Racing Cars

AceAceBaby · **Posted:** Wed May 14, 2008 20:52

I took my camera and a couple of lenses out to watch the brum brums on Sunday morning.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ace_ace_ba ... 9500/show/

We watched a couple of runs of those guys, then trundled back to the other side of York, to catch this lot having some fun in the sun.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ace_ace_ba ... 3972/show/

myp · **Posted:** Wed May 14, 2008 20:53

Haha, a NOVA! Nice work.

AceAceBaby · **Posted:** Thu May 22, 2008 14:17

I was going to put this in the what are you doing this weekend topic, but I wanted to ramble about it more, in the manner of the alien sports topic.

The second set of piccies above are from a sport officially known as "Autograss", more commonly as "Grassin'".

There isn't much grass involved in a routinely used track, but it is all on genuine farmland, with a lot of the posts/fences removed to let the sheeps back in during winter. Each year at the National Championships, a genuinely "grass" track is created new, so nobody has a local advantage.

There are 10 classes in Autograss, the first seven are "saloon" classes, the top three "specials". Class 1 is for little standard Minis, Citroen AXs and Cheekychentos. They are not very fast. Class 10 is for tube framed things with either supercharged V8 engines, or like the car Y188 in the photo set, a pair of superbike engines bolted together.

Why is Autograss fun?

They do standing starts, not rolling ones. The race track is a 1/4 mile oval, but every race starts with a drag race to the first corner. In the slower saloon classes, they start the cars off 10 abreast. So you have 10 Vauxhall Novas all aiming for the same piece of track.

For most of the faster classes, the fun comes from the engineering needed to win. Getting to the first corner first is most important, so cars often have up to 80% rear weight bias. This makes them rubbish at going round corners, which they then have to do for another five laps. So the fastest way, is sideways. Which is fun! and exciting!

Soo... If the weather stays good (too much rain and they won't run because it would wreck the track) I'll be going to the North of England Championships on Monday. In the past, this event has seen over 600 cars competing during the event. That's a lot of racing.

MaliA · **Posted:** Thu May 22, 2008 14:20

That looks jolly good fun.

Grim... · **Posted:** Thu May 22, 2008 14:22

I head over to the track near the Black Cat roundabout on the A1 every now and then. It's good stuff

AceAceBaby · **Posted:** Thu May 22, 2008 14:27

That's the St Neots club track, I remember there were some really quick cars from there at previous national meetings.

Checking the forums, I see the MAP Open is next weekend (29th) which may put a few visitors off the NoE- nobody wants to rebuild a car in less than a week. Still the NoE is a two day event racing all day Sunday and Monday. I'll be taking my camera for sure.

AceAceBaby · **Posted:** Thu May 22, 2008 14:28

Oh, Grim... I hope you'll give us all a good read about your offroad trials malarky too :DD

Grim... · **Posted:** Thu May 22, 2008 14:34

I will. The basic idea of them is a bit like orienteering - you have electronic tags chained to trees (or posts) and a reader chained into your vehicle, long enough to go outside your windows by about 18 inches. You need to get your car close enough to the tag to touch it to your reader, and the more people that manage that particular tag during the course time limit the less points it's worth. The tags, of course, are in big holes or rivers or halfway up steep hills.
On our 'practise' one last month, there was a tag up a tree, so we literally had to winch the three-ton car up the tree about ten feet to get it.

T'was awesome

AceAceBaby · **Posted:** Thu May 22, 2008 14:40

I hope you get someone to take pics- that sounds brill!

voytee · **Joined:** 30th Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 16

Do you see many Beetles doing autograss? We are looking for a new use for the chassis we used to drag race. It could easilly be converted into a circuit car, but we just need to find a suitable (and cheap) series to enter it in.

AceAceBaby · **Posted:** Thu May 22, 2008 20:15

I can't remember ever seeing a Beetle in Autograss in recent years, but it looks like people did used to race them - Old Autograss Cars, but racing on a not autograss circuit in 1979. I'd have to think they're not quick enough these days, but I dunno.

Plissken · **Posted:** Thu May 22, 2008 21:43

Autograss is similar to rallycross, which I used to follow in the late 80s. All those Group B rally cars, banned from rallying because they were so fast they were killing drivers and spectators in the middle of forests.

So they came over to rallycross and you had six of them from a standing start piling into the first bend.

When I'm a multi-billionaire, I'm going to buy an RS200, 6R4, Delta S4 and 205 T-16 E2 and build my own private track. You are all invited.

AceAceBaby · **Posted:** Fri May 23, 2008 15:28

Rallycross is my favourite motorsport ever. I loved those cars, and 6R4s still race.

MrChris · **Joined:** 1st Apr, 2008 **Posts:** 30498

How expensive is it to get into local grass track racing? I've always fancied a go.

Is there some sort of licence you need for racing, or is that just in GT4?

AceAceBaby · **Posted:** Fri May 23, 2008 15:52

I have never done it, but I think it is about the cheapest form of competetive racing actually against other cars thing you can do. You do need a license, but it's not much. I think if you can afford an MOT failure Vauxhall Nova, and some safety bits n pieces, then you can do it. It's not an MSA/FIA affiliated thing so those rules don't apply. I'm not sure whereabouts you are- in the south east, they have a different organization called SEGTO who do things a bit differently, but pretty much the rest of England and Wales are part of NASA

MrChris · **Joined:** 1st Apr, 2008 **Posts:** 30498

http://www.national-autograss.co.uk/venues/gloucester.php

Awesomesauce.

MaliA · **Posted:** Fri May 23, 2008 15:56

Mr Chris wrote:

http://www.national-autograss.co.uk/venues/gloucester.php

Awesomesauce.

Hye, I've got a 205 needing a new home you can have for the BETEO Race Team

MrChris · **Joined:** 1st Apr, 2008 **Posts:** 30498

MaliA wrote:

Mr Chris wrote:

http://www.national-autograss.co.uk/venues/gloucester.php

Awesomesauce.

Hye, I've got a 205 needing a new home you can have for the BETEO Race Team

Ha!

Won't be able to do this until dad sells one of his cars. I don't have a driveway, annoyingly. So, thanks, but if you've still got it in 12 months, I may be interested.

Grim... · **Posted:** Fri May 23, 2008 15:59

Don't you have a garden?

AceAceBaby · **Posted:** Fri May 23, 2008 16:02

Mr Chris wrote:

http://www.national-autograss.co.uk/venues/gloucester.php

Awesomesauce.

Maybe you could go see it some Sunday, and see if you like the look of it.

MrChris · **Joined:** 1st Apr, 2008 **Posts:** 30498

Grim... wrote:

Don't you have a farden?

Yep, but because of the set-up of the front of our house, no way of running a driveway up it. We have a 6 foot height difference between the garden and the road along most of the front of the house. The sides meet with neighbours' gardens and the rear is up a hill with no access to a road. >:|

I'm looking at buying somsone else's parking area over the road.

AAB wrote:

Maybe you could go see it some Sunday, and see if you like the look of it.

Oh, I certainly will. The Class 1 looks like ace fun.

Grim... · **Posted:** Fri May 23, 2008 16:06

Mr Chris wrote:

We have a 6 foot height difference between the garden and the road along most of the front of the house.

Aha! You know what sort of car you need, then

AceAceBaby · **Posted:** Fri May 23, 2008 16:19

I found some youtubes that give a good idea of how things go:

Class 2 - Probably where most people would start racing- Class 1 is usually people who want to let their kids race also, by sharing the car.

Class 7- The fastest and most exciting saloon class, with some crazy cars.

Of course, Motorsport is dangerous.

And finally, Autograss car claims world indoor speed record

AceAceBaby · **Posted:** Sun May 25, 2008 19:35

Today was the first day of the two day North of England championship hosted by York Autograss club. I took a bunch of pictures but I haven't gone through them all yet. I just wanted to post a couple of things!

He was like that pretty much all the way out of the corner!

Yay! I done a youtube - Class 7 Race Excitement

AceAceBaby · **Posted:** Sun May 25, 2008 20:20

A cool guide on getting started in the sport I just read here.

Grim... · **Posted:** Wed May 28, 2008 12:48

AceAceBaby wrote:

Oh, Grim... I hope you'll give us all a good read about your offroad trials malarky too :DD

12/20 - whoo!

Not a 'good read', I confess...

AceAceBaby · **Posted:** Thu May 29, 2008 15:42

Well, it was concise at least.

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