HOT LAP CHALLENGE
Minimum competition licence required: RS Clubman( free) Minimum safety equipment: Helmet, overalls, boots, gloves and balaclava
An alternative to Sprint is Hot Lap Challenge. Imagine a qualifying session in circuit racing, that’ s the simplest way to describe this discipline.
Again, you are competing against the clock, but you’ ll have all your competitors on track at the same time. Once you’ re ready to perform a hot lap, you put your lights on and everyone who isn’ t, must get out of your way.
Licence requirements depend on the experience of the driver and level of vehicle involved but where the organiser provides an Intro-Class( an opportunity to experience competitive motorsport on an event-by-event basis) the requirement is the free-of-charge RS Clubman licence, while the Club-Class requires an RS Interclub licence and the Pro-Class a Race Club licence.
Hot lap challenge is currently run by Club Time Attack and Super Lap Scotland; both are really nice environments and very popular. If you’ re looking for sponsorship to reduce costs, it’ s worth noting that a Time Attack event will attract over 5,000 spectators because the event is part of a bigger show such as Modified Live and often will also have racing on track during the day.
The cars in Hot Lap Challenge are a little bit different as they are usually modified. As a result, we have changed our aerodynamic regulations for sprints and hill climbs so that some of the cars from Hot Lap Challenge are eligible in the higher classes following competitor interest, which shows there is an appetite to compete in different disciplines.
COURTESY OF SANTA POD
DRAG RACING
Minimum competition licence required: RS Interclub(£ 85) Minimum safety equipment: Helmet, overalls and frontal head restraint
As profiled in the cover feature, drag racing gives the added dimension of another competitor to race against but fundamentally you are still performing against the clock.
This discipline is covered in our NCRs but is also governed by the White Book, which is produced by Santa Pod, currently the only Motorsport UK drag racing venue in the UK.
I would recommend everyone to experience drag racing, it attracts thousands of spectators and Santa Pod hosts the opening and closing rounds of the FIA European Drag Racing Championship. It’ s another friendly environment with competitors happy to speak to spectators and make everyone welcome.
The fastest cars are very specialised, but Santa Pod operates a category called‘ run what ya brung’. This isn’ t covered by a Motorsport UK permit but is very popular and is covered by Santa Pod’ s own insurance – as the name suggests, competitors race their own road car on the strip.
The categories are all defined by the White Book and the entry level just requires an RS Interclub licence, moving up to National and International licences for the faster categories, including the popular Funny Car and Top Fuel dragsters that are synonymous with the discipline. The speeds involved mean that you’ ll need to wear a crash helmet, fireproof overalls and frontal head restraint. You’ ve also got junior categories starting from eight years of age; imagine a Top Fuel car and then shrink it. It’ s a popular category and well-supported.
Revolution Magazine 21