6. Getting things done in the right order.

I wanted to make sure that I was aware of everything I needed to go racing so I spent yesterday going through al the various racing sites.....first one I tried was the Santa Pod Racers Club they have a section on starting racing, now I also believe that if you want to race at he Pod you have to be member of this club the first problem is this web site is way out of date they really need to update it,...so I read the first few chapters and the first thing that hit me was this........

"Next, regardless of whether you are running a block stock Lada or a Top Fuel dragster you need a licence,
so send off to the Motor Sports Association (MSA) for a licence form. At this point it is a good idea to 
join our drag racing club and register your vehicle. Once you become a member, part of your membership will
include a drag racing rulebook, which then it is a good idea to read about your class regulations
(firesuit, helmet requirements etc) and the basics of race craft."

So off I surfed to the MSA website, tte MSA are the governing body of Motorsport I went to the downloads page and downloaded the form for the licence application the only problem is it is still for 2013 so I will will have to wait for that to change to 2014, god knows when that will be but that was only the start of it, this licence thing is not cheap especially if  you want to race in Europe god knows why this costs more for this licence, and if you over 45 you have to have a medical , probably have to pay for that as well,so you pay all this money for a licence send off you medical records you have bought a car purchased a fire suit and then they refuse you a licence......that's an awful lot of money wasted and it looks like this is an annual thing as well which suddenly makes what Ian Turboville said ring true "Getting the car is the easy and cheapest bit" and wouldn't it be a good idea to have a rule book before you start spending all this money????
Then if you are successful then you have to pay to race at organised meetings and they are not cheap either...strewth how much money do these people think us poor amateur racers have.

I am dam sure they these sporting bodies could get together and simplify all this paperwork and make it dam cheaper, don't they know there is a recession on, I understand now why you see so many fantastic cars at "Run what you brung" events and not at organised championship meetings....far too much money and far too complicated.

The problem is what came first the chicken or the egg, I bought a car to go racing then found out what else was required, perhaps I should have had a medical first then applied for a licence but, the application is only valid for up to three months before you race so if you don't find a car in time then you have to go through it all again...hmmmm something really wrong with all this. It does all smack of " lets see how much money we can get out of all these racers" as if racing isn't expensive enough as it is. I can see why so many racers are taking "Time out" for a year etc.

So to go racing is not as simple as I thought it would be, there are different organisations waiting in a queue with their hands out waiting for your hard earned money on an annual basis then you and your car have to conform to certain standards and once you have done all this you can actually get onto the track, I am sure there are valid reasons for all of this but it does seem over the top a bit.

I may have done things in the wrong order so now it's time to get everything sorted so first I need the various web sites to update for next years racing then I will apply for the licence and get a medical done, then I will get a fire suit, gloves, helmet etc. a bit pointless in getting these if I don't get a licence.

I would like to point out that these are just the views of myself looking to getting into racing for the first time and finding out what is required etc and how complicated it seems and in some parts irrelevant...why do I need a licence? why do I have to pay to enter meetings?? etc and how expensive and time consuming it all is.

Maybe all this will change in the future but in the meantime it looks as if I have no choice if I want to experience the amazing thrill of travelling down the quarter mile..........