How much does it cost to enter Touring Car Racing?

[Les]

Thats pretty good going, Phil. What route did you take to get into Clio racing (and don't say the A146!) ? if you had suitable funding, and the right breaks (brakes?) and talent, you could possibly get into BTCC in three years:
year 1 - club racing
year 2 - BTCC support race like the clio cup
year 3 - BTCC

funding - that's near enough all you need in this day and age....

and Phil was VW Cup champion
1995 (100cc DAP) Karting till 2000
1996-1997 (Honda Prokart) Won the Tockwith summer sprint championship, and third in the Endurance series.
1998 (Honda Challenge) 16th from 64 competitors. Tockwith, Wombwell and Warden Law champion.
1999 (Honda Challenge) 14th overall and having top ten finishes at some rounds. 2000 (Formula Vauxhall Championship) 5th in Championship, 2 victories, 3 podiums. Test in a Formula Renault with Redgrave Racing.
2001 (Avon Junior Formula Ford)(Monoposto) Various races, 3 wins in Monoposto
2002 (Monoposto) Champion, 10 wins from 11, in Formula Vauxhall Junior
2003 (Year out) Working for Clio Cup and Ascar team, Xcel Motorsport
2004 (Volkswagen Cup) - VW Cup Champion in 1st year of saloons in a Beetle RSI. (Britcar) - 2nd in class 4 of Britcar in a Honda (2cv 24hrs) - 14th in the 2cv 24hr race.
2005 (Volkswagen Cup) - VW Cup Champion (2cv 24hrs) - 13th in 2cv 24hr race.
2006 Joined JHR and took 2 thirds (Oulton Park and Knockhill)

[Phil H]

Thanks Les, thats the route I took! But as Les says, its all down to money. If you cant drum up £250-300K for touring cars then Clio's/Seats is the top championship you can do.

[Les]

just to say I don't agree with the 'money will get you any where' but it certainly has put people with lesser talent in some great cars which is a pity at time.
Personally 3 years is no where near long enough to learn how to race. Unless you qualify on pole and get away to a flying start you need to learn how to pick your way through a pack without getting damaged or walloping people and that takes time and that's where clios are so good. If you can win the clio championship then you are a good driver.

[Brooklands78]

just to say I don't agree with the 'money will get you any where' but it certainly has put people with lesser talent in some great cars which is a pity at time.

Agreed, Les - having a bank balance with lots of digits before the decimal point certainly helps you "jump the queue" - but that's not to say that some of the drivers who have "bought" their drives (or funded their own teams) are not decent drivers.

Going back to the original question, one driver that I spoke to a short while ago said that his budget for the whole season was about a quarter of what one of the manufacturers was allocating to each race weekend!

[Les]

I was also speaking to someone about the same thing.... I was saying that someone that pays for himself and has no sponsors to pander too can get away with very little in the way of hospitality suites, passes, seats, catering, staff - that can save a lot in a budget. Just look at VX, Seat, RAC versus Martyn Bell, Erkut, and co.

[fabricator/61]

With regards to costs, a works car will arrive at the circuit with a "new" engine,new brake discs and pads,new or well repaired bodyworkand numerous other little things. A privateer just does not have this "luxury". The cost for this would be well over £800,000.

[tdb]

With regards to costs, a works car will arrive at the circuit with a "new" engine

Not without penalties it won't.
The number of engines per season is limited.
Each engine used is lifed, in most cases, 3 meetings.

[Les]

the top teams strip a car and look at every component between rounds.... a middle team does all the important stuff, some others put the car in the trailer at the end of one meeting and bring it out again at the begining of the next.

[Mark]

Not without penalties it won't.
The number of engines per season is limited.
Each engine used is lifed, in most cases, 3 meetings.

Which is why he put new in quotes, you didn't see that?

[Dave B]

By "new" I understood "stripped down and reconditioned so far as the rules will allow without breaking the seals"