New to racing and would appreciate any help I can get, guide me the right direction.

[Adham ELR]

Hi all,

Hope everyone is doing well and safe in these tough times.I wanted to ask, I am new to racing and I honestly do not know where to go or what to do. I asked around and was told the steps I need to take to get my Driver B license, and will hopefully get it done. A little history about me is that I finished the Techniques of racing course at Jim Russell Racing School. What I wanted to ask is

1- where can I buy a relatively cheap and good race car to start with?
2- After the license, do I need to get anything else done or paperwork?
3- How do I find beginner events to join?

Any other tips I would really appreciate. I do apologize if this is the wrong forum section to post this.

Thank you, Excited to get started

[Rob McAuley]

Hey there. Welcome to our addiction!

Getting started typically involves running a few track days with your street car to get the hang of performance driving. There are a few clubs that rent CTMP (Mosport) for weekends. In the pre-virus days, they would put an instructor in the car with you to get you around the track safely. Now, with tracks just reopening, that is not happening. You may find some clubs that are offering track days with no instructor requirements, and you should consider them.

Next up is entry-level competition. Autoslalom events take place in large parking lots, airports, or smaller tracks, and you race your car around pylons. You compare your lap times to those with similar cars in your class. It is very safe, but requires skill and experience to wring everything out of your car.

Then comes Time Attack. This is time trials on race tracks. The first event of the season ran yesterday, and was sold out. You can bring any car you want and your lap times are compared to others in your class. Speeds are greater than Autoslalom, and you need to show that you will run safely. Your Jim Russell School should be adequate to get you up and running.

Note that all the above only require a current Snell-rated helmet for safety gear. Time Attack requires long sleeves. No car prep (other than working brakes, and a tied down battery) is required.

Next up is Ice Racing at the fairgrounds in Minden. Most competitors spend $500 on a car that they run for the season, and leave in the Minden area for the summer. There are 6 events over 6 weekends from January to March. Check these forums for details and some excellent in-car video.

There are performance rally events that may interest. From Autoslalom-like RallyCross events to full on events in the CARS Canadian Rally Championship. Like road racing, there are various levels of car-prep - from none to full cages.

Full-on road racing requires a dedicated caged car, trailer, tow vehicle, race suit, shoes, gloves, etc. It is a fairly big step up from Time Attack or track days, with a bigger budget to go with the added risk. Most people move into road racing after a few years of competing in the "lesser" divisions.

Check out Time Attack here: https://time-attack.ca/, or on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/OntarioTimeAttack/

Watch the CASC-OR forums for announcements from the divisions, join a club (required to get your license), and use any club resources to help you get started. The more people you connect with, the better the chance you'll have finding the race car you're looking for - but I would plan on starting off with whatever you're driving now.

And remember - it is an addiction. Once you get a taste, it will be very hard to quit!

[Stephen]

And remember - it is an addiction. Once you get a taste, it will be very hard to quit!

Copied from another forum I frequent...

“Racing makes heroin addiction look like a vague wish for something salty.” -Peter Egan

[Adham ELR]

Hey guys,

Thanks for your reply Rob, it is really helpful. Cannot wait to get started.

It is addicting haha, I've been itching ever since I left Jim Russell.

[shanehutton]

In addition to this, there are various options in terms of road racing in Ontario. I have raced in all of the below and you can't beat the Calabogie series for options and bang for your buck. If you are nowhere near Calabogie, you should look into the options provided by endurance racing to either form a team, join an existing team, or rent a seat for a single race.

Endurance events (multiple driver teams with long races 8hrs +)
-Champ Car
-Lucky Dog Racing Canada

Sprint racing (Short events in the 15min to 1hr range)
-Casc regional road racing
-Lucky Dog Racing Canada
-Calabogie GT / PT series.

[DEK]

Adham, welcolme. To continue with what everyone has already said. Do you have any idea if you want to run a //////////////furmula car or a GT car(sedan)
You need to think about this.
Do you think you may have enough money to buy a car?
There are lots of site with various priced race cars both Formula and GT
If you don't have the ability to own a tow vehicle store the car and store the tailer, you
may want to persue some sort of arrive and drive. The are a few owners in Ontario
that rent Formula cars but event or full season rentals aren't cheap. Eg you crash it you pay for it.
reasonably big deposit up fron.
There is a "lapping" event at Shannonville tihis weekend. See the Shannonville Motorsport Park web site for details.
I believe there will be run groups for stock Road Cars

[Adham ELR]

Stephen -cke-saved-href="#" href="#" class="b-bbcode-user b-bbcode-user--has-avatar js-bbcode-user js-bbcode-user--userid864" style="background-image: url("http://forums.casc.on.ca/core/images/default/default_avatar_thumb.png");">Stephen -cke-saved-href="#" href="#" class="b-bbcode-user b-bbcode-user--has-avatar js-bbcode-user js-bbcode-user--userid659" style="background-image: url("http://forums.casc.on.ca/core/images/default/default_avatar_thumb.png");">DEK the big dream would be a Formula car, once I got a taste of it in Jim Russell, I've been hoping I would get another chance.

But realistically I would either buy a reasonably priced car, or an arrive and drive program. I will check out other lapping session and hopefully join one with my road car, just to get my foot in the door and hopefully meet some of you.
shanehutton thank you for ur reply, ill check out these events, hopefully I can rent out a seat for a single race