Racing a 944

If you are looking to race a 944, the Porsche Cup is the place if you wish to run the car in near standard form. To convert a road car into a good competitive race car would require about 1000 hours work (yes, a 1000!). You would need to do the following: 1. Strip the car to bare shell, remove all underseal. 2. Fit roll cage. 3. Rebuild engine & gearbox. 4. Fit uprated dampers & suspension (torsion springs can be replaced with rear coil springs). 5. Remove all interior trim leaving original dashboard. 6. Fit racing seat and harness, race brakes and race tyres. This would be the basic minimum and as you can imagine would be pretty expensive and / or time consuming to do. Hence, it is cheaper to purchase a pre-built race car (944, 944 2.7 or 924S) which can cost anything from 8,000 to 15,000 GBP depending on the car's success and development. In 2001 you can race a 944, 944 2.7 or 924S in Class 4 (currently Class 3). There may be an alternative 944 championship run by the Porsche Enthusiasts Club for next year also (Colway 924 series format), however these cars will require much more modification and more work on the engine. There are quite a few class 3 cars around, I know of a few 924S cars and this years Class 3 winning car may be available for 2001. There is a 944 2.7 (winner from 1998 & 1999) and a further 944 2.5 - both owned by the same team. Racing can be expensive business and there are many other things to consider like preparation of car, transportation to circuit, accommodation over the weekend etc. However, insurance is worthwhile if you bend the car. It is anything from 150 GBP a race depending on value of car and excess. (150 would be for 2000 excess and 8000 GBP car value approx.) The Porsche Cup series requires National A licence. You can get trained and ARDS approved for a National B licence at most circuit schools. A basic assessment at Silverstone for a National B would be about 160 GBP. You then need to do 10 races to get a National A. You can enjoy cheap racing with 750 Motor Club and in the Porsche Open (at National B level). Entries are between 90 and 150 GBP and registration is about 35 GBP. Porsche Cup is between 130 and 325 GBP and registration is 800 GBP including mandatory transponder. However, Porsche Cup races are longer and the Pirelli support is excellent with full hospitality, meals and tyre support - plus you get to see yourself on TV. Coming along to a race is an good way of getting some additional information (next is Silverstone 7th October) There are many other additional costs like huge numbers of brake disks and pads, loads of fuel (1 to 2 litres a lap), repairs to the car (after a bit of gentlemanly door handling!), quite a few tyres and the odd engine rebuild but all in all, there's nothing to beat the excitement and adrenaline rush of a good race, it's awesome! You won't regret giving it a try. If you need further info, my private e-mail address is below. Regards, Andrew S - 15th Sept, 2000