99 replies to this topic

[Thorney]

Right, there is very little I can officially confirm but the rumours have been going round for a while so I wanted to at least tell people the good news.........the VX220's will be going racing in 2007. No official title yet, no confirmed technical regs but a draft race calendar, comfirmed race support, series sponsors and 35 confirmed entries means this is 100% going to happen next year. The biggest hurdle was whether of not the VX220 was to be accepted as an entrant and that was confirmed this week (after about 6 months of lobbying from me but the race committee was pretty welcoming). There are likely to be three classes - a basic production class with limited modifications, an intermediate class, with power and handling changes (capped as to level) and an unlimited class where (pretty much) anything goes. I've been asked by the series organisors to represent the VX220 element of the racing in terms of technical specification, drafting of the tech regs (as they apply to the VX220) and help any potential racers prepare cars for racing next year. We are already building 4 cars for the series (3 NA's and my own VXT) which are likley to run in all three of the classes so what we do is likley to form the basis of what is needed to do to prepare cars for racing next year. The ethos for the series is 'cost effective' racing for proper sports cars. This isn't money no object stuff, all the cars are owned by the drivers so one eye is constantly on keeping costs low. However, due to some very serious people being involved it loks like being a pretty high profile series for 2007. Our current builds are: 1 x VX220 NA - Class A Production 2 x VX220 NA's - Class B Modified 1 x VXT - Class C Motorsport There is the capacity for further VX220 entrants but the series is based on an invititional basis, ie all potential applicants are vetted before they are accepted. If anyone is SERIOUS about racing next year can they drop me an email and I can go through the details with them. This is still very early days, we are discussing final applications such as cage design, min levels of safety equipment and tech specs for all the classes now, if anyone is prepping a car my best advice is to hold off doing anything special until we know for 100% what the specs will be and to give me a call. There will be a dedicated website for the series (with links to it from here and the TMS site) but I'll post up details of specifications and technical help as and when they are signed off. Personally speaking I'm so delighted about this I can't stop smiling. I've wanted to race my own VXT since I got it but simply lacked the environment and series to do it in. My own car is now being prepped for class C but we will retain its road legality (daft not too really - there's nothing so frustrating as having a car you can't just pop out in for a giggle). We've been talking about Lotus racing for the last year and this has all come about simply because a few like minded individuals (ok they own Elises but don't let that put you off ) all thought the same. Can you think of anything better........a 30 car grid with S1 Elises, Exiges, 190Sports, 111s's, S2 111R's, 111S's, Exiges, Honda powered S1's, S2's, Duratec S1's, S2's, Honda Supercharged S1's and S2's, Exiges and VX220 NA's, throttle bodies VX220's and VXT's all racing? I can't. I'll keep everyone posted here as to developments.

[christurbo]

Sounds fantastic

[the gits]

Needless to say, Plans Motorsport know a bit about this too....

If you want to race (and do well), speak to us.


Any one who wants to race this year can of course always do so.. there is

midenginedsportscars (www.midenginedsportscars.com)

and 750 Motorclub Roadsports (http://www.750mc.co.uk)


Possible dates are:

AMOC / Mid Engined Sports Cars & Invitation race (two signatures at each meeting)
Silverstone 1 July (2 races)
Pembrey 13 August (2 races)
Oulton Park 16 September (2 races)
Donington Park 7 October (2 races)

750 Motor Club
Pembrey 15/16 July (2 races)
Brands Hatch 12/13 August (2 races)
Silverstone 26/27 August (2 races)
Oulton Park 9 September
Snetterton Sept30 / October 1 (2 races)


so, John.. if you are preparing cars now why don't you enter one of the above this year?. We'll enter our car too.

see

http://www.plansmoto.../showroom/cars/

(third car down)


PS we have all the parts including MSA roll cages for the VX 220 and can prepare a car in 14 days to comply with MSA requirements for racing. See you on the grid!

Anyine who is getting bored with trackdays should give it a try... you'll never look back!

[waverunner]

This could have been oh so tempting. All I'd have to do is go home today after work and tell the other half I'm going to cancel the order for our new boat/home and scrap any idea of replacing the one we've got in the near future so I can use the money to race my VXR. It would be nice if I got a but its much much more likely to be Good luck though - This should be a cracking series Edited to add..... Just out of interest what's a season's racing likely to cost. Just a ball-park figure so I can justify to myself that I can't afford it.

Edited by waverunner, 18 June 2006 - 06:42 AM.

[the gits]

What will it cost? Well here are some ball park figures: You can buy a VXR 220 (which would be race-winning in midenginedsportscars or 750Mototrsclub) for around the £20K mark. To prepare to a specification which is safe and passes the mininium MSA requirements you will need: Full Roll Cage £3000 (this requires removal of the main hoop and back stays and fitting a whole new roll over structure - we have photos to show the extent of the work required to do this properly) Electronic Battery Cut Out £480 Electronic Fire Extinguisher £540 Rear Toe Eye £100 You may also want to upgrade the seat and harnesses (technically the standard ones are MSA compliant but not iddeal) Motorsport Seat and six point harness £740 Door numbers, safety stickers etc etc £60 Prices are for parts and labour, not including VAT. Then, to run the car for the season you will need to budget for: Race Entries £300 per race Transport £300 per meeting Support £300 per meeting Expenses £100-300 per meeting (depending if you are a pub B&B or four star hotel type) So a seasons racing can be had for under £10k My rule of thumb with these things is ask yourself: "could I roll my car into a ball at Paddock Hill bend and walk away thinking...oh well, never mind..that wasn't my fault and it's only a car and never mind" If the anwser is "yes" then go for it. If "no", then consider race insurance (available for £300-£400 per meeting with a £5000-£6000 excess)

Edited by the gits, 18 June 2006 - 11:07 AM.

[Pidgeon]

I have a few thoughts on these plans it now may be appropriate to share. Jez's ethos for affordable, non-contact racing is laudable, but I suspect, unobtainable. I started racing BMW's (and the BM series started) for Elise owners who could not afford to risk losing their main car. The Production BMW costs are far lower than those outlined above, but nonetheless significant. Building a series around drivers racing their 'get to work' cars and driving to and from the circuit is a great idea, but will only work if no contact occurs with other racers, or the scenery. In my view, that is either unobtainable - or not racing. My worst incident was meeting the armco at Silverstone. That cost me one S/H headlight and wing - £25, painted myself. In a VX that would be a minimum of S/H clam and paint. A relatively mild side impact to the wheel will pull the wishbone from the chassis - leading to a total rebuild on a new chassis. These cars would be great to race - based upon Plan's figures above, with an annual damage contingency of £20K. How big will that grid be? I applaud any new racing concepts, but there are many good race series heavily undersubscribed. PBMW is not one of them - because the racing is good and cost containable. Can that apply in a series where some drivers must have their car to drive to the office on Monday morning and there is a huge power and modification disparity?

[the gits]

I agree - anyone who can be led to believe that they can enter a race on Sunday and drive to work in the same car on Monday is either ridiculously gullible, overoptimistic, or won't really be racing. On the damage front there has been five years of Lotus Road Sport / Mid Engined Sports Car Racing without one write off, so the facts would disprove the concern regarding wishbones being pulled out of chassis. Although it might happen of course; it is far more likely in open wheeled / Caterham racing.

[Thorney]

We're still sorting the technical regs on the series, especially the issue on cages so I can't give you actual figures as yet. However the racing costs will be a lot lower than the Mid Engined Series that Graham is quoting especially the race fees. Partridge is right of course, this *will* be more expensive than racing BMW's especially in the circumstance of an accident, however the costs are a bit blurred. I personally had a fairly major impact in my BMW and the costs to repair it properly were not much shy of building a whole new car. THe series isn't designed to be a competitor to the PBMW's but more of a follow on series. PBMW is about limiting of costs the Lotus racing is more about control of costs but allowing a greater degree of engineering on the cars to differentiate performance. However there will still be one very close eye on costs, this will not be chequebook racing as GT seems to have become again. As well as the race cars we are building we'll be offering a turnkey solution for owners who want to convert their own cars with all the parts you need all approved and sanctioned by the MSA and the series organisors (as will other Lotus tuners). Rough budget for car prep (taking stock VX220 as a start and entering into Class B (modified) Car Suspension - £1500 Wheels/tyres - £1200 Cage - £1000 Cut off - £500 Extinguisher - £500 Seat - £400 Harness - £150 Livery - £20 Entry fees - £100 per race (2 per meeting) - £200 So you're looking at about £5k ish to prep the car plus any power mods you want to do. For Class A this will be limited to exhaust, ramaps etc (still tba) but class B will include more power mods so add potentially another £3k to that bill. Class C (motorsport) will be more unlimited and will include thigns such as superchargers, modified turbos etc.

[garyk220]

I'm definitely interested in this. Let me know if I need to register my interest to be eligible to receive the regs and other details as they are drafted PS I'd be in Class C, going by the mods to my car already.

Edited by garyk220, 19 June 2006 - 09:14 AM.

[Thorney]

Gary I'll keep you posted. We are limited to how many VX's we can run in the series so we need to keep an eye on who is serious and who is simply looking, but we've spoken before so I know you're keen. As I know more I'll post it up and send out the detals directly.

[Pidgeon]

A good response John. As someone who is capable of buidling their own car (or believes they can), the bottom line 'risk' is the value of the cheapest car you can buy. For BMW £250 for a VX ???. The other aspect I find 'interesting' is the 'invitation only'. This may be billed to keep the hot heads out (which is why I am amazed you are involved ) but could be construed to keep the chargers out (ditto) And Gary, the series will be based at MSV circuits, so you better consider relocation!

[Tony_M]

Will def. have to come along and watch some of these sounds a right crack. Can't risk my VX though, and I'm not good enough behind the wheel. John - Slap the dates / venues up when you have them

[Thorney]

I'll post what I can as soon as I can. The World of racing seems to be more back biting and politcal than even the tuning World so I'm only able to post up the information as I'm allowed to by the organisors (I'm not one of them, we're simply technical helpers for the VX220's).

[cyberman]

Well I'm interested. If the MSA will let me play and LOT invite me, I'll play. I take the view that someone from our side has to sort out Steve Williams, who gives every impression of being a tough son of a gun: I like Steve (who does a very good repair) and it will be a pleasure to try. BTW, this may not only be inadvertently expensive it could be painful. There are UK circuits where slightly modified VxTs terminal at 145mph. 360hp Elise 1 (Audi engine) have got to be around 175mph as will similarly hot VxTs. Its not a long way from the grille to the feet. Get some lollipop in a standard Elise move in front of you in the braking zone and you may *have* to T-bone him. From my perspective its not so costly as I'm already developing my car to make an ultimate trackday tool. I don't *think* I'm going to race on road tyres at those sort of speeds without a full cage: thats my choice and I don't care if the regs say less will do. It makes no sense to set out to do a 10 race series (some races will be back to back) without a full complement of spares. At a minimum everything except the tub and engine / gearbox: but everything else: clams, complete corners, radiators, lights, steering wheel, etc. Ideally all pre-built as drop on replacements. Alternatively have a back up road car and with spares of everything unique you can't manage without. Absolutely ideally an identical back-up car with soft springs on that you drive to the office till the moment its needed. Remember you need a reliable support team, even if they are your mates from the pub who turn up every week, who know the drill and where everything is hidden in the support vehicle. The alternative is to race with a full support team with a guaranteed spares level and a formula for distributing them on a bad day that you understand (eg Thorney or Plans). There is real issue racing such different performance vehicles with drivers of varied competence. I've started from the back of the grid in an F2 car in a mixed F2/F3 race. The first few laps you scatter minnows on every corner passing 1-5 at a go: it ain't safe (although it is exquisite fun). AIU these will (at least in part) be handicap races I believe that situation will arise regularly: jolly good fun but do not underestimate the mayhem which can ensue. Racing is not pattycake and there is no way known to man to make it so. The red mist descends, caution departs, ding dong ensues. With these vehicles it will be .. interesting. The championship may not be to the heroic.

Edited by cyberman, 19 June 2006 - 07:55 PM.

[cyberman]

I'll post what I can as soon as I can. The World of racing seems to be more back biting and politcal than even the tuning World so I'm only able to post up the information as I'm allowed to by the organisors (I'm not one of them, we're simply technical helpers for the VX220's).

Paul Golding at LOT and Simon Scuffham seem to be the men. There is a LOT / SELOC BBQ at Brands on Monday evening (26/06) when further is supposed to be revealed. Presumably the consequences of the meeting JT went to. While JT will obviously help the Vx fraternity as well as he can, the power resides with these guys to a great degree.

[Thorney]

We'll be at Brands....with a VX220 race car. It'll be unfinished (no cage) but pretty much there I hope.

[cyberman]

We'll be at Brands....with a VX220 race car. It'll be unfinished (no cage) but pretty much there I hope.

See you there JT (with this with luck):

[djegiant]

Good to hear what all you rufty tufty racer types are up to! This is what this forum should be all about, not bloody subs, chrome wheels etc! Just wish I had some driving talent and lots of money!!

[garyk220]

I don't *think* I'm going to race on road tyres at those sort of speeds without a full cage: thats my choice and I don't care if the regs say less will do.

I totally agree Ian. The Hillclimb/Sprint regs in the MSA blue book require a full cage for 2000cc+ cars in the Modified class. It is only advisory in lower capacity Modified and all Production classes.

I wouldn't go near a race involving 30 similar cars capable of much higher speeds than you'd ever see on a hillclimb without one, even if it does add a little weight

Are some of the guys on LOT seriously considering racing at the weekend and retaining their car as a daily driver during the week? Other than cost saving, I can't see any ohter reason why someone would be reluctant to fit a full cage.