Who wants to go racing next year?

[jonzi]

http://www.nolimitstrackdays.com/acatalog/racing.html

[Thuli]

No slob; don't look at that. Look over here at this other nice shiny bikey thing instead...

[jonzi]

No slob; don't look at that. Look over here at this other nice shiny bikey thing instead...

Slob, lets talk about this soon!

We could get shiny bikes to race. mmm racing /insert Homor picture

[Flip]

But remember no racing is going to be particulary cheap as I am sure you're aware (don't forget to include the cost of getting to and from the circuits which can be the biggest regular expense). Also, how many races are you going to get for your entry fees- if it's only one over a weekend then £165 is quite a lot to pay considering the distance to circuits.

Don't forget you have to sleep somewhere too- you may not want to leave your bike out all night in order to sleep in a van with tool boxes, spares and fuel etc. Camping is o.k. but you do have to think of our great British weather and some circuits (Mallory and Brands spring to mind) don't have a lot of grass for pitching a tent close to the main paddock.

Like Steeevvvo from here, after years of wanting and wishing I decided to finally give it a go and have competed in twenty races at five circuits this year and got enough signatures to loose my orange bib. But unlike Steve who did Desmo Due I went for racing a classic (1965 Ducati 250 Mach1) with the CRMC (who are at Silverstone this weekend btw) and with around forty races over a weekend and entry fees at about £35 per race (usually two races per class per day- although bikes are often eligable to enter more than one class if you want). The paddock is friendly with class reps to help point people in the right direction along with a genuinely helpful atmosphere.

The classics also attract a few big names from time to time- Sean Emmett is a regular entry on a RG500, Guy Martin did a couple of races at Cadwell and James Whitham was at Donnington racing a Honda MT125R (with Foggy there too supporting him- mostly from the bar). There are also a few total legends out there like Les Judkins (http://www.burtonlatimer.info/sport&leisure/motorcycling%20judkins.html) who at 82 this year is still out there mixing it up, which goes to prove you're never too old.

Whatever series or class you decide on, my personal best bit of advice would be get along to a couple of meetings to see if the format etc. suits what you want and expect to get from it, talk to the people racing (esspecially those in orange bibs), find out what bikes people are using and what consumables are costing them but be warned it is adictive!!!