16 replies to this topic

[Furyblade_Lee]

I did my first sprint event in my mini last weekend, great fun. If you want a brief spec of what you can do bare minimum , here goes.

Roadgoing class, upto 1400cc normally aspirated is what you would be in through most general car clubs. Taking a standard 1275 mini, you can if you want ditch the carpets ( don't have to if you dont want to )but must keep door trims, headlining and passenger seat. Wrap some yellow tape around the eart lead on the battery, make a £5 timing strut to attatch to your front numberplate and your car can go sprinting!

You will need a local car club membership like Sevenoaks Distric Motor Club at ,£20'ish, an MSA National B licence at £41, an approved helmet at about £150, racesuit at £250 anbd gloves at £50.

Enter a sprint, preferably on an airfield, and see if you enjoy it. Does not matter if you win, everybody will be friendly and give you tips and advice. Then if you like it you can mod the engine etc. If you don't like it, no harm done, little spent and someone will by you racegear at not much of a loss. ! You will primarily be racing yourself, I was going at least 2 seconds quicker with each run and missed out on 2nd place and a trophy at the end of the day by just 0.8 seconds on my 1st event. Had my car not had perspex windows and I had not been moved into a class featuring racing cars (including a miglia ) all running on slicks, I would have come second in the roadgoing class, losing out on 1st by the same 0.8 seconds. What if??? will be your primary thought all the way home, but I warn you it is addictive.... What if????

[valve bounce]

if you don't have a reasonable budget then personally i wouldn't bother, it costs a lot of money to compete in any form of motorsport and running a 998 in hillclimb trim will be totally pointless, you need torque (and lots of it) in a hillclimb car and a 998 will be pretty much useless unless it has had proper £££££ spent on it.
then theres the car prep..............full FIA roll cage........loads of safety regulation gear....i hope that you have a big bank balance..............

and a trailer to get your car home just in case you break it!!


the gearbox will need upgrading (to straight cut) and the diff will need upgrading (x pin) as you will be flat out on the course all the way round, then theres the brakes (i assume that you will want to stop the car for a hard right/left corner when you are approaching it at full chat!!

thats not all strictly true for the road going class a roll cage is not required and you dont NEED a trailer, just drive by the rule "brake early to avoid disappointment". also a straight cut box isn't really needed either and so long as the brakes are in good condition they will be fine, no need for fancy pads etc, if you put unrated pads in the wont get hot enough to work properly.

ive entered my local motor clubs speed title (sprint and hill climb) heres a quick list of whats needed and rough cost:
helmet snell 2010 £160
normex overalls £270
normex gloves £40
race licence £42
club membership £15
car prep (service, bucket seat, 4 point harness, door square stickers, ignition on/off sticker) £160

im using a my 1275 mini in the road going class im sure it wont be competitive but who cares its all about the fun