry before revealing the total cost. He may have a sponsor but you still need to spend money before you get that support.
We’re lucky because we race at Spa Francorchamps and other great tracks so Brands Hatch and Castle Combe don’t have to feature so much in our racing lives. (Great tracks but awful organisation).
Don’t give up though. As long as people like us put themselves through purgatory to fund their racing, the circuits will stay open. If we don’t then we’ll be left with Touring Car (mostly “yawn” but good tv) and F1 (quite a lot of “yawn”).
Incidentally, I’m not sure about your reference to “Small Championships”. The Group 1 championship regularly fills grids which is more than can be said for the Tuscans, MGFs, Combe GTs etc.
Looking forward to seeing some replies from this.
Cheers
