It’s no secret that racing is expensive. The days of driving your car to a race meeting, and driving it home again, are a long way behind us. But, thankfully, there are still people out there thinking of the beginners, the novices, and the not-so-rich guys.
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On a recent trip to Circuit Zolder (that you can read more about here), both Didier Dexters of the circuit management team, and Andy Jaenen of Skylimit Events, hinted at something a bit more pocket-friendly on the horizon. Well, it’s here. There’s a website over at zoldersprintcup.be, there’s a logo, and there are entry prices and forms online!
It’s a simple format, with five classes ranging from Class 1 (a #CLUB1000-friendly <1000cc), up to Class 5 (<3600cc to cover the older M3s and older Porsches). In the middle you’ll find classes covering all of our favourite BTG heroes, such as Clio 182s to 200s, Civics, and even the 2.0ltr turbo Meganes and VAGs.
Tyre choice is free, which makes it easier to race with whatever you can bring, rather than being forced to buy the ‘approved’ tyre at a ‘special’ price.
No doubt I’ll be trying to enter this, and with class 2 specifically geared towards <1600cc with 120 to 150hp, I think I might have a car for it. Upgrading my clubsport-spec Yaris to FIA safety standards would be fun, but expensive. And we have a lot of Swift Sports over at Rent4Ring that might be perfect for the job already…
If you want to know what it’s like to race wheel-to-wheel on a classic Grand Prix circuit in 68hp cars, I’ve got you covered with this video from a #CLUB1000 trackday.
I’ll quote the press release directly here:
Due to the lack of a budget-friendly entry-level class for sprint racing, it is becoming increasingly difficult for a hobby driver to take the step to racing.
That is why Circuit Zolder and Skylimit Events joined forces to make motorsport more accessible to everyone.Three rounds will be organized: May 8-9 at the New Race Festival, July 1-3 at the 24 Hours of Zolder and on November 11 during the Race Promotion Day. Each event will consist of 2 qualifying sessions of 30 minutes and 2 matches of 30 minutes. Tire choice is free and the registration fee was deliberately kept low.
There are 5 classes. In the class up to 1000cc we will see a battle between the Peugeot 107, Toyota Aygo / Yaris, Citroen C1, … Class 2 to 1600cc is for the Suzuki Swift, Toyota MR2, Honda Civic, Ford Fiesta, … In class 3 it will a battle between the Renault Clio, BMW 325i, Mazda MX5, Peugeot 206, Lotus Elise,… Class 4 will be reserved for the heavier tourism cars such as the BMW M3, Seat Leon, Peugeot 308, BMW M235i,… turbo must be at least 5 years old. Finally, class 5 is reserved for GTs from 2501 to 3600cc, turbos are not allowed in this class. “
