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Sad day; Just sold the Formula Mazda

Discussion in 'Tracking & Driver Education' started by LightGuy, Mar 2, 2010.

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  1. LightGuy

    LightGuy Four Time F1 World Champ
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    David
    #1 LightGuy, Mar 2, 2010
    Just closed the deal on the phone.
    Car has been sitting for a few years after a season where crash repairs ate up my budget for even the next year. Next year never came.

    For those looking for the absolute best bang for the buck Formula Mazda (tube frame and for the high rollers, carbon ) in the road racing world.
    If you do normal SCCA events you should be OK cost wise. My division has a organised series attached so the competition is quite a bit higher. Honestly I just cant compete with some of the budgets, tires especially, practice time, plus I carry too much beer ballast.
    Cruel world.

    On a brighter note there is a spec Sprint car series locally where tires are supposedly to last half a season or more.
    Not road racing but many say the thrill is even greater. Old fat guys with no money are winning races in it. I resemble that remark.
     
  2. rdefabri

    rdefabri Three Time F1 World Champ

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    #2 rdefabri, Mar 2, 2010
    Interesting - you don't think FF1600 or F500 is cheaper?

    What was your budget like?
     
  3. LightGuy

    LightGuy Four Time F1 World Champ
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    #3 LightGuy, Mar 3, 2010
    Lots cheaper than FF. Engines do not have to be rebuilt to be competitive.
    Because they are sealed your not in a price/HP race as well. Fixed shocks, gear sets, etc..
    Although somewhat crude (compared to a F2000, whose owners looked down their noses at us, until they were beaten by "The Tank" on the track) Wings, body work etc was cheap. My car, with all the best stuff , PiData, extra wheels, tools, gears, sold for 20K. A national winning capable car. And because the Formula is Frozen you get most of it back when it sells.
    I dont know lots about F500. I do not consider them to be in the same class as a FM.
    Tires are about equal for all formula cars plus or minus a couple hundred bucks.

    I had no real budget and spent money as was needed. I thought I could do it for $1000 a weekend but it ended up being double that and that was without new tires each race.
    There were some practising at the local track that spent more on tires on one weekend than I did throughout the season. Some of these kids had genuine talent and I watch for their names to pop up in pro series.

    It was definitely a thrill and I'm glad I did it after a 20 year absence from formula cars.
    I looked long and hard at every series before choosing Mazda. Raced FV, FF, And FA back in the day.
    FM cannot be beat.
    What is truly needed is a spec tire that lasts 3 or 4 races. Sacrilege I know.
    Canada had a FF series that used such a tire. Combine that with the FM's durability and simplicity and a star is born.
     
  4. Nuvolari

    Nuvolari F1 Veteran
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    #4 Nuvolari, Mar 3, 2010
    For sure FM is an awesome formula. The only thing is that the early cars are really ugly. The carbon cars are real sweet but the price makes it prohibitive.

    As for Formula Ford it is much more expensive as they insist on using the ancient 1600cc Kent engines rather than upgrade to the 1800cc Zetec engines the rest of the world has been using for the last 15+ years. These engines are very expensive to keep in top tune.

    Back to the FM the fixed gear ratios and shocks also helps curb costs. Another cool thing is that for not a lot of money you can buy body kits that convert them to sports prototypes making them safer for those who are afraid of open wheel racing and makes the car eligable for more track events that are shared with closed wheel cars.
     
  5. enjoythemusic

    enjoythemusic F1 World Champ

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    #5 enjoythemusic, Mar 3, 2010
    Aw man, is the SCCA still on the fence about the upgrade to the Zetec??????? In the F2000 they did it years ago and between remapping and a restrictor they have very close parity to the old 2L kent. And yeah, racing aint cheap and keeping 'fast' (new) tires under you can get $$$. Sorry to hear the Mazda had to be sold, these are indeed tough times and will be interesting to see the entry #'s for SCCA events this year and compare them to 3 years ago.
     
  6. LightGuy

    LightGuy Four Time F1 World Champ
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    #6 LightGuy, Mar 3, 2010
    It looked beautiful from my angle.
    Behind the wheel.
     
  7. enjoythemusic

    enjoythemusic F1 World Champ

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    #7 enjoythemusic, Mar 4, 2010
    :) :) :)
     
  8. ProCoach

    ProCoach F1 Veteran
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    #8 ProCoach, Mar 6, 2010
    That's the only one that counts! :D
     
  9. kverges

    kverges F1 Rookie

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    #9 kverges, Mar 8, 2010
    If you worry too much about how pretty your race car is, I want to race with YOU!

    I used to race FM and SM, but got fed up with the FM tire bill. In our region you had to have tires with under 4 heat cycles to run up front (at least I did) and that was too much for me.

    Great formula and pretty inexpensive as formula racing goes. I never tried FF or FC, but the more advanced technology of those cars has got to be more expensive to acquire and maintain/replace.

    Pity you had to bail, but racnig budgets are so high! I figure it is about $2K a weekend to race Spec Miata and I have my won rig and support myself. Fully amortized for tires, maintenance, repairs, travel, lodging, entry fees, tires, etc, FM is probably at least $3K per weekend these days, without pro support.
     
  10. robert_c

    robert_c F1 Rookie

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    #10 robert_c, Mar 8, 2010
    Sorry to hear you had to sell. I know how much you loved FM. Now pull something out of your garage and go race NASA or SCCA with Rob L. and Rob C.
     
  11. WCH

    WCH F1 Veteran
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    #11 WCH, Mar 8, 2010
    "If you worry too much about how pretty your race car is, I want to race with YOU!"


    Funny, and true.
     
  12. mousecatcher

    mousecatcher Formula 3

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    #12 mousecatcher, Mar 8, 2010
    They don't have more advanced tech (hell, FF doesn't even have wings), what makes them more expensive is that the formula is more open. FM has a single damper, single sealed engine, only 2 gear stacks, etc etc. The tight spec is what keeps costs down.

    I'm surprised you find SM cheaper. To run a competitive SM car is quite expensive.
     
  13. LightGuy

    LightGuy Four Time F1 World Champ
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    #13 LightGuy, Mar 9, 2010
    Believe it or not I'd rather race a 50 HP Formula Vee than track my 360 HP Ferrari.
    And the old saying is still true; If you cant afford to write it off dont race it.
     

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