The next step.

[Crash Test]

Once again $3000 for a group N Datsun

[DAVID PATERSON]

In a similar vein to my dreamtime topic, but on another level. Your racing budget has received a small but significant increase, enough for you to move up a level or two on the racing ladder. What to replace your present car and what series would you go for?

Again, i'm in two minds or three;
1. Stay with Historic Touring Cars, but move up to an E49 Charger or XU-1 Torana.
2. Move in to Club Cars (Improved Production touring) with either a 2-litre Datsun or Escort or a 13B Bridgeport Mazda RX3.

Anyway, what about you, if you had the money what would your next step be?

[marcus]

again I would go openwheelers for a bit..actually probably formula vee first to get the hang of it before formula ford.

[DAVID PATERSON]

Just thought i'd bring this to the top again and here what the newcomers to the forum have to say.

Amazingly, i haven't changed my mind a bit since i originally posted this.

[Ray Bell]

Clubmans are the in-between step. Easy to maintain, feel like a racing car and go blindingly fast for the money.

[Vandas]

This is a question is one that I have been asking myself for quite awhile.

I would like to progress through the ranks of Australian Motorsport, and have an idea where I would like to come out.

However I haven't really started yet. I am still testing for the Victorian Improved Production Series. I have been supposed to campaign this season, but have had my dirves held back. I am now looking at August sometime and it is becoming increasingly frustrating.

If I had the money and had a few races in the RX7, I would like to run in both the Australian F3 championship, and the Konica V8 Series.

However the cost of racing per season, would mean that I would have to find at least 2 more major sponsors, and the onyl way I am going to have a good package to market, is if I win races and soon.

[Amaroo Park]

If you want to get some were you need to get into a highly visable catagorey and which one would depend on budget. Hq's used to be good but are a bit in decline at at moment. Improved Production is ok but it is going to cost a fortune to be competative. I reckon Group N would be the go

[Ray Bell]

Clubmans... nothing else give speed for the dollar like Clubmans, along with ease of ownership (they're not expensive), repair (no massive and intrusive bodywork to work around, light weight), transport (they're still very light, under half a ton) and they're light on tyres.

[DAVID PATERSON]

Clubmans are just that Ray. They are ideal for people who want to race fast and cheap at club level, but if you think you're on the way somewhere, forget it. Noone watches them, so you won't get noticed.

i think Improved Production is ans excellent training ground for Touring Car drivers, but i don't think the big teams take much notice of them, they are too obsessed with Formula Ford.

[DAVID PATERSON]

Vandas, i think you might have posted your answer to the wrong thread. Check out my dreamtime thread. Have you costed the Konica V8s, i have. They're not the next step, they're the next giant leap.

[Ray Bell]

Originally posted by DAVID PATERSON
I think Improved Production is ans excellent training ground for Touring Car drivers, but I don't think the big teams take much notice of them, they are too obsessed with Formula Ford.

Well, I thought the aim would be to drive Racing Cars... not tintops... and there would be a lot of learning done in a Clubman for not much money in a season or two.

Or it's a nice place to settle when you realise you can't afford that giant leap, and nobody's going to give you a hand...

[DAVID PATERSON]

The aim would be to drive racing cars, if they are what you like, or of you plan to do well internationally. If you prefer sedans or if you want to be a sucessful professional driver in Australia, then Touring cars are where it's at.

I have no interest in Racing cars, like most Aussies, I like Touring Cars. I don't believe one form of racing is inherently superior to another, they're just different, but of equal value.

[Amaroo Park]

Ultimatly you have to have fun to justify spending the money. I have to agree that Tin Tops seem more enjoyable. Having raced HQ's for a couple of seasons it was enjoyable until it start costing an absolute fortune to repair panel damage.

[Ray Bell]

My brother was in HQs, and I have a nephew in them. They don't seem to have as much fun as people I've known in Clubmans over the years. But I guess they don't suit everyone. Just something I like to promote as I see people wasting time and money on cars that weren't originally built to race.

And that behave that way on the circuit... hence the greater level of panel damage.

[Amaroo Park]

Hq's are quite a good hadling. I think the greater problem was the competitors out there who belive they were V8 Supercar drivers racing at Bathurst

[DAVID PATERSON]

Well I've gone and done it, taken the next step and bought an LJ Torana XU-1 which i am now busily preparing for next season. I'll be sure and keep you all posted on developments.

[Vandas]

Sounds awesome Dave,

So tell us all the grand plan for 2002!!!

As for my own news, I have secured 3 sponsors and have a new helmet and the Forty Winks car to run in next year.

I am desperate for the season to start.

WOOHOO

[mtpanorama]

Way to go David.
Should be a bit closer to the pointy end of the feild than the Datto.Pity you couldnt stretch the budjet to a GT.
So is the datto up for sale or has it been put out to pasture.

[DAVID PATERSON]

My Dad isa a Ford fan (but he's OK) and he really wanted me to get an XY GT, but that is a whole lot more money than I can afford.

I've won my class in the club championship 6 years in a row in the Datsun and couldn't see the point in going for 7. I've bought a Torana so I can be reasonably competitive outright without having to sell my house.

[FalconEL]

I have no real idea what "the next step" for me would be. I really enjoy driving in Sports Sedan competition and I know that at this stage I haven't found the limit of potential in the vehicles I drive so the challenge is still there. There are still things I want to achieve in Sports Sedans.

To me any step would have to be into another National level category such as Konica V8's, but this would be more of a sideways step because although the profile of the category is higher, a V8 Supercar is going to cost a lot more to run and I don't know if it will be any more "fun" than I'm used to now in Sports Sedans. There are too many cashed up deadbeats that can't drive in the Konica Series and as far as I'm concerned fixing panels all the time is not "fun". I'm also not sure whether a Konica V8 would be as quick as a Sports Sedan, and to be honest the reason I'm in motor sport is the speed, the adrenalin, the fun and friendship. If I happen to progress up the ladder and raise my own profile along the way then great, but I'm a realist. There are always only going to be a chosen few who are handed things on a plate. Look at WW, he's worked very hard, driven his backside off in some awesome performances and yet, he's not one of the chosen few, so he's on the outer, even though he's one of the best talents in Australian Motor Sport of the last ten years.

At the end of the day, for me it's all about achieving my own personal goals and there really is no category "above" Sports Sedans that appeals to me in Australia.

CD.

[racealign]

The whole motor racing career thing revolves around money. If you have the money to run and win in a club racing category then you can move up to a higher open or national level. If you have spent the money and you have been able to win then you have to buy your way into a national category team or buy your own car. Really, the only way to make it ..is with money. You have to spend a huge amount to get noticed and then you have to spend even more to get "in". There are a few exceptions to this where a driver has done it on a shoe string and got there but it has still been in a national category and they still have had to fork out alot of money but everyone hopes it will be them next. The only other scenario is if some mentor is prepared to pay your way, but this is really rare and quite often it is a family member or someone known to the person who does it. Unless you are already a recognised professional driver then everyone else has to pay. You pay until you are recognised as a professional driver then you have to keep going as hard as you can to stay there.

[DAVID PATERSON]

Well, we've done two meetings now and it's been one small problem after another, but hey they've all been small problems and I'm still very happy. We all agree I got a bargain and the last race was very encouraging, i'm now sure the car has huge potential and I'm slowly getting the hang of driving it.

[Vandas]

Well Dave, we have had an interesting start to our year as well.

Three race meetings down and we have been running in and around the top 10.

Unbelieveable fields of Improved Productions down here in Victoria, we have been over-subscribing, and even fielding full second grids.

Entrants from Tasmania and South Australia have boosted our numbers and the level of competition in the state.

Drivers such as Wayne Smith, Ray Hislop, Chris Bailey, Mark Kolodwiej, and Andrew Paine have come from interstate to race against the cream of Victoria in: Rohan Ambrose, Ken Douglas, Phil Morriss, Paul Rule, Tony Floreani, Tom Prentice, Bryce Norton, Gary McKay, Kelvin Twist, and the 30 other Victorian cars that have been turning up regularly to the rounds.

I know exactly what you mean by all the little problems that have been popping up for us as well.

When we got control over the car from the guy that used to race prep it, it feels like we have taken onboard a brand new car with a million stupid mistakes built in.

We have had to spend all of our time between races fixing things on the car that made it extremely difficult to drive. Plus we have been chasing a problem with power.

Anyway half-way through the season I am still threatening for a top 5 finish. Very happy to have a few top 10 finishes under my belt and we are going faster each round.

So let me know how your season progresses.

Cam

[DAVID PATERSON]

Well the first year is over in the Torana and I'll be back for more, i don't know what the next step is any more, so i'll just keep doing this.

In terms of outright and class competitiveness i'd have to say i'm disappointed with the lap times and the results, but two of the highest points of my life came this year, my first win and I raced at Bathurst, and finished.

Motor racing is an amazing sport, one decent high can erase the memory of a dozen lows.

[DAVID PATERSON]

I've had the Torana a couple of years now and I'm starting to think about the next step. I contemplated Formula Ford but it's too hard to do it on my own. I'm now thinking I would like to get a Group A Corolla and run in the Touring Car Challenge and maybe some historic races.