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The primary goal of UBC Sports Car Club is to introduce student members to the world of competitive automotive racing. All too often, young people develop an interest in motorsports but have no way of getting into it. Within the membership and executive of the club, there are people that are experienced in many forms of racing. |
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If you are completely new to the world of motorsports, there are probably many questions you have. We've included some information on three forms of racing that is the most popular amongst amateur racers - Solo II (more commonly known as autocross), Drag Racing, and Circuit Racing (often referred to as Road Racing). There are many other subforms and variations on these types of racing but we'll keep this info section simple. |
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Here are some general FAQs that we've been asked in the past: Question 1: Is it safe to race my car? What if I get into an accident? Answer: It is very safe to race your car. In fact, I'd bet that you run more risk of getting into an accident driving home on Marine Drive at 3:30 PM on Friday. Bad rearenders you know! Seriously though - If you think about it, autocross and drag racing are basically races against the clock. In autocross, there is no chance of a car-to-car collision. While you may lose control, there is ample room on the race course to bring the car to a stop without hitting anything hard. At worst, you may hit a soft cone or two or even end up going off the concrete. No big deal. Back it up and keep on driving.
Drag racing street cars is even safer. An average sports car runs the quarter-mile in around 15 seconds, and tops off at 90 MPH. A fast Mustang may have a trap speed of 160 MPH. All drag strips allow ample time to bring your car to a slow speed before exiting. The drag strip is sufficiently wide so that if you happen to get a bit squirrely you can keep it straight. Cars that are faster can be more dangerous - but unless you have a 500 horsepower motor under the hood I wouldn't worry about it. In fact, for most of you guys, you won't even be required to race with a helmet.  Question 2: Isn't it really expensive to race? I'm just a student... Answer: Like any sport, you can make it as cheap or as expensive as you want! I'm not going to kid you - guys will spend their life savings building up cars for autocross or drag racing but you don't HAVE to. A typical autocross event will cost $20-$30 to register. A street legal event at Mission Raceway is $25 a day (in the 2000 season). Basically, you need a decent car. For autocrossing, anything that has decent handling will do. In fact, last year, one of the fastest novice drivers used a late-model Chrysler Intrepid, STOCK, and beat many guys with modified Hondas. For autocrossing, you don't really need anything. Some nice things to have would be your own M90 or higher helmet for around $150-$200 (but loaners are available), a nice tire pressure gauge ($40), and a safe car. For drag racing, if your car is slower than 13.99, you don't even need the helmet. Realistically though, you probably won't want to make your 4 door sedan your regular drag racing car, but there's no reason why you can't try it! Circuit racing is not cheap though. A typical track day may cost anywhere from $150 - $500+ depending on how much seat time you get and whether or not you get training. And after a day of circuit racing your brakes will have been worn down quite a bit. If you're on a budget, you may want to hold off on circuit racing for now. :( Question 3: Do you guys street race?... Like at Stanley Park, Deltaport, Port Kells, or Graybar? Answer: Hell no! The UBC Sports Car Club does not condone illegal, late-night street racing. Not only is it dangerous to the participants, spectators, and innocent bystanders, it also sucks! Its just a bunch of kids who think they are fast, who can't launch, who can't shift, and don't know anything about anything. Sometimes these street ricers trickle into an autocross or drag racing event, and end up making fools out of themselves cuz they suck. If you want to learn how to race, going street racing is not going to teach you anything.. you just may end up hurting yourself and others.  Question 4: Do I need a fast car to join the club? Nope! In fact, technically you don't really need a car. But what we need you to have is a passion to learn how to race. This car club is not about body kits, car stereos, stickers, video games and air fresheners (not that there's anything wrong with that). It's about actually getting out to competitive racing events and racing. Sure, we have social events like all other clubs, but if we can get each member out, in the driver's seat, and actually carving corners or booting it down the 1320', then the club's done its job. |
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If you have any more questions, feel free to e-mail us at ubcscc@hotmail.com
Andre Yeu |