I wish that were the case out here. In the US, we have guys spending $100,000 on karting, regional and national. Of course, most of those guys want to get into IRL or some such, the path to which takes millions and millions, so I guess in the end it's peanuts. So, those of us who want to transition to sportscars or touring cars find ourselves paying less to drive big cars than it would cost to run a "pro" karting effort.
Thankfully there are other options.
If you don't mind my asking, what's the budget for Commodore Cup?
Phil helps me with some driving tips and other things along the way. We usually pit close to each other and try to help each other with setups.
This year we don't race at Bathurst, it costs too much to fund for Commodore Cup and the drivers in general. It has been done a few times before, and will probably happen again in the future
I know guys who've spent $150,000 in a season of karts - and got no where. It's the same in every country, unfortunately, money runs the sport. Without money there'd be no sport. You just have to hope that you might be the lucky one with talent in the right spot at the right time (like I'm trying to do). Formula Ford here in Aus, some guys are rumored to be spending towards $500,000, if that's not true I know for sure most of the top runners spend $300,000 upwards. A race-ready, push the button and go Commodore Cup car go from around $40-60,000.. But you can build one yourself (if you know the right people) for approx. $20,000.
A proper season (no shortcuts, but minimal spending - like us) would probably cost around $25-30,000.. accomodation, new tyres, entries, fuel, spare parts etc are included. It's really quite cheap if you compare that to Formula Ford, and for such a good class, I hope it doesn't go the same way Formula Ford has, regarding costs.
What I will say in defence of the big budgets you get in karting is that you do get a stupendous amount of track time for your money. The guys spending that much are out every other day and racing every other weekend. So it's not terrible value for money but not always a sensible spend I would admit.
That commodore series looks fun! [Duck] if you wanna keep costs down stop telling people how good it is
Well, we have similar situations in the US regarding SCCA National competition. Statistically, it takes years and years for the price to really build to the point where it becomes nonsensical. But, it really depends on the rules set. Generally, the stricter the rules, the higher the initial cost, but the longer it takes for the price to go up. But that also depends on popularity too. If your ruleset is strict enough, it will take a while for the price to come up and you'll be in V8 Supercars by the time it gets bad.
But I agree, Formula Ford is nuts. They really need to have a spending cap or something.