How to start racing
AUTOGRASS is the easiest and most affordable branch of motor sport to get into, either as a competitor or as a "working" club member.
GET TO KNOW THE SPORT
Many first time Autograss racers already have family or friends within the sport, and know exactly what they're looking for. If you're completely new to Autograss, however, pay a visit to one of our race meetings. At most events there'll be an interval during racing when spectators are welcome to stroll round the pits, take a close look at the competing cars and talk to the drivers. You'll find everyone involved will be as friendly and helpful as possible. Enquire at "race control", or approach anyone you see wearing an "official" jacket and you'll be pointed in the right direction to be given all the information you need.
JOIN A CLUB
If you like what you see, the first stage in getting involved in Autograss is to contact your local club and join up - as a racing member if you want to start competing immediately, otherwise you'll be made very welcome as a non-racing member. Follow the link to the NASA Official site (National Autograss Sports Association) and there you'll find contact names and phone numbers for all 52 NASA affiliated clubs in the UK and Ireland.
YOUR NASA LICENCE
The way the licencing system works is that, when you join a NASA affiliated club, you will at the same time be applying for a NASA competition licence. The licence fee (and public liability and personal accident insurance premium) is included in the club membership fee and, once the club's accepted your application, you'll be given the paperwork to forward to the relevant NASA Registration Secretary. You'll receive your licence and Member's Handbook (essential reading) direct from NASA.
There are five different grades of NASA licence:
Ø Full racing member (available to anyone of either sex over the age of 16 - enables you to compete, mechanic or officiate).
Ø Lady racing member (as above, but entitles you to race only in the Ladies' classes, plus some Open races)
Ø Junior racing member (age 12 to 16)
Ø Mechanic (minimum age 16 - enables you to mechanic or officiate)
Ø Non-racing member (minimum age 12 - but no member under 16 is allowed to officiate in a potentially dangerous area such as the pits or racetrack)
As the licence fee includes your club membership, costs will vary from club to club. For example, fees for the East Anglian League clubs for 2006 are:
Ø Full member or Lady member - £40.00
Ø Junior - £32.00
Ø Mechanic - £15.00
Ø Non-racing member - £6.00
Ø Allocation of new racing number (one-off charge) - £5.00
For insurance reasons, only NASA licence holders who sign-on on the day are allowed in the pits while racing is in progress.
Once you have your NASA licence it entitles you to travel without restriction to any other NASA club, to race, mechanic or officiate.
FIND OUT SOME MORE
If you want to be involved without actually racing, or if you know you want to race, but aren't yet sure how to go about it, the clubs would welcome and value you as a non-racing member. If you volunteer to help with marshalling, scrutineering, track maintenance or any of the dozens of other jobs involved in staging a club level race meeting, you'll quickly learn a lot from the more experienced members, and you'll enjoy the cameraderie and club spirit.
GETTING A CAR
Once you've attended a few meetings, you'll have a pretty good idea what class of car appeals to you most (although if you have a prospective Junior racer in the family the choice is made for you - Juniors can only race Class 1 Saloons or the new Junior Special class). In our class guide we've provided rough guidelines to what a typical budget would be to get up and running in each class. In each case the top end of the spectrum is what a relatively small number of competitors are believed to be spending to succeed at the top level events (others can spend considerably less to be just as competitive). The lower end of the range is what you're likely to need to have fun at club level meetings with a safe and reliable car - and quite possibly win a few trophies as well.
You'll need to decide whether building from scratch or buying a ready to race car is the best way for you - but you will find that most secondhand cars change hands for figures considerably less than the cost of their components. Either way, asking around among fellow club members is the best way to source a car or to get help in putting one together yourself. The main medium for advertising Autograss cars, parts and services is the sport's national magazine Autograss Review, which costs £20 for a year's subscription.
Don't forget the other costs involved in starting racing for the first time, although in Autograss these are considerably less than in other motor sports. A good quality crash helmet will cost you around £80 - £200. Flameproof overalls are recommended rather than compulsory, but you'll probably want at least a single-layer Proban race suit (£70 - £100). When the mud starts flying, you'll need to see where you're going, so invest in a set of goggles with a "roll-off" system. You’ll also need suitable driving gloves – gripping a slimy, muddy steering wheel without them is not easy! All this equipment is available from specialist Autograss suppliers such as Vision Plus or Dragon Racewear, whose advertising you will find in Autograss Review.
Obviously you'll need suitable transport for the race car, and don't cut too many corners with your tow vehicle and trailer or transporter - make sure you're safe as most race cars travel much further, and at higher speeds, on their trailers than they do on the track!
Once you're up and running with a suitable car, your racing budget may be tiny compared with what you'd need to go Circuit racing, Rallying, Rallycross or even Karting.
Entry fees - at most venues you'll be charged around £5 - £6 a head to enter the field and another £2 to sign on to race, and that will be it!
Travelling costs - these can be whatever you make them. Your licence entitles you to race anywhere in the country, but if you live in East Anglia, Lincolnshire, Yorkshire or the East or West Midlands, you’ll probably be able to race almost every week (if you want to) without travelling more than 50 miles or so from home.
Maintenance/repair costs - obviously dependent on your own level of mechanical skill (Autograss racers are so helpful that it's possible to race having no mechanical knowledge at all) and the amount of damage you do.
Tyres - some racers throw a new set of tyres at the car for every final, but at club level you'll find a couple of sets of tyres from one of the main Autograss tyre distributors such as Sportway, Maxsport, RoTyres or MK Motors, will last you a season.
THE HIRE CAR ALTERNATIVE
If you'd like to try your hand at Autograss without the commitment of building or buying your own car, several clubs (notably Concord Essex, St Neots and Cambridge) have cars available for hire (in Classes 1 or 2) for a day's racing at very reasonable cost. Please contact the clubs for details of availability.