New to Autograss?

Autograss is a non-contact motorsport that takes place on an oval 400 metre track on a natural soil surface. Due to the close nature of the racing, thrills and spills are never far away, and as the club gears up for it's fourth season, this would seem like a good time to update our introduction to the sport for newcomers.

First lesson, - Motorsport is ruinously expensive. Right?

Wrong! While it is often said that the best way to make a small fortune from motor racing is to start with a large fortune, that's not the case with Autograss. It really is motorsport's secret bargain. Sure, if you really want to race a very high powered Class 8 or Class 9, you'll be able to find lots of exciting ways to part with your cash, but for the majority of club racers, in saloon car classes, it really isn't expensive.

Without going into great detail here, Class 1 is for standard 1000cc cars, and is a favourite starting point for many racers who will later go on to get bigger and faster cars. Other racers stay in Class1, and enjoy screwing every last ounce of performance out of a low powered car.

Juniors, (from 12 year old) have their own races, but are only allowed to use Class 1 cars, and there are also separate Ladies' races, - all of which means that a family can turn up with a Class1 car which is raced by Dad, Mum & Junior. The poor wee car probably isn't going to see the funny side of it, but, Hey, let's not worry about that.

Which brings us to the Second lesson, Keep it in the family.

Autograss is very much a family sport. The social scene is very important, and many families travel around the country, camping at the race tracks, where, on the Saturday evening of meetings, the aroma of cooking fills the campsite, as friends from all over the country meet up around a barbeque.

Lesson three, You'll need wheels.

The big question about getting yourself into a race car is, "Build or Buy?" We can't really answer this one for you, It's very much down to personal preference. If you want a quick start in time for our first race meeting on 14th March, buying a ready-to-race car might be the best way. But be warned, if you thought buying a second-hand road car was a bit dodgy, wait until it comes to buying a second-hand competition car. If you are tempted to buy an Autograss car, please please speak to a club official first. If the car has been racing in the past couple of years, there's a good chance that somebody in the club will know something of the car's history. (Or perhaps more important, - the seller's history!!!)

For a lot of guys though, the building and racing a car which you have built with your own hands, is part of the challenge, And you really get to know every nut & bolt on the car. You don't need to be Ross Brawn to build an Autograss car, although you'll need to have (or be able to borrow) a pipe bender and a welding kit to build a safety cage. Don't think that you'll save money by building you own car, - it's usually cheaper to buy a prepared car. But the big point, which I can't over emphasise is to speak to someone in the club before lifting a spanner.

There's been various guys have talked about building cars for hire, but at this point I don't know anybody offering that service. Your car will be examined prior to every race meeting, to check that;

1. It is safe. If the scrutineer decides that the car is not safe, you won't be allowed to race. End of story.
2. It complies with technical regulations for your Class. This varies greatly between classes. In restricted classes, like Class1, there are no performance modifications allowed, but in some classes you can add a barrowload of go-faster goodies. Ben McKenzie is the Club's Chief Scrutineer, and will be pleased to advise.

Lesson 4; Licence to Thrill

If you want to become a racing driver, you'll need to get a Racing licence. These are issued by NASA (No, not that NASA – you're not going into space) and enable you to race at any of about 30 Autograss tracks throughout the UK. Autograss is huge in England & Wales, with meetings of several hundred cars taking place. Our nearest neighbours are at Solway Autograss in the Lake District, and there are tracks in Yorkshire which are just three or four hours away. Some racers travel to lots of different tracks, some just stick to their home track. It's up to you.

Your licence includes your club membership, and the Club's point of contact for your licence application is Scott Pryde, or you can print a form from here. Scott will also supply the technical rule book for whatever class you want to race in.

Lesson five Get a BUDDY

The club will be happy to team up any newcomers with an existing club member, to hold their hand through the first couple of meetings. So what are you waiting for? Get a licence, and some wheels and get racing. If you have any other questions, add them here, click "Send" and somebody from the club will get back to you. The important thing to remember is – "We're here to help"