GraemeD

I have an SR1 that I bought used out of the U.K. earlier this year. The car is a blast to drive. I do worry about other cars not seeing me, but most drivers on an open track day see you and give a point by.

Where are you going for the SR1 test?

If you have any questions about them, drop me a PM. There is not much information on the web about them.

hughp3

graemed , the test will be at Atlanta Motorsports Park. the track is trying to build interest in the car. i do hope it comes together. i run chin only which has open passing but always with point by. thye are strict about that. if this does not work out may just keep RS. i looked at gt4 Clubsport but rather expensive to start and i think expensive to repair. RS1 repair should be way less if old price list of RS3 was true.

http://automotivetechnologygroup.com...-arrive-drive/

savyboy

Point-by required. Maybe no problem, maybe big problem.

Reno SCCA requires point-by all groups and it is a disaster because they could give a sh*t if anyone is cooperative. You get a bunch of slow drivers who care about nothing but themselves and have no idea what mirrors are, you're screwed. I had to divorce them this year because of the terrible attitude towards cooperation and on-track safety.

On the flip side, you have a (private, vetted drivers only) event like Joe Kou just ran a week ago at Thunderhill. Point-by required once again, however it was made crystal clear in every communication drivers will use their mirrors and will facilitate passing and there were zero problems that I am aware of. Joe runs a tight ship, expectations are firmly set, and everyone leaves happy and tired.

It all depends on who the event host is and if they give a sh*t about cooperative and respectful driving at their event. You'll learn to pick and chose who you run with.

Open passing no point-by events are not a cure-all panacea either because now you have to be concerned with whether or not the guy you need to pass knows you are there. I don't dive bomb other drivers because it's not safe and not courteous. Get respect, give respect in my world.

If the host enforces mutual cooperation, point-by required can be safer and less stressful for all involved. HOD D-group is a roll of the dice, even though open passing and no point-by, you'll still have drivers who are difficult to pass because because they are not situationally aware or their ego has problems. Mustang drivers seem to be a common problem more so than other makes...lol HOD in my experience makes very strong efforts to encourage and police driving cooperation with varying degrees of success.

Your game in a sport racer in HPDE vs a street car morphs from trying to turn fast laps all the time to learning to manage traffic and drive fast yet safely while being off line (executing passes all over the track). For me it's easily or maybe even more fun than trying for fast laps. Checkers vs chess so to speak.

Find a 25 Hours Of Thunderhill race video and watch how the cars (widely disparate lap times) cooperate to manage traffic. A good HPDE day is just like that.

Food for thought.

Coochas

Radical guys were also recently at MMC with the SR1. I think they are hoping the lower price point will lead people into a series sort of like Ariel did with the Spec Atom.

Just as a side note, cars like the Wolf/Norma are probably more hard core race cars than a Radical BUT they are relatively scarce. Radicals are everywhere and there are a lot of people that know about getting parts, working on them, and what to do when something goes wrong. There's also a ton of info on the web about how to set up the cars as it's a big community.

That being said, if I move away from my formula car I'm not at all sure which sports racer I would get.

Ritesh

Great responses on this thread. From the Elan to the Wolf - Lots of food for thought!

fatbillybob

The interesting thing to me is it appears the prototype, closed cockpit, is the future of safety in the sports racer. Yet the Elan NP-01 seems to be the only game in town at a somewhat affordable spec miata level. The radical RXC is twice the price and many just go up from there. Surprisingly, it seems the Elan is slow to take off. Open cockpit sports racers still reign supreme.

Coochas

Some of us just enjoy the thrill of being open cockpit! Open wheel is even more thrilling to some of us. Is it more dangerous? Sure. But we all gotta pick our own fights.

fatbillybob

Sure...I get that. We also have WGI a man's track with armco all over the place and then there is CoTA with painted lines and miles of runoff. I guess the ultimate safety is iRacing...I really miss my lawn darts.

ProCoach

Well, the transition from open to closed prototypes was led by the ACO and the FIA, in response to the increased speeds and capabilities and the increasing interest in driver safety.

I think at the Club level, it's a little different. I've been been driving open, two-seat sports prototypes for more than fifteen years, mostly in competition but also at club days and DE's, without issue.

The Radical is certainly one of the most well known cars, built originally for track days, then they spawned their own race series. Their series in the US is really taking off, thanks to the four or five major North American dealers and several local "pods" of cars at Spring Mountain, Autobahn, Palm Beach and VIR, and some US drivers are even travelling to Europe to compete in regional series over there for these cars.

The next wave of cars was the French VdeV series Honda K20 and K24 powered sports racing cars. Ligier and others, as well as the Wolf, Norma and others fell into this group.

If you want, the sky is the limit. Elan DP-02 open (IMSA Lites) and Oreca or Ligier LMP3 coupes are getting very popular.

There's nothing like a sports prototype. And you don't have to race it to have fun!

ace37

I think I’m the long term closed prototypes will get more and more popular due to safety and aero advantages. Open will always be fun though just like motorcycles are always fun.

I expect that in the near term at the club level, the SCCA legal cars and the out of date low level pro series prototypes are what will be popular. Like VdeV, CN, and maybe LMP3 cars. Buying them used makes the performance a bargain, and some are quite reasonable to support.

The biggest complaints about the NP-01 I’ve heard are about how the class is small/new and how much faster and lighter the similarly priced SCCA race cars are. If the NP-01s start installing the ecoboost motors to improve their pace I wonder if things will change.

docwyte

Curious that the GT3RS run costs are that much. I've never had the scratch to afford one, kinda figured that the run costs were the smallest part of the equation of owning that car.

Are you dead set on a sports racer? Because a Spec 996, Spec Boxster or E36/E46 M3 are all very inexpensive to buy and quite reasonable to run/maintain. They also put down surprisingly quick lap times, despite their relative lack of horsepower.

ProCoach

Biggest complaints I have heard about the NP-01 are the lack of critical mass, the lack of relative pace (wouldn't be a problem if it were just them you were racing against in one. My forty year old 150 bhp Pinto powered, 2-bbl Weber equipped, flat bottom Tiga is quicker) and the question that some of the engine specs are getting fuzzy (which could be negated by seals/compliance testing at the events).

There is no question that most older drivers feel more vulnerable without a roof over their head, and the structural integrity/safety of the new cars is very good.

85Gold

I was surprised at the lap times the NP-01 were turning at the NASA Eastern State Championships. Fast Lap was a 2:23.2, caveat I know nothing of the drivers skill level.

Peter

ProCoach

I think folks like Andy Lee and Franklin Futrelle can make them go. Don't know anything about the folks running the at Sebring, but my car does 2:16-2:17 and the quickest of the same cars in class do 2:13's (more than one...). It's all relative to the folks you're racing with, the Radicals may be quicker than that. Not an issue when running with other cars close to those times, but when you're in a purpose built car, I think they put you out there with Super Unlimited!

How many NP-01's were there at Sebring, do you know?

hughp3

Docwyte, yeah RS is a bit pricey to run not counting a incident. Street and track Insurance is $10k per year. Tires are $2300 for set. Not too worried about pccb rotors but $4k per rotor or switch to moveit rotors for $12k for 4 which can be resurfaced. If accident front carbon fender raw $15k per, hood $20k and on. Plus if I wreck RS the kiss resale goodbye. I had a Porsche 996 Cup. Lost 3rd gear $13k to repair by Autometrics. Had 80 hours on engine. Minimum $25k in parts alone. Radical SR3 parts list looks like basement bargain compared to porsche. I want something as fast as RS or Cup but won’t keep me up at night if I have an off.