[andy97]

Originally Posted by 911thillclimber

At very long last a bit of 'action'!
Action in spending money to get into the 2024 season that is.

All admin I must admit, and becoming a bit of an eye-opener.

First, buy a new helmet to replace the perfect old one because the Standard has changed £600
Second, join the Midland Hillclimb Championship, £100
Thirdly, enter the first 6 meetings of the 9 we plan to do. £1300

The entry costs keep going up and starting to get a bit 'is this value for money/effort?'

Around £200 per weekend for 5 runs, each about 40 sec on average, so about £40 per run, plus all the travel etc....

I keep telling myself now the car seems ok the season should be reasonable on the money front, and far cheaper than circuits though the latter must be far greater value.

2024 will be our 33rd year of competing on the hills and i think our 31st year in the Midland Championship.
Today, if you are not a Championship runner entry acceptance can be a lottery.

On a brighter note, I'm flushing the brake fluid out of the Lola today which I do every 2 years.
I was contemplating changing the brake pads to Carbone Loraine (sp) which are the deal for most hillclimb cars.
I have had these on my old 911 for a decade and they are really good if a bit of a squeal at slow speeds.
The car seems to stop well enough now so not sure there will be any real benefit for £500 cost.

On the hills you use the brakes very few times but very hard, at Shelsley Walsh you brake just twice and change gear 5 times, maybe 6 on the 30 second dash.

Trailer will need some tlc soon to remove the green moss etc and tweak the brakes now the new shoes of last year have bedded in.

First event is at Loton Park on 13/14th April, so no rush!

The cost of hillclimbing/ sprinting in terms of £ per minute is utterly bonkers. I get that some people do not like wheel to wheel racing or can’t afford a race car so speed eventing a road car is a good way of scratching the competitive itch, but when you factor in the cost of a separate speed event car and then the entry fees it becomes astronomical.
Racing something like a Caterham is far cheaper and far better value in my opinion.
For comparison, you can buy a Caterham for about £12-15k and a set of tyres will last all season. Entry fees for a CSCC race are about £420 to cover a 30 min qualifying and a 40 min race, and it mostly happens on one day.
If you don’t like racing, there is always something like the circuit rallying championship. Essentially 6-8 long sprints in a day covering a total of about 50 stage miles. A Renault Clio, Ford Fiesta or Mini Cooper S can all be had for about £10k and entries are about £360 for around an hour to an hour and 10 mins track time.
Horses for courses, I suppose, but ……