This weekend, a field of Citroën Citroen C1 racers will take to Rockingham for a 24-hour race. To mark the occasion, we look back at the time our man Matt Prior competed in the same series for a day-long race at Spa. Over to you Prior...
Have you ever heard a small-capacity two-stroke motorcycle haring along the road at top speed, gone to a window to look at it and realised that it’s not going very quickly at all?
It’s all ‘niiinnnnng’, and no go.
Welcome to the Citroën C1 Racing Club. Only without most of the ‘ning’.The C1 Racing Club was born because people used to race Citroën 2CVs in large numbers, but don’t quite so much any more. It used to be one of the cheapest forms of motorsport out there but these days even the newest 2CV is decades old and running and maintaining those cars is, by pastime standards, starting to become rather expensive.
So some of the people behind it thought they would put a C1 racing car together and see how that went. Sedately, is the answer. But also cheaply, so here we are.
The first-generation C1 is, as you’ll probably know, mechanically identical to the Peugeot 107 and Toyota Aygo, though only C1s make it into the club for now. There were 3dr or 5dr versions but the racers are 3drs and alterations between road car and race car are pretty limited to keep cost down and the playing field level.
In the technical regulations, the phrase ‘no modifications’ appears no less than 15 times. Every car has its interior stripped and safety equipment added. The dashboard has to remain in place, with a working radio, to prove the wiring loom is standard, and the handbrake is still there, because every car must have an MOT. The engine, gearbox, exhaust, glass and even the window winders (manual or electric) have to stay as was. The minimum weight limit, including driver, is 910kg. Most cars carry ballast to bring them up to the limit.
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"Does all this sound silly to you?"
Not at all. This sounds like enormous fun, just what car racing should be.
driver aids
what're the regulations regarding abs and traction control etc; how do they keep them off?
Marshalls and scrutes
Before any race all cars are scrutineered to the best of my knowledge and 12 years of racing, so I doubt that its any different for 2CV. But importantly 99.9% of entrants are there for the lark and cheating really doesnt enter the frame.
It's simply great fun
We lap slightly quicker than a C1 but need to refuel more often so great racing throughout the 24 hrs. I've always wanted to race but it was only by stumbling into the 2CV world that I could afford it.
As Matt Prior says, 3am in pouring rain, 3 abreast into a classic Spa corner - driving doesn't get much better!
Looking forward to next year already.
HMM wrote:
Sounds great....I think. I may have to give it a go.
HMM wrote:
Sounds great....I think. I may have to give it a go.