Firstly, on the point of costs. Teams are good value for money if you take all that is offered. A few years ago the standard monthly fee was £1,500. For that your kart was prepared, transported, awning set up ready for your arrival with all your kit out ready, kart setup, carb setup, driver coaching, spares to hand, help from other mechanics when making repairs between heats, etc etc. All you had to do was make sure your engines went off for a rebuild and mechanic the kart for the day. You would be out for 3 days a week almost every week of the year. It's not for everyone, but for those who can afford it good luck to them.
On the point of attitudes within teams, it's a vicious circle. The attitude of a team very much stems from the general attitude within karting, a given championship, the parents/drivers within the team, etc etc. On the attitudes within karting generally, there has been a massive shift away from the once a month hobbiest toward those with aspirations of a motorsport career. It's taken much more seriously than it used to be.
On the point of the S1 drivers visiting club meetings, the issue is really the size of the grids. If clubs had healthier grids, they could split the S1 visitors into their own race, as they used to be for TKM at Kimbolton in the 90's. I always found driving standards in S1 to be pretty good; poor driving mostly being confined to the first corner and the last lap. It's much more intense than at a club meeting, and you have to get used to having a kart on your bumper, but once you've adapted you don't seem to get fired off so often.
Having said all that, S1 and MSA club racing isn't where I'd want to race any more. It takes far too much time and effort to be anywhere near competitive when you're competing against people that race so often. As Kai has stated, there are other options. Easykart would be my choice. For Junior's, if F100 did JICA that would be great.
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