Vee, Sheane or Ford?

bm365

For a novice planning to enter one of these Formula's which would be the best to start of in? I'm looking for feedback in areas such as costs, safety, number of competitors, car durability, skills required etc. Any help would be much appreciated.

Kersh

Fords - There is no racing for fords in the south at the moment. They are expensive enough if you crash it, they are fairly reliable, safety depends on the upkeep of the car.

Sheanes - 8 or so out this year, struggling for grids, not too dear for accident damage, and again, safety depends on maintenance and upkeep.

Vees, - 30-35 out this year, again they are not too dear if you crash them, fairly reliable too if run right, and safety is same as the other 2.

What I mean by upkeep is spotting damage (cracks, bent bars etc), this will determine how your own car stands up in an accident.

In all cases, the basic costs are €185 for a race entry, €100 for half day testing, €50 or so on fuel, then you gotta get to the track and eat, it all adds up - then factor in cost of car, repairs fund and tyres, which run from 600-800 euro a set, and last for various amounts of races -a vee should use 1-2 sets a year, I dont know about Sheanes or Fords tbh.

bm365

Kersh wrote: »

Fords - There is no racing for fords in the south at the moment. They are expensive enough if you crash it, they are fairly reliable, safety depends on the upkeep of the car.

Sheanes - 8 or so out this year, struggling for grids, not too dear for accident damage, and again, safety depends on maintenance and upkeep.

Vees, - 30-35 out this year, again they are not too dear if you crash them, fairly reliable too if run right, and safety is same as the other 2.

What I mean by upkeep is spotting damage (cracks, bent bars etc), this will determine how your own car stands up in an accident.

In all cases, the basic costs are €185 for a race entry, €100 for half day testing, €50 or so on fuel, then you gotta get to the track and eat, it all adds up - then factor in cost of car, repairs fund and tyres, which run from 600-800 euro a set, and last for various amounts of races -a vee should use 1-2 sets a year, I dont know about Sheanes or Fords tbh.

So really Vee is the category that would most likely be the best option? About the safety of the 3 series, is there ever many big crashes? Are drivers usually well protected or has anyone been badly injured in the past few years?

Also what kind of money could one aim to be looking for from sponsors?

Kersh

Plenty of crashes in any series. Injuries are thankfully , rare enough, the odd broken thumb/scaphoid, and ankles sometimes. A crash is a lottery, you could walk away from the biggerst one ever, or be seriously injured due to bad luck in a light one.

My advice is - if you are worried already about being injured..... psychologically you will be beaten before the race starts, and after it starts your self preservation will ensure you wont win . . . :pac:

But really, try not be worrying about things like that, just come and race.

As for sponsors, its very very very difficult to get someone to stump up any sort of sponsorship, esp without proven results, but it can be done, by keeping potential or current sponsors bang up to date with events and results and the odd framed picture, day out etc etc.

A set of tyres would be very good sponsorship at the moment, or a few race entries.