This has been an interesting thread to follow. I think the challenge of winning a club championship is seriously underestimated and teaches a young driver so much. I think the Cadet British championship is devalued by encouraging kids with just one years experience to jump into such a competitive environment where teams and the seriously well funded dominate. Of course it’s argued you have to be in a team to do well and “bring the driver on” but with probably half the grid now being run by teams there are many people spending an awful lot of money who are going to be seriously disappointed.
Personally I think that kind of advice for an 8/9/10 year old is rubbish. They’re kids for goodness sake!
My advice to someone thinking of going this route is to think how they will feel after say three years doing the top championships and spending say min £50k with a team (some will spend more) how they will feel if they where only to achieve third place. Don’t get me wrong, 3rd or anywhere in the top ten is very respectable but is it worth £150k? The reality is that kind of money cannot be spent from annually earned income (unless you are a city banker with a £1m bonus) so it either has to be spent from family wealth, deferred pension payments or borrowed (at what cost?). Personally if I was going to spend that kind of money then it has to be a proper investment that is going to give a guaranteed return back to the family and not disappear into the ether! I have brought my son up to understand this.
Off course where you are located in the country has a big impact on thought processes. If you live in Extreme North/South or N Ireland where clubs grids tend to be smaller it might make sense to jump into the fray of national racing to get the bigger grids and tougher competition. I understand that thinking but the cost of travel and accommodation alone is scary.
Personally I think the continued strength of national cadet championships (although numbers have been falling since 2008) is disguising a serious decline in club level msa karting. If the Comer engine is ditched I will make a prediction that the numbers involved in both club and national cadet karting as we have experienced for the last 20 years will not simply continue their decline but fall off a cliff. I accept I might well be proven wrong as the money I see being spent quite simply beggars belief!
So back to the original question how much does it cost? Numbers below assume driver competes in National races only from April to October (S1 and FKS) and club races at start and end of year. Team driver assumed to hire engines at £125/day. Accomodation cost is for Dinner B&B for three people.
With Team Number of races 27 Total Track days 92 Team Fees £27,600 Mechanic Cost £13,800 Entry/Running costs £6,900 Tyres (16 sets) £2,080 Travel Costs £2,040 Accomodation Costs £27,600 Chassis (x 4) £10,000 Engine Hire £11,500 Rebuilds £0 Total with Team £101,250 As Privateer Number of races 24 Total Track days 67 Entry/Running costs £5,025 Tyres (10 sets) £1,300 Travel Costs £1,160 Accomodation Costs £9,450 Chassis (x1) £2,500 Rebuilds/Dyno £1,800 Total £21,235
For us karting has always been about having fun and learning as we go. The brilliant thing for me is now in our final year of cadets and running ourselves we kind of know what we are doing and my lad is fully engaged in the setup decisions. The best thing is we are now fast enough not to be rammed/punted/fired off by the visiting bad attitude big spending team drivers who have to win at all costs to justify the ludicrous spend they have embarked on.
Do I want to do national cadet racing? For the privateer who decides to do it the best of luck to you. For me now that I know the money, tricks and advantages you are up against - you must be joking!
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