What's your racing background?

  • Thread starter Thread starter EL_ZISSOU
  • 61 comments
  • 4,308 views

More than one selection is allowed

  • Video games only

    Votes: 114 55.1%

  • Remote controlled cars

    Votes: 65 31.4%

  • Illegal (street, mountains, etc.)

    Votes: 46 22.2%

  • Autocross

    Votes: 30 14.5%

  • Track days / schools

    Votes: 65 31.4%

  • Club racing

    Votes: 24 11.6%

  • Professional racing

    Votes: 10 4.8%

  • Rally

    Votes: 10 4.8%

  • Kart

    Votes: 66 31.9%

  • Motorcycle: dirt

    Votes: 19 9.2%

  • Motorcycle: road

    Votes: 16 7.7%

  • Other (specify in thread)

    Votes: 15 7.2%
  • Total voters
    207
I've only ever raced on my Playstation and the odd hire kart race. Motorsport is just too expensive, unfortunately. :indiff:

On a side-note, this should be in the motorsport forum, I reckon.
 
Mine started with jetski racing,which i done with my father for about 4years when i was 15.we had one Ireland V uk comp.the uk won that thanks to some young gun they had on their team,who won every event,apart from the freestyle comp.then we moved into karting for about 6years,but due to the fact i was:trouble:i only done about 3years in total,my sister on the otherhand was very good and went on to race in the fiat punto class which we have here,untill she hurt her back in a crash:ouch:,Then i went on to track days both on four wheels and two,but mostly i do two wheels these days. i have played granturismo since it came out.Sometimes myself and a few good mates go off for a day and have races on the public roads around the country.This is a lot safer these days as most of our traffic now uses these new things we have called motorways:sly:But remember that doing such things on the road is against the law,unless its a closed road or a private road.
 
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Jackington
Motorsport is just too expensive, unfortunately. :indiff:
Click to expand...

there are ways of racing on the cheap- it usually involves racing something slow and/or old. but when you get a group of people together running the piss out of one of these vehicles, it can be a lot of fun. :)


Jackington
On a side-note, this should be in the motorsport forum, I reckon.
Click to expand...

i put it here to try and give folks some insight into different racers' style in the context of our online racing venue (gtp:5). 👍
 
1 season of Pro-karts
Lots of general karting with mates/work
2 single stage events in a Rover V8 powered Opel Manta
Track days
Jonathan Palmer Motorsports experience - not racing, but driving some proper racing cars :)
 
As I'm a car fanatic I would go to some meetings and the odd trackday as a viewer. Some of my mates encouraged me to do trackdays myself, because the car I have is prepared for handling, not for show use only.
So I tried it once and never looked backed since.
Been to the track at Zandvoort, Zolder, TT track at Assen, the Nordschleife a few and some tracks i go some more times a year.
Doing GT5P because trackdays are expensive and the more you do, the more money goes into it.
So playing is a cheap way to get the thrill without the extra cost of streetlegal slicks or the race slicks, brake pads, brakediscs etc.
But I must admit, nothing beats the real thing
Saying that , got to look when the next free driving is at Zolder....

Bryan
 
Just on the Playstation unfortunately unless you include a 10 minute session on our test track which all employees got as a little thank you.
 
4X4 trial, but mostly as copilot, not driver.

It's not exactly racing, since speed isn't needed.
As long as you don't get stuck any speed will do fine :)
 
Some autocross here & there, and a few track days. Did have plans for one my cars to slowly become track-oriented, but the money needed has been needing to go for more serious things.
 
I raced quarter midgets but i grew out of my cars. they're for kids 5-16. i'm 14 but i'm 6 foot 2. i can't decide what to move up to, legend cars or mini sprints.
 
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Helped out with a friend in the uk time attack championship this year who is considering entering the sports and saloon car championship next year and the knockhill time attack round.(finished just outside the top 10 out of 70 odd cars, would have finished higher if the car wasnt written off a month before the last round.)

Usually at atleast one trackday every 2 weeks for the last 3 years (have twice this year did 3 trackdays in 5 days have done around 28 so far this year)
 
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It's interesting learning about all of your guys racing/motorsports backgrounds...great thread! 👍

I personally started with R/C cars when I was about 12. I picked up a sponsorship from Mugen Seiki when I was 16 and did pretty well at the US National events and local club races on the West coast. Once I had gotten my license and real car, I started making the transition from RC cars to the real thing. I started off by taking the full Skip Barber racing program at Laguna Seca which was a great learning experience (especially at my young age). When I was about 18 I picked up a Track Magic 125cc shifter kart and have been karting on and off for about 4 years now (I'm 22 now). I've really learned a lot from karting, and really enjoy the challenge of finding that extra tenth of a second left on the table. If you want to become a QUICK driver karting is definitely the best place to start...and preferably at an early age when you pick things up quickly. Beyond karting I have also been to a fair share of Time trial/time attack events as well as HPDE events in my Turbo 07 Mustang and previous cars (350Z and C5 vette) at tracks like Laguna Seca, Buttonwillow, Thunderhill, Infineon (Sears point). Of course I would like to be doing more full size racing, but don't have much of a budget at the moment thanks to the ****ty economy and less than thriving business. Cheers :cheers:
 
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I have always been interested in motorsports but never did much actual racing. I had a friend that was in a GTI cup here in the Western United States. I was his crew. During practice we would bolt in a seat so I could be his dynamic ballast. I would also drive the car around to warm it up before he would take it on the track. That car was a blast to drive but I knew that I would just end up getting into too much trouble if I had something like that.

I went the other route. My father, brother-in-law, and good friends all have Jeeps. So in real life its all about going slow. Many of the same techniques apply, good control and situational awareness. Biggest difference besides the speed it that if I mess up I will most likely do a slow roll over onto the side. If I want to go fast I do it with games.
 
Interesting prospect for a topic, I must admit.

It makes perfect sense.

I must say though there will always be two opinions when contact is made - usually more than two. I also believe that a persons racing background, as you rightly have pointed out in this topic, will affect their own judgement of any controversial moves. So, nice idea...

Anyway, a bit about me and my background.

Just to set the scene, my brother is a very experienced driver. I personally rate him as the best driver of modern Formula One, other than one driver. Albeit, slightly biased of course... ;) But that's another story entirely.

- I was shoved in a 60cc Cadet Kart at the age of 6
- I did my first 60cc Cadet Kart race at the age of 8 and won it
- I did circuits all over the country, never going above club level (had to fit around my brothers racing)
- I did a bit of 100cc Yamaha Karting upto the age of 15 (just for fun)
- I raced Gran Turismo religiously with my brother/s (and still do)
- I raced battery and nitro 10th scale R/C cars
- 2001 I won the British HPI 10th scale stock series, 2nd fastest lap in the Euro finals
- Multiple visits to Santa Pod in my Honda CRX
- A few tracks days to Nurburgring and Silverstone in my CRX (9.34 @ the Ring)
- Various karting days at random outdoor/indoor circuits in the past couple of years just for fun.

Above all, I feel I've been extremely fortunate enough to be given the life where I have been surrounded around some of the worlds best racing and people involved in racing around the world. I feel it's given me a perspective of racing, that allows me to make well informed decisions and opinions on any controversial incidents on a 5lap GT5 Demo race - as well as all other racing incidents with 4 wheels of course :)

But as I said above, there's always two opinions at least ;)
 
<console

Like someone has mentioned. Racing is expensive.. Besides, I have other goals in life.
 
I did a bit of rent karting but I'm mostly a watcher of motorsport not a doer, like many have mentioned (and probably will continue to mention) running in motorsport is not something you can just do without some money and time. As a student, I really don't have either so maybe when I'm older and earning decent money.
 
I used to race my mate in his Ford escort van around the field. We used to have quite a bit of land. I had an Opel kadett estate in bright orange. My dad bought it for like £50 for my 12th birthday. Also had a CB100N to knock about the field. Those were the days. :)

Also like Aaron, I work for Lotus and enjoyed driving an Elise around the Lotus test track. I got the chance to overtake my mate at 125mph down the back straight. The instructor kept on pushing me to go faster. If only they would let me take a 2-Eleven track car for a few laps. :D
 
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Just autocross and sims (and a single day at the drag strip also, but driving straight doesn't really count for this discussion). I have also been fortunate enough to own some powerful older American muscle and several classic RR VDubs (very fun handling). I also did a considerable amount of off-roading on a largely undeveloped island (off the coast of Maine) when younger. Much of this was in a crazy power-wagon with the old slant-6 - it was stripped down to only the frame, drivetrain, and two seats. That was wild and heck of a lot of fun.
 
88c-v Racer
I raced quarter midgets but i grew out of my cars. they're for kids 5-16. i'm 14 but i'm 6 foot 2. i can't decide what to move up to, legend cars or mini sprints.
Click to expand...

Move to mini sprints.

Raced something like them for about 6 years, until money ran out.

Id do it again If I had the funds:tup:
 

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