A website aimed at highlighting the ease with which wannabe race divers can get into motor sport has been launched by one of the biggest teams in the Uniroyal Fun Cup endurance race series.
www.startracing.co.uk talks through how to get into the sport, and particularly the Fun Cup, from the absolute basics - to achieving potential podium positions.
"Motor racing is not just for big-budget, aggressive, focussed sportsmen and women - it can be for anybody with the ability to drive a road car,"said Phil Martindale, of Lancashire-based Martindale Motorsport.
"We have a five-car team with drivers equally capable of taking a race win - or completely dominating the back row of the grid.
"The common factor is that they all have a fantastic time doing it.There's also a common pattern to getting into racing at this level too.
"They show mild interest, they try to bottle out of the test session, we drag them along anyway, give them some guidance and tuition in our two-seater race car, strap a car on them for solo runs - and at the end of the day they are completely hooked.
"We started the season with two cars in our team - and by the end we had five cars running, each with two or three drivers. We have room for expansion, and we can brand the cars in company or personal livery, so this has potential for the individual, a few friends and businesses alike.
"The website explodes some myths on cost issues and ability - and provides a step-by-step guide on how to get out of the grandstand and on to the grid."
A double stint drive in a UK round of the Uniroyal Fun Cup series - each race is four or five hours driving an Audi-based single-seater under a VW Beetle bodyshell - costs from around £1,250.
"That's around four hours behind the wheel of a race car each weekend:practice, qualifying and the race itself," said Phil.
"And before anybody starts wondering about race licences and qualifications and what have you - that's all included in the price. And they can stop worrying about coming across would-be Formula 1 stars sharing the grid too: the vast majority of drivers are complete novices or fairly new, and the cars are not crazily fast - it's all about driving skills and fun.
"We'll get them their race licence, their clothing, practice and qualifying and then a race seat at circuits like Silverstone, Brands Hatch, Donington Park, Croft and Oulton Park."
The cars are purpose-designed single-seaters with a strong tubular steel chassis, mildly modified super strong Audi/VW engines and gearboxes, race brakes and fully adjustable suspension wrapped in VW Beetle look-alike glass fibre body.
The races are all endurance, typically four and five hours in the UK, complete with pit stops and all the associated drama. Teams vary from two to six drivers in the UK and, thanks to carefully designed rules, however many there are in a team the chance of success is exactly the same.
And with the car engines and gearboxes sealed and regulations strictly controlled, the racing is super-close and the running costs remarkably low.
