Sprinting Is The Best And Most Frustrating Motorsport You've Never Heard Of

Sprinting is a form of motorsport that – by and large – seems to have been forgotten about. But, it’s a very simple idea: think of it as hill climbing, without the, erm, hills.

Sprinting events are time trials, grouping cars together into different classes for a good old-fashioned race against the clock. The first two rounds of the Caterham Academy year we’re currently taking part in are sprints - the first being at Aintree, once upon a time the British Grand Prix circuit. The idea behind this setup is we get our first taste of competition without being dumped on a track with almost 30 other cars jockeying for position.

And there’s a lot to like about sprinting. First of all, it’s reasonably affordable: entry fees for a day of sprinting will typically work out much less than your average track day (Liverpool Motor Club charges £107 for a day at Aintree, for example), you can turn up in a standard road car with no safety modifications if you wish, and safety clothing requirements are lower than they are for full blown races. That said, it doesn’t hurt to turn up with better gear than stipulated by the rules – you can never be too safe, after all.

Also, since you’re on track on your own, the chances of an expensive crash are massively reduced. It’s not just the costs that make sprinting an attractive form of motorsport: it’s also how laid back the whole affair is. It’s a wicked day out that sees you surrounding yourself with cars of all shapes and sizes, with a competition element that won’t see you wracked with nerves beforehand.

Although the aim is to be the fastest in class, really you’re competing against yourself. Chipping away at your times. Braking that little bit later. Tweaking your lines. When the time for my second run flashed up on the display board at the end of the course, showing I’d knocked off nearly two seconds… damn, that was a satisfying experience.

So why, I hear you ask, is it frustrating? Primarily: track time. The two Caterham Academy groups each received two practice runs and four timed attempts, but at one point it was looking like we’d only have three. So if you don’t have a particularly ideal lap, you then have to wait another 45 minutes or so to have another crack. Equally after you’ve had an awesome run and are chomping at the bit to go around again, it’s excruciating having to head back to the paddock and sit around.

You could pass the time by watching the Vantage owners of the Aston Martin Owners’ Club fill the track with lovely V8 noise, or perhaps watching the mad bike-engined single-seaters tear around. But you can never stray too far from your car, since you’ll need to gear up (something that takes some time as a noob) and line up ready for the next run in the assembly area before too long.

The other issue with the lack of track time is you have to be reasonably committed quite early on if you want to clock some decent times. What I can’t advise is starting off slowly and building your pace up gradually, as you might on a track or test day. Even if you can knock a second or two off on each timed run, you won’t have enough goes to clock a respectable time, leaving yourself having to explain to the Internet how you went from being 7th out of 27 at the autocross event to being… quite a bit further down the order. Hypothetically speaking, of course…

Regardless, I can heartily recommend sprinting as a brilliant introduction to the world of motorsport. If you want to dip your toes into the water as opposed to jumping in head-first, this is the ideal way to do it.

We’ve another round of sprinting at Rockingham Motor Speedway to looking forward to in a couple of weeks, and soon after that, it’ll be the first traditional race at Brands Hatch. Gulp.

Make sure you read more about Caterham and the Academy, to find out what I’ve let myself in for!