I'm considering transitioning into real life racing in the near future and was wondering on if a Gen 1 or Gen 2 be worth getting my feet wet into SRF if I was to only do HPDE/Track days or time trials? I'm aware that Gen 2's would only allow regional racing, potentially when I feel ready and I have the funds to buy a used or upgrade to Gen 3. I would be content only doing regional racing though.

Curious if anyone has thoughts or advice, as I find the racing to be really exciting when I help friends in SSM and ITS at Summit point in the MAARS series. Feel free to message me on FB (Nate Himmelsbach), thanks!

I did find a Gen 1 for sale on FB: https://www.facebook.com/share/18Cv2C2pvW/

Forget Gen 1, you can at least race a Gen 2 if you so choose. There won't be many cars but it's still racing for position.

Definitely look for a Gen 2. Regional racing can still be fun for a beginner, and I'm pretty sure you can still get spares for free or at very low cost. Fun per dollar ratio is fantastic.

[quote="kurtbob"]Definitely look for a Gen 2. Regional racing can still be fun for a beginner, and I'm pretty sure you can still get spares for free or at very low cost. Fun per dollar ratio is fantastic.[/quot

I'd more than likely do track days/hpde's for awhile, it would allow me to get my feet wet and get a little more comfortable in the car.
Only question is are open wheels allowed and if it would be any less valuable than a race weekend or is a driver school better? I've done autocrosses before, but there isn't enough seat time for my liking.

I know it gets quite expensive and was when my dad raced regionals in the 90's, but I think Gen 2's are the way to go. Would a Gen 2 be in the region of $10k?

You can definitely have a lot of fun and learning in a Gen 2, and many track day orgs allow them since they're closed wheel (I know Hooked on Driving does, although your mileage may vary in different regions).

However, I'd suggest that you connect with some local SRF drivers and try to get video/data of them driving on the tracks you're on. With these cars it's really easy to get a false sense that you're wringing every last drop of performance out of them, when you're actually several seconds off pace. Having a good reference will help you understand what the ultimate pace is, and where you can continue to develop to find time.

jonm wrote:You can definitely have a lot of fun and learning in a Gen 2, and many track day orgs allow them since they're closed wheel (I know Hooked on Driving does, although your mileage may vary in different regions).

However, I'd suggest that you connect with some local SRF drivers and try to get video/data of them driving on the tracks you're on. With these cars it's really easy to get a false sense that you're wringing every last drop of performance out of them, when you're actually several seconds off pace. Having a good reference will help you understand what the ultimate pace is, and where you can continue to develop to find time.

I'm from the Philadelphia region (NJMP/Pocono are my local tracks), but do attend most Washington DC regional races, most likely anywhere in the NE would be the furthest I'd go.

Hello Nathan,
Re to HPDE/track days, I learned how to drive my SRF3 at Porsche Club America (PCA) HPDEs in the Peachstate and Alabama regions (Road Atlanta and Barber Motorsports Park, respectively). I would assume the PCA HPDE key safety rules are the same from region to region. I have only done PCA HPDEs and find them to be very safe and respectable drivers (ie, most have expensive cars they want to drive home). Since the SRF is closed wheel and passes the broom-stick test to meet PCA rules (eg, you helmeted head will fit under the broom stick when stick is layed longitudinally from SRF roll-bar hoop and nose of car to simulate roll over protection). I have an SRF3 race friend who gets his practice in at NASA HPDEs including VIR which is relatively close to you. However, there are some car club HPDEs that don't allow open cockpit so always check before registering since some of them don't allow refunds. Also, you should look into contacting your local SRF CSR which I believe is the SuRFShop. The CSR is needed for SRF parts, mods and repairs in the event anything is beyond your mechanical capabilities.

One thing to consider when playing with bigger cars is to mount a tennis ball or some other high visibility object on top of your roll bar since we're much lower and hard to see.
JonM brings up a good point... if you're not racing or qualifying with competitive cars, it's easy to get lulled into thinking you're going fast when you're not and you might accidentally train yourself to be slow. At a DE you'll also spend quite a bit of time just stuck in traffic, but you've got to get some practice sometime.
One saving grace of practicing in a Gen2: if you later switch to a Gen3, the performance is different enough that you won't carry over all the bad habits you teach yourself.
Also, getting practice on old, crappy tires is a good way to learn car control. The challenge will be to speed up your brain to get all the performance out of good ones later
If nothing else, you will have a ton of fun and learn a lot on any path you take!