I don't think belt drive is less efficient than shafts, it may feel this way when turning the transmission by hand but due to the bevel gears required in shaft drives the loading and friction increases when load is applied, whereas belts seem to stay the same. This is why my K1 can accelerate so well.
With belt drive cars the motors direction of rotation can be used to influence the cars handling, with my K1 the motors torque reaction is towards the front of the car giving the car more on power steering and lively whereas with the new Serpent the motors torque reaction will be towards the rear of the car helping tractio . With shaft drive cars they want the torque reaction of the motor to be eliminated as it will be from side to side upsetting the cars handling.
If you have any concerns about belts being exposed and failing, I've driven a K1 for about two years without one failure from a belt.
At the end of the day see what's used at your local track and see if you can try a couple of different cars if people will let you, different cars have there own traits and handling characteristics and what suits one person may be wrong for someone else.
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