New to racing, where to start?

[Albatross]

Check www.icscc.com for information about the best/well run road racing in the northwest. Next race in two weeks, June 19-21 at Spokane County Raceway 1/4 mi west of the casino in Airway Hts. Lots of cars and formula cars to look at and ask questions. ICSCC has 15 race schedule including 3 @ Portland, 2 @ Pacific Raceways (Seattle), 1 @ The Ridge (Shelton), 1 @ ORP, 3 day weekend as mentioned above and 2 @ Mission, BC. Come on out, watch and ask questions. Saturday eve (maybe).

[rickb99]

All of you guys wanting entry level class in the Northwest with good competition need to look at FC (Formula Continental). It has grown immensely over the last 5 or 6 years and now have a 'regular' series within the ICSCC races including a small prize fund! Great group of guys and relatively easy cars to learn in. Look at late 80's Reynard's or early 90's Van Diemen's for the least expensive entry cars.

If you are good and get fast it's an easy step in to F1000 from FC as most F1000's are based on FC chassis.

[patman]

I was in the exact same boat as you guys. I have an Elise that I have run at track days at all the local tracks, but didn't want to risk wheel-to-wheel with. I wanted something with similar driving dynamics and definitely not slower.

I am in the same region as you guys, so as a baseline I am running ~1:55.x at ORP and about the same at the Ridge in the Lotus.

I am on a budget, but am able to do all the work myself, and already owned a truck/trailer/tools/etc.

I talked to several people about this and decided on FC. My reasoning was as follows:
- I wanted a small formula car, because open wheel seems more fun
- I wanted to stay away from Pro3 or SM, since you have to have $$$ to be competitive, and consumables are more expensive.
- The non-aero cars aren't fast enough to be a step up from the Lotus
- There are a bunch of FC guys in this area, so I figured there would be at least decent turnout at most tracks.
- I couldn't afford a F1000 or Sports Racer
- I was able to find a car relatively locally from a good guy who helped me out with getting started and figuring everything out.
- I can convert to F1000 someday fairly easily if I want.

I bought a 99 Mygale from a local FC guy at the beginning of the summer but have had a rough start getting it sorted for the season. Still, my 5th lap ever in the Mygale at ORP was faster than my fastest ever Lotus lap (1.54.x). I love the way the car handles, and to me it seems I can take the same basic lines and inputs as the Elise, with similar end of straight speeds, just faster corner speeds, and do several seconds faster with ease.

I found everyone at ICSCC to be very easy to work with, and am hoping to finish up my novice stuff and upgrade next weekend at Spokane. I have run in the Lotus a bunch of times with Team Continental too, so those guys helped me out too.

I am pretty happy with the decision to go FC. It was pushing my budget a little bit, but affordable enough that I can keep the Lotus. I'm not trying to be real competitive this year, just have a good time and get used to the car and class, but I hope next year I can do fairly well. Of course I am only just getting started and time will tell but I recommend doing the same as I have.

I'd be happy to talk to anyone about my experiences over the last few months getting into this and researching, but I'm still a 'noob' so I'm not sure how much I can help.

[RSS]

Stop by and say hi next weekend.

(Blue&Black) Mygale #16

Roger

[kkovac1611]

Rodger sorry to see your races ended the way it did. I was a little nervous to walk up after the race. but this weekend really helped me aim for what I want to be doing in the near future. Im 19 and would like to ask what would be your advice in getting into a FC car?

Thank you for your reply.

[gcoffin]

I will be in town tomorow if you want to drop by and have a closer look at a car

[RSS]

Hi Keith,

No problem I suggest you take Greg up on his offer and go take a look at his cars and have a chat as he is local to you. Feel free to email me with any questions and such and we can talk it over.

Roger

[kiwimanz]

Well now your head is ready to explode with all number of suggestions.
I too live in Portland have switch to racing cars from road racing motorbike approx. 5 years ago and since have developed my own opinions that I have lamented often... and here they go again.

Racing is fun as hell, not financially practice in any sense of the word, but that's not why we do it.. we do it's coz its a full on RUSH!

So, here's a few things to consider when buying a car. Whom will be available to help you at the track. Example, putting up your canopy, loading and loading the car, getting in the car and belting up, holding the brolly over you at pre grid, just to name a few.

If your resources a low when it comes to friends, buying a lower maintenance car is a good way to go. The exceleration of a sports racer can be out weighed but lifting the body on and off the car and the loading and unloading the dam thing. (personal experience) And open wheel car is very easy to work on and loading with transport wheels is great. If you haven't raced before, open wheel cars and sports racer can be a tad intimidating at first.

I instruct at Cascade HDPE driving school, so get a hold of us and get your license underway, this may get your mind wrapped around what direction you want to go.
If you can manage it, FC is brilliant... and Greg's car would be one of the best out there.
Gass cars are cool, but they are not friendly on tires or fuel.... but that said look like a ton of fun too.

Either way, get your ass in a seat and come racing Conference!
PM me if you want some info on the Cascade drivers school!!!
my .02c
Cheers
Linz

[Newbee Racer]

Out

[dc]

Ouch. Why are you typing in all caps? It's considered SCREAMING ON THE INTERNET and rude.

[Steve Demeter]

probably forgot the caps lock was on and realized it when done and did not want to type the whole post over.

Nothing hostile there.

I frequently hit it when I meant to hit an a.

[TimH]

If you're running Windoze, you can go to the Ease of Access Center in Control Panel and set a tone to let you know whenever you accidentally toggle CapsLoc or NumLock. Very handy, and one of the first customization steps I always take.

[Steve Demeter]

Yeah but you are a lot smarter than a lot of people..