Questionim am currently 15 1/2 and will be getting my drivers permit pretty soon. i've loved cars for about 3 years now. I'm interested in where i might learn to race on the track, and how old i need to be. also if you have an average price on what the lessons might cost would be great. also i have played the Granturismo series(3&4), and i've also found myself wondering what licenses mean? Class A, B, iB, iA, and also if the super license accually exist.
thank you for your answer.
AnswerHi Jeremy !
To start racing you need to be old enough to drive a Go Kart, and that is the best place to start. Even at one of the entertainment centers where they have other things like video games etc.
Then you should seek out "real" Go Kart racing, and start in one of the amateur classes. You may think this is silly, but nearly ALL professional race drivers today started in Go Karts when they were young. This includes Juan Montoya, Michael Schumacher, Jimmy Vasser, Sebastian Bordais, Paul Tracy, Tony Stewart, Jimmy Johnson to name just a few.
The cost is going to vary, but I can tell you from long experience that it is NOT inexpensive. Nothing around racing is ever cheap. Once you have graduated to taking a road racing school, in Sports Car Club of America school and a rental race car will cost between $1000.00 and $3000.00 for a two day school, depending on the kind of car you rent.
For more on Sports Car Club, go to "www.scca.org" and look for race tracks and local club groups.
The licensing you mention (A, iA, iB) is meaningless to me, and probably a product of the video game people. However, the Federacion Internationale de'l Automobile (FIA) based in Europe does issue a 'super licence' to dertain professional drivers. Drivers must have one to compete in Formula One. In the SCCA where I race I hold a National Competition license, there is then a Pro license available if I need it, and the international license from the FIA.
Some final words of advice. First and foremost is do your racing on the track NEVER on the street. Street racing will gain you nothing more than traffic citations, and loss of your license.
Second, when you buy a car, make DURE it has a manual transmission, and learn to drive with the stick shift. This is vital cuz race cars do not have automatics.
Third, Stay in school, get the best grades you can, go to college, cuz you are going to need a very good income to support amateur racing and your family.
Best of luck to you, let me know when you've started. I can give you some driving tips when you get further along.
Dan Liddy
Sarasota, Florida
