I must admit, the though of doing a National don't scare me, the thought of the cost to be truly competitive at a 'race weekend' is, and that is tyres and brushes. As a family man, I can quite easily compensate the cost of travelling (helps to be on LPG too) against a weekend away, plus camping brings the cost down. But when it comes to it, the tyres just tip the scale, and I don't see the point of attending a national to 'make up the numbers'.
Regional racing is far more fun, and being in a region that isn't too competitive allows the use of Yellows for a couple of meetings, not having to skim every other run, but then even if it was (and when it was in the mid 90's) I would maybe put a new set of rears on in a day.
Total cost of racing has realy improved though, kit prices, cells, motors and electronics realy have been quite stable for the past 10 years, so in effect, top line equipment is far more obtainable. The internet has also helped for those 'cost aware racers', but, I do think, when people come to a race meeting, and see the amount of stuff we have, parents banks accounts close up shop.
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