Pros and Cons of Sprinting/Racing a single seater??

blacky · Post by **blacky** » Thu Jul 17, 2008 4:50 pm

After chatting with a few bods here at work we were discussing the use of a single seater, ie a bike engined Jedi or similar, and after some lunchtime research these can be had for reasonable cash, ie a similar value to my Japboxes.

I can see the extra fun in piloting such a beast, but then there is the added issue of having a trailer etc, Does anyone on here have a use such a thing, or know anyonew with one. Just wondering in terms of maintainence and running are they time and money costly compared to my arrive and drive car??

Gerry H · Post by **Gerry H** » Thu Jul 17, 2008 6:15 pm

Have a chat with Tony Beasley at Hethel. His Jedi is in the process of a new engine. He was piloting a Pug 205 on Sunday.

You'd be interested to know, he quite frequently got FTD last year in it.

Can't you borrow a company car for a weekend?

Gerry H · Post by **Gerry H** » Thu Jul 17, 2008 6:27 pm

You'll also need a Speed Nat 'A' licence so best get your upgrade card signed up, just in case.

Brilliant idea btw.

blacky · Post by **blacky** » Thu Jul 17, 2008 6:44 pm

Gerry H wrote:Have a chat with Tony Beasley at Hethel. His Jedi is in the process of a new engine. He was piloting a Pug 205 on Sunday.

You'd be interested to know, he quite frequently got FTD last year in it.

Can't you borrow a company car for a weekend?

Yeh, good idea Gerry!

Hehehe, be good if I could take one of the old cars out for a spin hey!!! Not sure all the lads required to start and run one would be too keen, Monaco or North Weald....hmmmm

Nat. A yes, thats a good point, not bothered so far this year getting mine stamped, may be a good idea whatever.

Just got thinking really, as you can quite easily waste a fair bit of cash on these Japboxes (can't ya Gerry

) only to end up with something not really suitable for road transport, or spend the cash on a proper racing car. Seen a Jedi advertised today for 8995 with spares and a covered trailer....so its not silly money. Also it seems it opens up racing championship but no dount the costs get silly then.

Thing is, I love my saloon 4WD cars.....its a tricky one. May have to have a look into this Nippon challenge, see if thats any use.

MiKa · Post by **MiKa** » Fri Jul 18, 2008 8:30 am

Tony Beesley is definitely the guy to talk to as he tows his s/seater with an Evo VIII...

Up until my Porsche 968CS three seasons ago all my previous 20 years motorsport was with a trailered car, mainly Caterhams.

Pros
You can get home if you bend or break it
You can do what you like to it without worrying about having to drive it to work later
You can drive something raw/fast/demanding like a s/seater or Caterham

Cons
Towing is costly and slow
You need a suitable tow car. Large engine plus space for spares/tools/people
You need somewhere to store trailer where it can be quickly retrieved and won't be nicked. There's nothing like having to mess about with trailers for an hour or so after putting the car in the garage to take the edge off a day's motorsport.
Cars tend to require more maintenance and prep time.

I was proper up for it until I had four years arrive and drive motorsport with the Fun Cup Beetles and knew that I could no longer be arsed to put in the hours and cope with the agg of a trailered race car.

Age no doubt played a big part but I would want the race experience (sprinting just doesn't cut it) if I were 20 or 30 something.

As a 50 something I'm even struggling to motivate myself to chase championships. Mind you there's nothing like guys half my age and weight going quicker than me to make me dig deep...

Kim

RX7 · Post by **RX7** » Fri Jul 18, 2008 9:48 am

I dont know what a Jedi looks like but saying...I drive a Jedi...or I own a Jedi just sounds cool !!!!!!!!! :thumb:

Just to point out the obvious...

MiKa wrote:Pros
You can get home if you bend or break it
You can do what you like to it without worrying about having to drive it to work later
You can drive something raw/fast/demanding like a s/seater or Caterham

but this doesnt relate to only having a single seater....surely if you trailered any car these would apply (apart from the last one).

I'd have thought a Caterham would be a halfway house, cheap enough to get replacement bits with all the fun of a part racecar and roadlegal.

Andy916 · Post by **Andy916** » Fri Jul 18, 2008 3:15 pm

blacky wrote:May have to have a look into this Nippon challenge, see if thats any use.

Remaining fixtures Mallory Park Aug 25 , Cadwell Park Sept 6/7 Snett Oct 18/19 Brands Nov 8/9, g'wan you know you want to! I'll come along and fetch cups of tea.

Does Andy (ESL) still have plans to do some of the Nippon challenge?

I get the Nippon emails, it sounds like it's all on the same grid with mainly MX5's and MR2's at moment, although they do have plans for an Impreza specific class too. Relatively good value at

blacky · Post by **blacky** » Fri Jul 18, 2008 4:54 pm

Sounds good in theory Andy, need a car to do it tho, Impreza has the cage but has no engine and is too nice to race. Evo is not standard nor has a cage.....so I'm buggered!

Daniel · Post by **Daniel** » Fri Jul 18, 2008 8:20 pm

if you wanted to do a single seater on a budget, you could buy an A-Series powered Terrapin!

Post by **Stuart** » Fri Jul 18, 2008 8:25 pm

And I, for one, would laugh at you :lol:

Logans F1 background would prevent him buying anything that has been made out of baked bean tins Dan