Superkart

[mavada]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u361DTg3DUw

[jaysrs4]

That's what we should be watch on Sky F1, proper heart in mouth racing!!! Love it!

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I tried a super kart once (won a national 125cc national season). Absolutely bonkers.
Great racing though

[TimDogg]

Loved that, absolutely loved it!

[stu]

You must have to be handy with the gear changes to keep it in that top 12-14k rev range. I can't imagine them rolling, but if you hit a tyre wall at those sorts of speeds you'd be ruined!

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Sorry - badly worded!
I won a normal single speed 2 stroke championship and got offered a go in a superkart.
You know that feeling when you realise you've plateaued... Well that was one of those times!

[Boggle73]

Looks incredibly demanding. Would love a go in one though.

Out of interest, did you ever manage to put a figure on what it cost for a season?

Cheers,
Jay.

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Looks incredibly demanding. Would love a go in one though.

Out of interest, did you ever manage to put a figure on what it cost for a season?

Cheers,
Jay.

For super kart? No never got that far but looking at the details I would say its a whole level above normal karting which can easily rival a season racing caterhams.
I used to stick to the long distance team events (6hr to 24hr my favourites) with a each stint between 50-90 minutes (depending on the mood of health and safety with respect to fuel tank size ) the added bonus of this is that it generally isn't the focus of those people looking to carve a career in racing so the competitive cost is substantially lower.
When you turn up and unpack a few spanners and other turn up with converted RV's with rows of sparkly new engines it does take a bit out of you
We had one test day when we were advised there were juniors on track at the same time (3 x 8 year olds) - very unusual. Just warned to keep an eye out and 'be nice as they are kids'. Turned around to see full McLaren branded trucks and mechanics with them... Turns out they were 'potentials' and they wanted them to get adult racing experience. They were *very* quick even though limited on power but their sheer racing aggression was incredible... (Ie devious little bastards). But seriously.... 10 years or so before they could drive on the roads, but how good are they going be? Talk about long term thinking.

On the other end of the spectrum, I did meet somebody who's son races in a lower formula (gp2/3 - I can't recall). Costs him £175k every weekend he races....

[Boggle73]

£175k a weekend, that's ridiculous.

Love competitive racing but its scary how much it costs.
Think I will just stick to next years crumball rally.

Can you imagine funding your children's racing habit, must be crippling in some cases.

I have a friend that races MG's on a regular basis, it cost him about £500.00 per race. That's just the basics, if it gets a bit wreck less its a lot higher than that.

Keep dreaming.

[TimDogg]

I have a mate who did 2 seasons with Caterham - he bought the car but it was a self build so that's £20k ish then he reckoned it cost him £10k a year in tyres, fuel to travel + accom etc and race fees. It was the cheapest entry level racing he could find. The thing was he couldn't afford to fix his car after a big prang so he have to yield to those who could - it kinda took the fun out of it for him. He loved it though, great bunch of guys but he ended up with a cooling issue that Caterham couldn't solve. He did OK in the end.

Is that £175k figure really accurate, I just can't figure where that money goes - can you explain?

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I didn't ask details but I suspect its more a case of sponsorship.
He did say that obviously the ultimate aim was f1 but be problem is that only the top half of the grid wee make money out if it. The others generally have to pay for it themselves either out of their own pocket or via sponsorship.
So I'm guessing that it costs a couple mil on sponsorship / year in order to get the seat in the car.
He's in a position for it to not be an issue but it does highlight how much hell Anthony Hamilton had to go through to get lewis recognised.

[Boggle73]

He's in a position for it to not be an issue but it does highlight how much hell Anthony Hamilton had to go through to get lewis recognised.

True that, proper ambition / love for your kids.

Shame he couldn't stop him from being a miserable <beep>.

[TimDogg]

They all are aren't they? Apart from Jarno Trulli and Mark Webber?

Oh, and Rubens Barrichello - he's nice too

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They all are aren't they? Apart from Jarno Trulli and Mark Webber?

Oh, and Rubens Barrichello - he's nice too

It's tricky though in today's world of corporate commercial media.
To me I think that they simply are not allowed to show anything other than total professionalism which is easier to do 'dead pan'.

I really thought that Vettel's appearance on top gear was surprising in that I thought it showed a hint of his 'out the office' personality. Certainly changed my opinion of him.

Also the merc advert with Hamilton and alonso (before it all went sour) was also really funny due to the more natural character coming through. The bit where alonso trips up Hamilton in the corridor really stood out as I think based on their expressions it was kinda ad-lib (ESP as Hamilton goes down like a sack if potatoes).

[TimDogg]

Just watched that, don't know how I missed it. The Red Arrows flew Hamilton and said he was a good laugh actually. I saw the F1 interview between Alonso and Webber... and it's obvious from 4.10 that they both know that it's a money game and that they are just pawns to be used.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/22427945