newbie

[raidillon]

Hello,

Being 29 years old, and still stuck in karting, I tought the has come to try and step up on the ladder and go single seater racing. Off couse I'm way to old to ever get into F1, alltough I think allmost everybody here still things he deserves a try :p. But I just love the racing, and trying to be just that little bit quicker than last time.

Friends who I compete with have allready tried FF's, and other 1600 classes, and tell me not to buy it, because I wouldn't be happy with the speed. So a bit higher up the ladder you have the FR2000's and F3's, but are these driveable without any single seater experience? As I told I have several years (something like 12 or 13 years) experience in karting, I've driven a lot of fast road cars on the road and on the track, als have driven a lot of tin top race cars on track, so I'm not completely unexperienced on a racetrack nor with fast driving.

For the mechanical side of the story, I have a workshop in exclusive and old cars, and I'm a freelance racemechanic with single seater experience, so it should be able to keep the car in running condition.

[andrewcliffe]

There is no reason why you couldn't jump into a FR2000 or an F3 derived car. Yes you've got the added complexity of aero to get your head around, but there is no need to serve time in a 1600 before graduating to a more powerful car.

Some of these 1600's and 1800's are pretty quick though, and usually are a much cheaper way into racing.

[petebee]

Hi there

I've just completed my first couple of races and can happily say that Mono is a fun and friendly place to be. Running in the 1800 class using a zetec formula ford I have found the cars to be fast, certainly faster than I was expecting.

[schomosport]

I started in the 2000 class without any prior experience other than a bit of time racing saloons. Engines in Mono are untuned so there is no requirment to contend with fussy intractable engines or narrow power bands. Also keeps cost down and reliability up. If you are competitive in karts I wouldn't have thought you would have much trouble adapting.

1600s a bit slow? Don't take much notice of their lap times / speeds myself but if the following is any help in gauging 'fast' you will be on the upper side of 120 mph 3-4 times a lap at places like Donington and Sentterton in a 2 litre.