Formula car question

[Lverstreken]

SOOO many different formula classes...

I just finished the 3 day and 2 day advanced at Sebring in the Formula car....My home track is CMP....if I was to buy a used formula car to get seat time....what series should I look into as far as cost and size...the skippy formula was tight but doable...too many to choose from but I am sure the maintenance is the big issue...

Thanks for all the inputs

Cheers

Laurent

[PageTwo]

Hey Laurent,

Good to hear from you on the forum. Didn't know you were sticking around to do your 2 day advanced class in Sebring. I was just out with my brother tonight, and we were discussing who was killing us on the track. Your name was near the top. Hope to see you at one of the regional races sometime. I'm completing my 2 day at Road America, and then doing my first race that weekend. I'll be interested to hear the responses from the seasoned professionals. I found myself looking at a few old formula cars for around 100k. I think you can get into something a little less collectible from the 1980s for less though. I've already purchased the condo garage in my mind so I'm halfway there. FYI Nick Nuyens, a Belgian, won the Tour of Flanders this year.

Cheers,

Tyson

[PFS]

Originally Posted by Lverstreken

SOOO many different formula classes...

I just finished the 3 day and 2 day advanced at Sebring in the Formula car....My home track is CMP....if I was to buy a used formula car to get seat time....what series should I look into as far as cost and size...the skippy formula was tight but doable...too many to choose from but I am sure the maintenance is the big issue...

Thanks for all the inputs

Cheers

Laurent

Hi Laurent and welcome!

Well, even with a bit of a bias, my recommendation would be that if a Skippy car is "doable," do it...at least for a while. It will be the cheapest and easiest seat time you can get, PLUS your learning curve will be the steepest possible. Every single time you get out of a Skippy car, you will have feedback available to you that will make you a better driver. I say it is the easiest seat time because you're right, maintenance IS a big issue, and all you have to do with us is show up and a car will be ready for you. No prep time, and no trailers or duallies to buy. If one of our cars has a problem during the weekend, we'll give you a different one if we can't fix it by your next session. If you buy your own car and crash it heavily enough to put you out for the weekend, you just lost the rest of the available seat time for that weekend. That's very disappointing, and your learning curve is flat because you're not in a car. With SBRS, we'll just give you a different car and you keep driving and getting better. You still have to pay for the damage, but you don't lose track time.

In addition to coaching, SBRS also offers hospitality and camaraderie among drivers that you won't find in other series. It's unique in the racing world, and it really is an excellent value...

Now, if you decide for some crazy reason that you don't want to do that, please don't buy a freakin' race car till you've narrowed down which ones you're interested in, and then rented each one of them for a weekend AT LEAST once. (I've been racing for 20 years, and I just bought my first race car last June.) Try before you buy!! Go to a race weekend (SCCA, NASA, SVRA, HSR, etc) and walk the paddock and talk to guys that drive the cars you like. Ask them about prep time required, cost of regular maintenance, initial cost of the car, fragility of the car (will the suspension break if you go over some big rumble strips?), all that kind of stuff. They're usually very nice and willing to give you advice. Some of them might even rent you their car, but I can guarantee that a well prepared car won't be cheaper than SBRS...especially when you consider everything else SBRS provides.

Once you determine the car you like and can afford, talk to guys you trust about who to buy from. Do a lot of research. If you don't have time or knowledge to prep the car properly yourself, with some classes you can have a professional team prep the car for you. $$$

Those subjects are a ways down the road, but for now, I SINCERELY recommend you try Skip Barber for at least few weekends. It's the best way to get started in racing, and you might like it enough to stick around for a while. A lot of guys have been around for years and love it. Hope that helps.

Pete

[dalyduo]

I'll second everything Peter says and add that the luxury of not having to worry about car prep and having spare cars you can jump into if you crash or the one you're driving breaks is a huge benefit to your learning curve as a driver. Because all the cars are the same you'll also really be testing your driving skills against other drivers. That's not easy to do in other series where often it's the deepest pockets that can afford the trick motor or demon upgrades that tip the scales of class equality. You can't buy a faster car at Skip Barber... They're all the same motors, shocks, tires and transmissions.

Can't imagine a better way to learn car control and race craft than at least a couple of seasons with Skip Barber. The open wheel cars are difficult to drive well but when you learn to drive them well you can get into almost any other type of race car and adapt quickly and do well. If you move on to another series, those years with Skip Barber suddenly pay dividends big time. Ask Spencer Pumpelly or Juan Pablo Montoya and Dr. Jim Lowe or the hundreds of pros and amateurs who started with SB. It's the best basic training there is for everything else.

[Lverstreken]

Originally Posted by TSchwiesow

Hey Laurent,

Good to hear from you on the forum. Didn't know you were sticking around to do your 2 day advanced class in Sebring. I was just out with my brother tonight, and we were discussing who was killing us on the track. Your name was near the top. Hope to see you at one of the regional races sometime. I'm completing my 2 day at Road America, and then doing my first race that weekend. I'll be interested to hear the responses from the seasoned professionals. I found myself looking at a few old formula cars for around 100k. I think you can get into something a little less collectible from the 1980s for less though. I've already purchased the condo garage in my mind so I'm halfway there. FYI Nick Nuyens, a Belgian, won the Tour of Flanders this year.

Cheers,

Tyson

Actually, I hadn't planned on it but since I had the time off I drove back down... The 2 day was great, quite a big difference from the 3 day....only six guys in the cars...and much more seat time, speed, passing... I am sure you guys will enjoy it too! Let me know if and when you go to a regional.

Thx for the cycling info....

Laurent

[oldredracer]

To put it succintly ( an attribute with which I am not overly familiar):

Think race car $$$$$ plus tires-$$, gas-$, repairs & prep (time or money or both) $$$ plus tow vehicle/trailer & parking for both $$$ versus

phone call to Skippy .01cent, plane, bus or car ride $, gobs of guaranteed seat time regardless of breakdowns to tow vehicle/trailer/race car plus not pounding around practicing the same mistakes lap after lap $$$$.

Hmmm. Count the $$. Tough choice.

Didn't mentioning selling the very fine used race car, tow vehicle, trailer.........

Get lots of seat time and if you decide to buy, be very sure it's what you want.

Oh. Buy a sarcasm rejection suit if you hang around here. It gets a little thick sometimes.