COST OF RACING: CHEAP AS CHEAPS RACING – CHEAP CAR CHALLENGE

For a novice, motor sport can be daunting to get into. However, there are categories across Australia that are suited to those whose only experience of driving in anger is getting road rage at the local supermarket. Heath McAlpine investigates the ultimate entry level motor sport.

Auto Action has received plenty of feedback about its ‘The Cost of Racing’ feature which regularly explores how much money is actually required to hit the track.

One common suggestion provided by our readers was the ‘Cheap Car Challenge’ run at the Pheasant Wood Circuit in Marulan (NSW).

This category was formed five years ago with the aim of making it more accessible to enter tin-top racing and so far, it has proven to be a great success.

On average, 24-26 cars regularly compete at the New South Wales venue with fields featuring a wide array of models include Honda Integras, Nissan Pulsars, BMW 130is, Peugeot 206s, Toyota Celicas and Mitsubishi Lancers, just to name a few.

To comply with the category parameters, models must be under two-litres, naturally aspirated, able to seat four occupants (in stock form, interiors are stripped) and built between the years 1986-2007, and there’s no price limit.

Pheasant Wood Circuit track manager Scott Hill believes simple is best when it comes to the regulations.

Modifications are almost non-existent in the class apart from the standard safety equipment, which includes a roll cage.

“The cars have minor modifications and entries must have a roll cage. It’s a team event, so there’s a minimum four drivers and a maximum drive time of 15-minutes per stint,” Hill told Auto Action.

A vehicle that’s a statutory write off generally provides a good basis for a Cheap Car Challenge competitor, as long as it meets the category requirements.

Although standard in its mechanicals and body, safety is paramount and while a cage isn’t required to be Motorsport Australia certified, weld-in cages are preferred. However, bolt-in roll cage kits are popular and roll cage manufacturer Bond Roll Bars can provide basic packages starting at $1750.

A racing harness must be fitted and a race seat is preferred, though a fire extinguisher is not required due to the five flag points that officiate around the 1.6km circuit.

Despite admitting it was hard to police, the engine must remain relatively standard with the only modifications to be made are purely for reliability purposes. Any potential advantage from performance engine modifications are snuffed by the requirement to run a standard type rear muffler.

According to Hill, “It tends to choke anything you do with the engine up the front.”

Suspension mods are just as basic, with aftermarket type suspension much like Pedders and K-Mac allowed but coilovers are not.

Organisers are currently consulting competitors in regard to increasing brake size, but at the moment pads are the only items that can be changed. Pheasant Wood management recommend Carbotech pads.

Tyres are restricted to road-going rubber, with R-spec variants allowed to a maximum width of 215. Rims are limited to 7.5-inch width and cannot be more than two-inches larger than the stock component.

The minimum licence requirement to compete in the ‘Cheap Car Challenge’ is a Pheasant Wood Event Licence, which can be obtained the day before the event after an Observed Licence Test (OLT), at a cost of $225. This is valid for 12 months and costs $120 to renew.

The entry for a four-driver team is $700 altogether, then to arrive at a budget you have to combine that with tyres, fuel, pads and any other consumables used during a race weekend. Hill expects an individual competitor to spend no more than $700.

A standard race weekend can begin on the Saturday via a track test session at a cost of $156, where OLTs and the like take place, but this is not exclusive to Cheap Car Challenge entrants.

This option is not a necessity, leaving just a single day schedule kicking off with qualifying ahead of the first two-hour race, before a break for lunch, then a second two-hour event, which completes the program.

Pheasant Wood run eight events of this type every year, seven of which count towards a team’s final points tally.

The ruleset the races run under are there to reward consistency and not necessarily the fastest entry, as Hill explained.

“We conduct the event over a pair of two-hour races run over two classes, based off a breakout time, so we have Group 1 with a time of 63s and Group 2’s time is 65s,” explained Hill.

“The idea behind the breakout time is that a team is given two warnings with no penalties, but once a team breaks out the third time, they lose those three laps. Say a team breaks out five times during the course of the day, they lose five laps.

“We have a minimum pit stop time of 90s and if you are 89.99s short, which a team was last time, it is a four-lap penalty.

“It is never the fastest car that wins these events, it’s always the team that is organised and consistent.”

Driving standards are also fairly high, collisions on-track are not tolerated, and a few entries have been black flagged because of it.

This takes another potential high cost when going circuit racing.

In an expansion of this formula, a seven-hour endurance took place last weekend, featuring compulsory fuel stops.

Further such events are planned for next year, competitors are consulted regularly on the class goings-on or any potential rule changes, all of which forms a good understanding of the category workings.

“It’s seriously good, clean racing and a good bunch of people compete,” said Hill.

If building a car isn’t of interest then RaceAway Track Time based in Goulburn (NSW) provide ‘Arrive and Drive’ packages which include driver coaching, entry to the event, equipment and anything else that is required for a weekend of racing.

“It’s $1950 per head,” RaceAway Track Time’s Phil Alexander said of his program.

“We consider it a two-day event, even though it is (really) a one-day event. On a Saturday there are normally two or three drivers who require coaching so we include that, they learn the pit stop procedure and the strategies we employ on Sunday, because there is no time (to do that) on race day.

“We address all the preliminary stuff on the Saturday, which consists of talking through the brake set-up and tyre set-up for the next day.”

The aim of the program is to progress the driver through the various aspects of racing, which then impacts the on-track performance.

Alexander runs a fleet of Pulsars, which he cycles the brakes over during the course of the weekend, as the Nissans are harder on brakes. The pad package that Alexander runs cost approximately $550, the rears last quite a while, but the fronts wear through as do the discs, though these are relatively cheap.

RaceAway Track Time complete a scale of costing at the end of a weekend that features total loss, panel damage and mechanical damage, which further enhances the driver’s need to drive the car with sympathy.

Reflecting on the category’s recent history, Alexander explained that it has grown from a class that was quite ‘raggedy’ to a refined competition, as its popularity has risen thanks to the organisers listening to competitor suggestions.

“They listen to the input of the drivers and refine it by still retaining the same principles,” Alexander said.

The Euro models have a slight advantage with affordable and eligible aftermarket suspension components more freely available, but all these modifications do is increase the handling ability of the car, as the performance limitations set for the category dispel any real advantage.

While this sort of class is accessible and somewhat serious, if light hearted racing is more your go, then the 24 Hours of LeMons might be just the thing.

Originating in America, this racing category is notorious for bringing out some amazing contraptions with four wheels and an engine.

Created for cars that are not particularly performance-orientated, LeMons came to Australian shores in 2015 with the first event run at Wakefield Park by Sean Herbert.

Since then, Herbert has held events in every state and soon the Northern Territory, all for cars that don’t follow the norm. For instance, a team of drivers recently built its entry into a plane!

“We expanded from that one event in 2015 to four the next year,” Herbert told Auto Action.

“This year we were going to have nine, which we will do next year, and then in 2022 we’ll do 12.”

A three-day event, LeMons kicks off with practice and scrutineering on the Friday, then there are two days of racing.

“We also do a 24-Hour non-stop event, where we start on Friday afternoon and we finish Saturday at 3pm.

“What we’re working towards is to do a day-day and day-night event in every state, so we’re slowly but surely getting there,” Herbert said.

“We’re going to start in Tasmania next year and looking at the Northern Territory, before having each format in each state.”

LeMons is not only hoping to expand Australia-wide but also into other disciplines of motor sport, including hillclimbs, off road, a variety bash event and even a street race!

“We want to run a Bathurst-type of event on closed public roads, so we’re talking to councils about that,” Herbert explained.

“We’re going to go back to the basics of Bathurst when it started, which was a working man’s event that was over the years swallowed by the corporations. We’re going to start one up that is for the working man and will remain that way for cheaper cars.

“We’ve got a whole heap of plans to keep it grassroots. Cheap, simple, smart and safe.”

Entries vary from venue to venue. For example, The Bend costs $2710.91 comprising a team of four or more drivers, plus $75 for each crew member, which is across all circuits.

Winton, Morgan Park, Wakefield Park and Collie Motorplex have a standard entry fee of $2540, while another Victorian round at the combined Calder Park Thunderdome and road course carries a $2796.36 cost.

Morgan Park and Collie Motorplex hold both race formats.

The choice of circuits is important as these need to have high safety standards due to most drivers entered being inexperienced, making safety a high priority.

“Our number one thing is to keep people safe and to do that you need the tracks to do it,” Herbert added. “And you need to rule with an iron fist because the drivers all think they’re Peter Brock, but they’re not.”

Eligibility is pretty simple for the LeMons events. If it resembles anything like a race car, forget it. Organisers are fairly brutal and will chuck teams out if the spirit of the event isn’t followed.

Herbert believes a race car can be built for $4000, which includes $1000 on the weapon of choice, $3500 to cage it, race seat, harness and fire extinguisher.

“If you want to build a ‘Frankenstein’ like the aeroplane car or anything weirder, you can spend what you like because they’ll never be race cars,”

Herbert explained. “If it’s a ‘Frankenstein’ car and you decide to put a 445 Chevy in a Mini, fine, knock yourself out, but we know it’s going to break and it will be fun to watch.”

Just like the ‘Cheap Car Challenge’, a weld in cage is preferred, but bolt in can also be fitted, and modifications are strictly for reliability and safety, with no performance mods.

The main prize isn’t for the most laps, but the Spirit of LeMons, which is given to the team that help other teams and uphold the values of the race (don’t take it too seriously).

Penalties are given out for a variety of things such as contact, speeding, rudeness, just to name a few.

These incur visits to the pit lane to complete puzzles and the like.

Each driver requires an AASA licence, which is $90 for the year.

A further advancement from LeMons is the Motor Events, which kicked off at Lakeside last weekend.

Much in the same vein as the ‘Cheap Car Challenge’, but with a wider eligibility and a slew of classes, this is suited to competitors who want to take it a little more seriously.

Modifications are freed up slightly compared to LeMons, but expect to pay $10,000 to build a Motor Event car.

Who says motor sport is expensive? These classes prove otherwise.

The simple formula these categories follow have led to the popularity of each and engaged a new audience to motor sport. Now I’m off to build me a car!

COST GUIDE

Total Car Build
$4500 (Pheasant Wood ‘Cheap Car Challenge’)
$4000 (24 Hours of LeMons) $6000 (Motor Event)

Meeying Costs
$500 (Pheasant Wood ‘Cheap Car Challenge’, consumables only)
$1000 (if travelling interstate)
$1950 (RaceAway Track Time package)
$500 (24 Hours of LeMons)

Licence Requirements
Cheap Car Challenge requires either Motorsport Australia ($524) or AASA ($225) National licence or Pheasant Wood Event licence ($225 including OLT)
24 Hours of LeMons requires AASA Club licence ($90)

Entry Fees
$700 divided into four (Pheasant Wood ‘Cheap Car Challenge’)
$2796.36 divided into five (24 Hours of LeMons Calder Park)