challenge series - best way to enter

Have you been to racing school?

 

I would do that FIRST (racing school)... then you can decide the best way to go racing.

Suggest you talk to guys who race, go with them, help out, so you can see what's it's really like. The LAST step in the process is buying a car. That's the easiest part. Getting the right car for you, your interests and abilities is what you have to sort out.

Hope this helps.

 

To lessen the steep learning curve you're going to have when tuning the chassis, you might as well just start at karting. Do that for a couple years, even in a year if you are serious about it you will learn a lot. But for the most part (without very much knowledge on why you would want toe in or toe out, stiffer springs, etc. ) I highly doubt you will be very competetive just driving by the seat of your pants. yeah it's a hobby, but you also want to be good at it, because losing isn't fun...

 

First question, Do you have any track experience at all?


please, please, please don't expect that this single "racing" school will be enough. If you haven't already done so, I highly recommend that you first start going to what are called HPDEs with local car clubs. These will be held at many tracks that the Challenge series will run (depending on where you live and how far you are willing to go...), so not only will you be getting extremely valuable seat time, but you will be learning the tracks as well. They will start you off in many of the run groups with an instructor that will ride with you in the car... USE them... they will spot your errors and tell you tips that you WILL NOT figure out on your own.

I would also recommend starting out in a LOW horsepower car (again if you don't already have experience). Horsepower will completely cover up any mistakes that you would be making while you are learning how to truly control a car... and those mistakes become a HUGE problem while you are actually racing. A 360 in this instance is considered a high horsepower vehicle. If you can, find a car that either has NO driver aids (save for maybe ABS), or gives you the option to turn them all off. Once you really learn how to control a car, you will find that the traction controls will slow you down a great deal.

One last thing... good luck! I wish I was in the position where I could consider getting in to the challenge series...

 

Just to ad my two cents. When picking an instructor be sure to pick one that is not interested in showing you how fast they are in your car. I've seen so many instructors that show what they can do not what they want you to do. I've also seen many instructor that wrecked the clients equipment showing how fast they are.

It is their job to point out your errors and what will make you go fast.

 

Once you've accumulated enough track experience, how do you get into the current 430 Challenge series? Do you just go do the dealer and order the car? Does the dealer store it between races?

 

Bring deep pockets!

 

Excellent point. Far too many track day and car club 'instructors' are volunteers.

 

Uh, yeah that part I figured out already thanks

Anybody here actually done it (or doing it now) that can shed some light?

 

Two of my customers ran the 430 Challenge this year. One dropped out after going through $80,000.00 in carbon brakes halfway through the season. The other just ran and placed well in Mugello... One car actually was delivered with a faulty paddle shift controller and cost $20,000.00 and it had never turned a wheel. Just way too much money... Remember, buying the car is the cheapest part of any racing effort...
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That's consistent with what I've read and/or heard. It seems a season runs somewhere between .5 to $1M with everything factored in. What I was asking is more about the process of getting started, not the cost of it. Do you call your dealer and tell them you want to order a Challenge car? Does somebody have to drop out first (i.e. are there only a certain number of entries per dealer)? Does it have to be a dealer in your home State or Province? That kind of stuff..

 

FOW and Boardwalk have excellent programs. Give Stewart Foster a call @ Boardwalk. 972.447.5222

 

I can't remember which magazine I read this from, its been a few months. What I vaguely recall was one of the former Challenge drivers jumped to buying a Ferrari F1 car through the Corse Clienti program and claimed it was cheaper to run the F1 car than a whole season of the Ferrari Challenge.

 

Yeah, I read that, too. I think it was FORZA magazine.