Your race Carreer (real life)

[Nessafox]

we'll see what we can get together and then we'll see if it's realistic.
I'm offering at least 500€ if i'm not driving and 2000€ if i'm driving (some financial risk, so i don't pay until we are 99% sure to race) that's the most i can offer without doing stupid things.
then of course, i don't know what it takes to get a driver licence, but i suppose it will be do-able
we might not have enough time for 2011, but we need to keep this up so we are at least 200% sure to enter in 2012 (and please don't make promises you know you can't keep)
at least we can seriously do our best, all you have to offer is welcome. This is obviously for ourselves a chance to drive at spa, and for the website to gain a little bit of publicity, while doing something within the spirit of the website. (I would though enter as 'f1rejects.com' and not as 'rejects racing' because there is a chance that the organasers will think it's a joke and thus decline our entry)

and eh, jamie and enoch, if you guys do a podcast again, you can allways contribute a little bit by mentioning our plans

and i might get a bit overconfident now, but if we can get this done, we must try to enter the nurburgring 24 next year too , though this will be a bit more expensive, because we will have to take care of everything ourselves.

[Aerond]

we'll see what we can get together and then we'll see if it's realistic.
I'm offering at least 500€ if i'm not driving and 2000€ if i'm driving (some financial risk, so i don't pay until we are 99% sure to race) that's the most i can offer without doing stupid things.
then of course, i don't know what it takes to get a driver licence, but i suppose it will be do-able
we might not have enough time for 2011, but we need to keep this up so we are at least 200% sure to enter in 2012 (and please don't make promises you know you can't keep)
at least we can seriously do our best, all you have to offer is welcome. This is obviously for ourselves a chance to drive at spa, and for the website to gain a little bit of publicity, while doing something within the spirit of the website. (I would though enter as 'f1rejects.com' and not as 'rejects racing' because there is a chance that the organasers will think it's a joke and thus decline our entry)

and eh, jamie and enoch, if you guys do a podcast again, you can allways contribute a little bit by mentioning our plans

and i might get a bit overconfident now, but if we can get this done, we must try to enter the nurburgring 24 next year too , though this will be a bit more expensive, because we will have to take care of everything ourselves.

I would say 2012 to be a more realistic goal, since it´s now less than 2 months to the actual race. Now, anyone interested would be able to save a little bit of money within a year thus making it realistically achievable, plus I myself I have other commitments this year (my band debut album) which would be impossible to achieve unless the business I´m trying to start is a success right from the start, which is not likely to happen. Maybe we should now start a topic to discuss only about this.

[Nessafox]

There is indeed not much time for 2011 the thing is, me must make sure that people don't forget our 2012 plans.
A topic would be the obvious thing, J&E can use their podcasts to make others that don't visit the forum aware (assuming they will find the time now and then)
also other social media would maybe be of some use (i'm not really familiar with those)
so who's gonna start the topic?

[Sauber010]

I shot a bit of video last weekend at my local race meeting, though I might share.
Its not the fastest class going around, but it is quite a fun thing to drive. The slipstreaming and race craft in these cars is the biggest thing.
Hopefully I'll be racing them at Phillip Island (the MotoGP track) and Bathurst in the near future!

http://vimeo.com/23903850

[David AGS]

Sorry Guys, bit off topic,

but has anyone driven an F1 Car on here?

Not as a Grand Prix driver!, but you know like at the AGS school, or at a racetrack, or a competition winner etc?

[DemocalypseNow]

Look; I´ve read this:

http://www.funcup.co.uk/drives01.asp

So, if this is true, we could rent a drive for Spa for 18,500 pounds, everything included, plus VAT. This would be around 3000 pounds each if we´re 8 people.

Please note that all prices quoted are plus VAT and that any accident damage would also be chargeable.

UHOH

I had better not be one of the eight drivers then

[tommykl]

The mother of all bumps just to say that I'm going to be taking part in my first competitive kart race this weekend, in the form of the 24 hours of Eupen. It's only a one-off, and I'm only a last-minute replacement, but what the heck, I might as well go for it

[nome66]

soooo chalk up autocross to my resume.
6th best out of like 30 entries..... IN THIS THING

i was the first of the Not-high-horsepower cars. 5th place was a 466bhp Camaro with a splitter on the front.
7TH was some honda civic with a stance job on it.(ugly amounts of camber, much too low, riding the sidewalls and such).
1st was a corvette. the rest of the field under the top five besides meself was pretty much ambitious ricers. i honestly recognized 4 of them from pizza deliveries i've ordered.
only reason i was in the top-ten was because i was a bit ballsy on the final sweeper. and the final slalom.

[Wallio]

soooo chalk up autocross to my resume.
6th best out of like 30 entries..... IN THIS THING

i was the first of the Not-high-horsepower cars. 5th place was a 466bhp Camaro with a splitter on the front.
7TH was some honda civic with a stance job on it.(ugly amounts of camber, much too low, riding the sidewalls and such).
1st was a corvette. the rest of the field under the top five besides meself was pretty much ambitious ricers. i honestly recognized 4 of them from pizza deliveries i've ordered.
only reason i was in the top-ten was because i was a bit ballsy on the final sweeper. and the final slalom.

Damn, that quite impressive. And don't sell yourself short, balls go a long way in this business, and really are an undervalued "skill".

As many of you know, I drag race a Nova. Not terribly quick (low 10s high 9s, depending on whether its NOS or no NOS race) but I've been improving bit by bit this year. We ran the York Nostalgia Nationals, and Finished 16th out of 74 cars entered into A/Modified Production (and made the races website!). We only lost because we couldn't answer the call for round 3 as the water pump failed . The Labor day finals saw us finish in the Top 40 with 130+ cars entered into A/MP. Last year we ran the Super Chevy Show and while I'm not sure how exactly we did (there was over 1400 entries total!) Racing started on Wednesday, and cars started being sent home Friday. We made it all the way until Sunday afternoon. We've been lucky enough to pick up two local companies as sponsors, and while the money isn't F1 levels, it certainly is a HUGE help. Between that and me selling my Charger this month, I'm going to run the full points championship at my home track (26 races!) next year and go for rookie of the year. The Top 12 in A/MP go to the bracket finals, where the top 120 drivers on the East Coast run for big money. That might be ambitious year one, but hey, a guy can dream right?



As for other racing, I did some hillclimbs and some indoor karting, and was honestly a mid-packer at best. My only claim to fame was coming third overall in a short (8 or ten race) kart championship, behind two graduates of skip barber. But I was waaayyyyy off their pace. Then I started dragging, and got hooked. We'll see how it goes.

[good_Ralf]

I had a go in an electrical kart for my 16th birthday. It was at an indoor track on a rainy day and I had a lot of fun. I was strapped into the kart and dressed in racing-style overalls, with a helmet, gloves and everything. On the track, I hardly spoke because I had to concentrate so much and I was unable to dare to brake late at the end of a straight, in case I crashed, which wouldn't have been pleasant. Often I was sliding and a few times I lodged myself into a tyre barrier. Soon after I was instructed how to reverse, I was able to do it myself, avoiding further embarrassment.
At the end of it all I was near the bottom of the timesheets, but most of the other boys/males had done this sort of stuff before and some had experience through driving on the road. In fact, I was so slow drivers started to repass me, so in effect I was getting lapped!

[roblo97]

I will do some racing when I get my first car(hoping it will be an NA Mazda MX5 1.6) and do some autocross, or autosolo as it is known as here in Britain. After that, who knows

[WaffleCat]

Well,I guess this is the right time to tell you....I raced David Coulthard once. And beat him. Sort of.

I signed up to attend a UBS forum on studying in uni overseas,and at the end,they announced that there was a contest for 20 people to sign up and to have a chance to race DC! And also at the track I frequent for arrive-and-drive sessions. So I signed up,and managed to enter.

On arrival,most of my competitors were around 18-25,slightly older than me,and of the two that weren't,both twins,they had a full set of racing gear,indicating that they were competitive drivers. The rules were simply this: 2 ten-minute qualifying sessions,fastest 10 race Coulthard in a ten lap race. Having been to the track before,I found myself to be one of the quicker guys on track,though being held up behind a slow-but-not-too-slow driver saw me qualify second in my session. And as the next session passed,second would indeed be my grid slot for the race.

DC would start from the back,as I lined up on the front row opposite the polesitter and the two twins behind. As the race started,the twins behind got a monster start and squeezed between me and the polesitter,effectively making this a four-wide situation heading into turn 1,with me on the very outside.As we heading into the right hander,one of the twins braked early to avoid causing a massive first turn wreck,and the guy on pole and the other twin were making contact through the first turn,so I swept round the outside to take the lead into turn 2. After that,bar some contact at a hairpin and the second lap.I ran away with the lead. Or so I thought.

By lap 5 of the ten lap race,I heard the announcer go "And Coulthard's into Third!". One lap later "He's into second!".I had built up an approximately 3.5 second gap to Coulthard at the end of the sixth lap. By the last lap,DC was all over my rear bumper. I defended into turn one,but by turn two,DC was well up my inside and passed me,though I kept right behind him. Inevitably,at the final corner complex DC spun-intentionally-,leaving me to win the race.

And,as proof this post does not belong in the "F1 Dreams" thread,here's a picture of the event. I'm the one with the guitar shirt next to DC: https://twitter.com/therealdcf1/status/380694678217060353/photo/1

Apart from that,though,I have zero racing experience elsewhere,bar loads of arrive-and-drive sessions.

[nome66]

Damn, that quite impressive. And don't sell yourself short, balls go a long way in this business, and really are an undervalued "skill".

As many of you know, I drag race a Nova. Not terribly quick (low 10s high 9s, depending on whether its NOS or no NOS race) but I've been improving bit by bit this year. We ran the York Nostalgia Nationals, and Finished 16th out of 74 cars entered into A/Modified Production (and made the races website!). We only lost because we couldn't answer the call for round 3 as the water pump failed . The Labor day finals saw us finish in the Top 40 with 130+ cars entered into A/MP. Last year we ran the Super Chevy Show and while I'm not sure how exactly we did (there was over 1400 entries total!) Racing started on Wednesday, and cars started being sent home Friday. We made it all the way until Sunday afternoon. We've been lucky enough to pick up two local companies as sponsors, and while the money isn't F1 levels, it certainly is a HUGE help. Between that and me selling my Charger this month, I'm going to run the full points championship at my home track (26 races!) next year and go for rookie of the year. The Top 12 in A/MP go to the bracket finals, where the top 120 drivers on the East Coast run for big money. That might be ambitious year one, but hey, a guy can dream right?



As for other racing, I did some hillclimbs and some indoor karting, and was honestly a mid-packer at best. My only claim to fame was coming third overall in a short (8 or ten race) kart championship, behind two graduates of skip barber. But I was waaayyyyy off their pace. Then I started dragging, and got hooked. We'll see how it goes.

i've also been indoor karting recently, at the grand prix of baltimore to be precise.
there was an indoor high-powered electric kart track inside the convention center. i landed the second best time out of the whole weekend!
they had these karts from Autobahn Indoor Speedway in jessup, MD on a replica of the Indycar track. they gave two warmup laps out of the pit lane, and 4 timed laps. not sure of the exact scale realtive to the full size track, but i ran a 38.55 for my fastest time. first was 37.93 or something i skimmed past the leaderboard on sunday(my laps were on Friday) and they had "today's times" then the next were "weekend leaders" mine was on top for about four minutes until someone else lapped slightly quicker. i'm not sure of how many entrants there were overall, but it was in the 90s

[Onxy Wrecked]

My racing career well doesn't exist. For the reason I have a lack of money and the physique of late career A.J. Foyt who ran a good few laps, but during the race he wasn't all the good.

[MrMasaTasa]

I raced karting in 1999-2003. Out of 39 races, my best results were 7(!) 2nd places without a win, and 4 poles.

Well in september 2003 (I was 9 years back then) i broke my left leg and arm in a massive pileup, also my kart caught fire. I was never the same again, and i lost all of my interest in karting.

Bathplug, i shall begin karting again

[midgrid]

I raced karting in 1999-2003. Out of 39 races, my best results were 7(!) 2nd places without a win, and 4 poles.

Nick, is that you??

[girry]

I had a slow kart as a kid but our budget didn't stretch further than just making some thousand lone hotlaps around my local track, would have loved to race even once but oh well, most don't even get their own kart so guess I've been lucky anyway. I still swear no one can lap that track faster than me in that kart.

[RonDenisDeletraz]

I go go karting at my local track for fun sometimes, but I am to poor and too untalented to make a career out of it.

[AustralianStig]

I go go karting at my local track for fun sometimes, but I am to poor and too untalented to make a career out of it.

Which one do you go to? I live just up the road from the one at Pooraka, whenever we have work functions there I destroy everyone

[RonDenisDeletraz]

I go go karting at my local track for fun sometimes, but I am to poor and too untalented to make a career out of it.

Which one do you go to? I live just up the road from the one at Pooraka, whenever we have work functions there I destroy everyone

I usually go to the Gepps Cross one, although now that I think about it the Pooraka one is probably geographically closer to me.

[dinizintheoven]

I go go karting at my local track for fun sometimes, but I am to poor and too untalented to make a career out of it.

Think yourself lucky you've still got (some) time on your side. I went karting once when I was 27 - the age Sebastian Vettel will be later this year - and made Milka Duno look like Gilles Villeneuve in comparison.

[DanielPT]

I go go karting at my local track for fun sometimes, but I am to poor and too untalented to make a career out of it.

Think yourself lucky you've still got (some) time on your side. I went karting once when I was 27 - the age Sebastian Vettel will be later this year - and made Milka Duno look like Gilles Villeneuve in comparison.

I did some karting last year at my brother-in-law bachelor party where I thrashed everyone else (we were 10) although, somehow, I failed to post the fastest lap by a few thousands. The year before, in a team building event at my company, I proceeded to win the event (although I cheated a bit by not making a mandatory drive exchange pit-stop. My team would not have won since my partner was about 4 seconds slower than me and 3 seconds slower than most people in a 28s lap), be the consistently faster driver out there and, this time around, post the fastest lap. So I consider to have some talent although I only discovered karting when I was 16. My future sons (if I end up having them) will have the opportunity to race early on, I hope.

[Myrvold]

But i had to stop after the 13th race because i had a weird accident (flew up side down in the air because i got launched by a other driver), got the luck that i could release the safety belt, destroyed 2 lowest vertebra's of my back.
6 weeks later i was back in a race, i qualified 7th but recognized i wasn't able to move my lags only my feet... that was really the end of my Carreer

Safety belt in racekarts? O.o

My own little history:

We did spend every single spare we had, on me and my go-kart career some years ago. Firstly I did it just for fun, sort of because I wasn't a serious guy, but also due to being very early in puberty, which in turn meant that I got quite big quite fast, and was way over the weight limits. Finally, when I turned 14(2005), I could get to a class where me + the kart together wasn't overweight (140kg was the limit). We had a very modest budget of 15k EUR for the year, but decided to pick the races that was on the tracks I really liked.
Didn't get more than one practice before the first race, qualified 7th, and literally flew when the start ended with a kart going sideways in front of me, I hit it, jumped, 2metres up in the air (Was above the starter), landed and bent my brand spanking new chassis. I was OK myself.
We tried to get the chassis as straight as possible for the rest of the day, had to get a DNS for the second heat, and started dead last in the B-final, won that, but got caught up in another crash in the A-final. Luckily I knew that I had the speed.

Going to the second race of the 2005 season, we had gotten the chassis as straight as possible (think it was 1.2mm difference), I ended up qualifying 5th, and drove off the track after getting to 3rd, getting a bit impatient, and never been that high up before. Ended 7th. In the second heat the start was aborted, but the person behind be didn't see that, and rammed me. And that showed us the big weakness of my new kart, the rear axle got bent way to easy. Again we had to try to straighten things out. Started the final dead last, 29th, and ended 14th after 12 intense laps.

So, the summer season was social, and it didn't go to well, got a 14th place out of 72 drivers as the best, anyway, the autumn had two races that we were going to, the last on my favorite track.

Second to last race, was on my home track, was pretty stable, and solid, keeping a 7th-9th all day. Then a sudden rainstorm came few minutes before the final. I got myself up to 3rd, behind two guys from the same club. My first podium, and the clubs first 1-2-3. Was amazing, and next weekend, 2-days junior championship!

Went there full of confidence. For the first time in my life I had over a year with constant hard physical exercise behind me, had lost my "puppy-fat". Stopped drinking cola on race weekends, only water, fullwheat, and stuff that gave energy. I had just gotten my first podium. Friday free practice went ok. We found a setup I liked, felt like everything went well. Qualified 5th on Saturday, and the three first 20-lap heats was on that day. The poleman just went away, left us others to fight. Surprisingly when I got up to 2nd, I was able to pull away from the rest, and closed right up to the back of the leader. Starting 2nd for the second heat, I kept the place, and just stayed behind, we both pulled away. After that heat we decided to not fight at all until the final, or someone else was as quick as us, to have bigger chances for being 1-2 in the grid for the final. I agreed, and we did it.
Pre-Final arrived on Sunday, I knew I was faster. And after spending 113 laps 0.4 sec behind him the whole weekend, I launched an attack on a place not known for overtaking, and got the first place, second to last lap. And I was starting on pole for the grandè finale in the junior champ.
Led 15 of 26 laps, and ended second. I was overjoyed, and got an invite for the 3 last races of the season, for sure, was gonna take that option. After all a talent-scout had praised how it seemed that I just let the kart do all the job, and that I was along for the ride. "Looks like you are driving on skies man" was the words of a guy that had worked with Jarno Trulli. Nice words to get as a 14th yo.

But no. Riding my bike to school on the Monday after the race, I crashed in a tunnel, broke my skull and got a cerebral hemorrhage - like Schumacher, the situation was critical and unstable the first 10-12 hours I've learned, then it went to critical but stable for a couple of days. It left me unable to speak at all.
That was the end of the season, and in reality the end of my racing career. Re-learned to speak Norwegian, got a 9month ban on anything that got even a slightly high pulse, and I got kinda chubby.

Went back to karting in May 2006, a month before my ban was over, and against doctors orders. Was happy to see that I hadn't lost any speed. But the accident and doctors words had putten an damper on the interest of my family.
Did a few races that season, including the Norwegian Champ. Cup, was close to top 5's, but didn't break into it. When 2006 reached an end, there was the same two races that had given me the 3rd and 2nd place the year before. We decided to take a stab at it. Again I was around 7th-9th all day, and again rain arrived for the finals. This time I got myself up to second. Not wanting to get into a fight with the leader, as he had just gotten his license back after a court case (!). Was overjoyed, almost cried a little. And made the front page in the Norwegian motorsport-paper.
Going back to the junior champ. I was again the only one able to even fight with the leader. But now I started to feel the fact that I hadn't really gotten 15% of the basic fitness that I had last year, and started to feel numb in my body during the first day.
Was a secure 2nd all weekend long. But on the second lap of the final, I was just dumped by another driver, got taken out. And for the first time, I was so angry that I wasn't allowed to go and see the stewards for 15 min. When I did, I got the message that he had "seen it, and it was a racing incident. or, he hadn't seen it, but as nothing had happened earlier the weekend, he was sure of it".

When the season ended, I was angry, my dad was scared for my life, my mom stayed supportive, but without economy to support me. And my grandparents was afraid as well.

2007 went by with bad results, and my first rallycross race.

2008 I only drove one kart race, with the same kart that I bent in 2005, but now it was totally worn out, and with a major crash in the first heat of the norwegian champ, leaving me frantically helping another driver to get free airways. I decided that my motivation was long gone, and that I wouldn't drag my father trough more though races. Being afraid of me.
We did two more rallycross races that year. But without any practice, I basically just had the 12 laps from 2007, and 3 laps of the practical license test as experience. Got myself a 4th place in the A-finals in the first race of the year, after laying 3rd but the engine gave up. Rolled the car in the second, and that was the end of the car.
Dad had gotten a new lady in his life. And that woman didn't like motorsport, even less he using money on that, when her daughters didn't get anything. It sort of killed the last little fire we had in us. And it was the end of my racing career. I went to simracing, though, never really gotten serious about it, and my dad, well, he's found a friend, the bottle. Sadly.

Now I think I've actually lost my license, due to not having payed it for the last 5 years. Getting some money of my own, are giving me motivation to at least go out and do some official practice days with the spare kart we never used back in the days. The two karts, and engine, and everything is still there. I actually have my old racing suit as well. So we'll see what happens. It itches every year, but it would cost me 3-4 months of savings just to get things up and going again, and do 1 practice day. Not sure if it's worth it.

A little spam of pictures:
Me leading the junior champ. back in 2005

The very modest things we had (lived in the Ford Transit behind the tent). Ran around 1/3-1/4 of the budget of the supposed top guys.

A increasingly fatty me - and the ruined kart after the crash in 2008 - what you don't see is the chassis being bent into the chain from the engine.

After my RX roll (landed on top of the green car, before we ended like this)

Last pic ever of the car, and me in a racing suit (barely visible)


Sorry for tl;dr got carried away. Short version

2000-2003: Karting Unserious
2004: Karting - serious, but early puberty = too large
2005: Karting - lot of physical exercise, stepping up a class. First podium (3rd), then 2nd in Junior Champs. Day after, broken skull & cerebral hemorrhage. 9 months ban on anything that rised my pulse - doctors saying no to racing.
2006: Karting - 2nd place where I got 3rd year before. Dumped from a 2nd in Junior Champs. Getting pissed. Father getting afraid for my life after brain injury
2007: Karting - Suffering from dad being very afraid. Debuting in RX, with 3 laps from the practical part from license test as only practice ever (only time in an actual car mind you).
2008: Karting - 1 race, major crash, helping another driver breath. Deciding to quit to spare my dad from more. RX - 2 races, no practice since last years race, ending 4th in the A-final. Rolled the car in the second race. Car destroyed.
2009-Now: Wanting to get back, not having any money to do it yet.

[midgrid]

That's a good (albeit sad) story! Hopefully you'll be able to add some more chapters to it later in life. Do you have records for all of those races or was that all from memory?

And if we're going to start posting old photos, here is my first time ever in a kart, on my ninth birthday in 1997!

[midgrid]

I karted a few times at my local indoor track when I was small, then I moved up to more powerful machines on outdoor tracks (Rye House, Whilton Mill and Red Lodge) at university level. I have one podium finish from about twelve races or so since then. I took part in the test day for the British Universities Karting Championship for the 2009/10 season, but unfortunately our B team's entry for the championship was scratched after we only entered the A team for the first event, so I didn't get a chance to race (although this was probably a good thing, as I was one of the slowest drivers during the test day, and spent most of the time spinning into piles of wood shavings. I was also black-flagged three times, each time for a different offence).

My form improved since then, with two podiums (and a fastest lap) from the three races in which I subsequently competed, but I haven't raced since 2012 due to starting my (real) career and no longer having the time to travel back to uni.

[wsrgo]

Wow, you guys are all so experienced!!!

I drove a kart once, 10 years ago, in an amusement park. I finished 5th out of 40 participants! Sadly, the track closed down a year after that, and the only other place in my city is too expensive.

[AxelP800]

Wow, you guys are all so experienced!!!

Yeah I feel the same
The only laps of racing I've done in my life until now is......not even reaching 15 laps....And all of them is not even actual race, it's some sort of practice laps.
First experience being driving buggy cars in an amusument park where I did few laps. Two memorable things: My front-right touched with someone passing me Lucky we didn't roll. The second is I managed my way to get out from a little pile-up caused by a stalled car

Other was a 2 laps drive of go-kart in another amusument park.....where I hit the barrier once thanks to pushing the throttle and brake on the same time......

It's been 6 years

[Myrvold]

That's a good (albeit sad) story! Hopefully you'll be able to add some more chapters to it later in life. Do you have records for all of those races or was that all from memory?

Kept the old mails and/or letters we sent to sponsors after races in the 2005 and 2006 season. The 2008 incident left a mark, remember it quite well.

More chapters, as I've grown older, and have been in contact with some other people, there has been some talk about buying a car, and do some VLN-races. But to get that license, I first need to get a drivers license (yup, approaching 23, being a racing fanatic, I still haven't bothered with a drivers license)

[watka]

Thanks for sharing Myrvold, I'm sorry that you've had to go through some tough times.

[Myrvold]

Thanks for sharing Myrvold, I'm sorry that you've had to go through some tough times.

Could've been worse, only got 5-10% permanent damage. And it's only noticeable when I'm nervous or tired - then I struggle to speak. Or if I speak something else than Norwegian.

(My brain damage was on the area that controls the speech, lost ability to talk for a while)

[watka]

Thanks for sharing Myrvold, I'm sorry that you've had to go through some tough times.

Could've been worse, only got 5-10% permanent damage. And it's only noticeable when I'm nervous or tired - then I struggle to speak. Or if I speak something else than Norwegian.

(My brain damage was on the area that controls the speech, lost ability to talk for a while)

That's 5-10% worse than most people have to suffer then!

[go_Rubens]

I actually rode in a 2 person kart a year and a half ago. I'll admit, I actually enjoyed that, although it was rather tame. And since using a wheel on a PS3 for driving out of control Pagani Huayras on GT6 is getting a little boring, I'd actually like to start karting. But as some of you know, I have a completely different race career that's in real life, being in canoe slalom racing, that has all my attention and focus (hey, it's a Summer Olympic sport). Although I need a career to support that as it's a very expensive sport to partake in. Maybe to keep my interest in motorsports, maybe something related to cars and racing. All I know is, I have no idea what's ahead for me in life.

And there's also the fact that my family can barely afford my needs for canoe slalom anyway (canoeing equipment of the highest degree is very expensive indeed for someone classified in a working poor family), I have no idea how I'd be able to start karting anyway with our tight money to begin with. And because there's a lack of kart tracks in central Pennsylvania. Well, that I know of. So, if I really want a motor racing career, I'd have to ditch canoeing. But me in my most messed up state of mind would never do that. Shame.

[nome66]

wow i've always wanted to race in that rallycross series out in finland. do all the stuff i have always wanted to do in traffic, but would otherwise be convicted of.

[Jocke1]

Seeing this thread, I remember posting in the Danny Ongais Drag Racing Thread:
viewtopic.php?f=4&t=5499#p201606

[Salamander]

I went go-karting a few times back when I was 10 or so - as I recall, I was pretty damn good at it, though I never went professional or anything - my Dad was too selfish to ever spend money on me like that...

[Wallio]

This was the winter of change for us. For as long as I can remember my family has been involved in Drag Racing. We have always had a "door-car". A normal road car hopped-up to hell. But as I posted before, this winter we sold it all and bought an altered.

The second change was the name. The team has always been Team R & R Racing. Their were 3 iterations of Team R & R Racing: Riccetti and Riccetti (my father and uncle), Riccetti and Redman (my father and the guy who he hired to take over driving) and then Riccetti and Riccetti again (my father and myself). When we were lucky enough to have a partner buy in, it became Team R & S Racing. But since that dissolved, and I became an owner/driver, I rebranded us as Riccetti Competition (hence all my teams in the Perry McCarthy Forums).

The next change was my license, I needed a newer (higher grade) license to run an "open-body car" (Altered, Dragster, Funny Car). When I did that, I switched sanction bodies from the NHRA to the IHRA. I did this since the track owner at Beaver Springs sort of recruited us. He wanted us to run in his track championship. He is an IHRA track, so why not? I'm now certified in the IHRA for 3 years, which is nice. Since we entered the team in the points championship, we have our own reserved pit stall now, which let's us keep our camper and the car/trailer there if we choose.

However, switching sanctioning bodies caused me to lose my number. Since 1988 a Riccetti has run R102. However, now I run AX86. While I normally think assigned driver numbers ala NASCAR and this years F1 are stupid, I must admit I was saddened a bit to lose it. Oh well.

However, we decided to send it out on a high note. March 22nd/23rd was the Spring Open Test at Beaver. We entered the new car under the number R102 one last time. Having never driven the car at all before, I made a bit of a test loop on some of the return roads in the pits and just lumped it around a bit building confidence. After that we made a test hit with a really low chip in the rev limiter and ran a "blistering" 14.74 Being a new car, there were gremlins, especially in the gearbox. First gear was working when it wanted. That being finally sorted out, by the end we ran a 10.06 at 126 mph, which was into a 35mph headwind. That was still good enough for 3rd quickest out of the 57 cars entered in the test, so not too bad.

The car has a bit more in her, but last weekends Second Test was rained out. I'm hoping to enter this Friday's Outlaw (No Rules) race and use it just as a test, but the weather is not looking too good......

The track photographer did make me this ballin hero card though.

[Jocke1]

Thanks for sharing. AX86 is not a bad switch, though. Just have to come up with a cool association to it.
I really love the "fatness" of those rear tyres.

[f1-gast]

Wauw that is a badass car how is it to drive that one ?


Im close to a deal to test a GT4 car in Ocotber (thanks to my employer who is one of the mainsponsors )
But i need to get my race licence before i can do the test.

[Wallio]

Thanks for sharing. AX86 is not a bad switch, though. Just have to come up with a cool association to it.
I really love the "fatness" of those rear tyres.

Thank you. I actually picked AX86. The IHRA requires all drivers to run what they call an "X-Number" so you fill in a sheet that reads _ X _ _. After several attempts at salvaging R102 were scrapped, I remembered that Sidney Crosby picked 89 as his number due to it being his birth year. While I never liked Sid the Kid, I always thought that was neat, hence 86. As for the "A", my wife was sitting by me when I was filling out the form, her name is Annie, so I said "Wanna be on the race car?" It'll grow on me I guess.

Wauw that is a badass car how is it to drive that one ?


Im close to a deal to test a GT4 car in Ocotber (thanks to my employer who is one of the mainsponsors )
But i need to get my race licence before i can do the test.

Thank you, its a bit of a handful to drive, it has all the same controls as our old car, but they are all in different locations The main difference being the while the car has four wheel disc brakes (most altered run only rear brakes) it is controlled by only a handbrake, and since the car has a semi-auto gearbox, it simply has an accelerator pedal and nothing more. A bit of a mind screw really. Plus despite being built for a "large driver" (I am a typical fat American) it is still like being poured into a jello mold.

As for how it feels, the car has no suspension whatsoever. No shocks, struts, springs, sway bars, or torsion bars Just two live straight axles. So the littlest bump is sent through the whole chassis. And my seat is bolted to the rear axle, so you become....quite sore. It is also hindering our ability to set the car up and find the sweet spot, as we have no real experience with a "hardtail". My feedback to the team (admittedly one of my greatest failings as a driver) doesn't help, I told the crew after one pass that the car was "freight-training" on the top end. They thought this was funny as hell, and made "choo-choo" noises for the rest of the weekend. The rear tyres (which by the way Jocke are 17.5 inches wide a piece) actually grow quite a bit during a run, and since I sit on them, I actually rise up over the car quite a few inches at speed. Quite a sensation at 120+.

Overall though, it actuallys feels quite a bit like a turbo car. Nothing really at the hit, but from half-track on, look out! The power also seems limitless, no matter how hard you push it, the car wants to go faster. Very cool.


Enough of my ramblings though, tell us about the test gast! What make/model? Where at? When?

[f1-gast]

Would love to drive such a bad ass racing car


Well nothing special i think, its one of the follow cars i can test with.
Ferrari 458 Italia GT3
Porsche's 997 GT3
BMW M3 GT4

Probably at Zandvoort.
But it could also be Zeltweg