What type of racing is this?

Question

Racing where you take Porshe's, BMW's, Viper's, Maserati's, Jaguar's, Audi's, or pretty much any other German, Italian, French car or any from europe some from America oh and cars ftrom Japan compete in this racing. This racing is represented in the Gran Turismo video game series better then any other video game. Regular sports cars are converted to have more power and performance and sponsers are added. Races can be on the famous Laguna Seca Raceway, Nurburgring, or Le Mans. An example of the cars used is the BMW M3 GTR, BMW Mclaren, Dodge Viper GTS, these aren't cars that are one seated speed machines that are similer to formula one.


So what is this racing called?
What do I have to go through to become a racer in this racing?
Is it possible to become a racer from places in the Eastern U.S like is there a college I should go to or are these career path's only available in California and Asia and Europe?

I really am not interested in Go karts can I just skip that step because I'm probably better in a real car than go karts so if I go into a go kart then I will never move on so is it really requiered?

How do I get an advanced license do I go to some driving school or do they put me in a race car tell me to get a certain track time and if I beat a certain track time i'm considered ready to start either further training or racing.

It seems to be too expensive i'm not a rich person. I need a place where I pay little or just a lot once because this is not for just fun it's my life without racing I will probably be a criminal or just get killed. Racing is the only thing I can devote my life to. Not NFL, NBA, Nascar only this type of racing so I need something thats garantead if I pass there will be no more payments and a pro career is possible.

Answer 1

The first thing to do is go to Skip Barber's Racing School. Once you graduate their 3-Day School, you get your regional SCCA license. Complete a few things after that and they will sign off on your SCCA national license. The Bridgestone F2000 school in Canada will do this to, but in all honesty, Skippy instructors are top-notch.

Answer 2

The racing you are talking about is, as others have mentioned, GT Racing. Series such as ALMS are prime examples... also many GT Cars in Grand Am, or any number of SCCA and NASA classes.

Becoming a race driver is fairly simple... becoming a good or successful driver is difficult and complicated. First off, you will probably need to understand that you are, right now, not a good driver. You are an unskilled driver in need of much seat time to develop the skills needed to drive a race car; there are not too many commonalities between driving on public roads and real racing.

So, while you say you have no interest in go karts, this is still the best place to start. And realistically, if you cannot do this step successfully and be competitive, you stand no chance of finding success elsewhere. Karting also offers the one of the least expensive ways to go racing... but this, and any racing is expensive. If you are talented enough and develop your skills enough, there will be sponsorship money... this will make it LESS expensive! Most people I race with that run in so-called "cheap" series generally budget $20-30k/year.

To go racing in a series like the ALMS, you will need a valid competition license, and alot of success for someone to decide to hire you as a driver... which will take years of success at lower levels.

Autocross would be the other obvious, less expensive, entry point to motorsports. But based on your desire to race, you would be able to learn more in karting.

As for schools: Skip Barber, Jim Russell, and many others are out there, as well as generic schools run by NASA and SCCA at various tracks around the country (though these are generally done with your own car, whereas one's like Barber and Russell supply the cars, usually Formula Fords).

Answer 3

I was once opening to get into IndyCar however now plenty of the races are on Versus, that's a channel I wouldn't have. I'll obviously watch the Indy 500 later this month. That day has generally end up an automobile racing TV marathon for me with the five hundred within the afternoon and the six hundred at night time.

Answer 4

It also sounds a lot like the ALMS, or American LeMans Series. SCCA used to run a bunch of classes like that also. IMSA is the sanctioning body for the ALMS, and I have included a link to it.

If you are just wanting to get into sportscar racing on a "local" level, the SCCA could be for you. Check out the link for them as well.

Answer 5

Its actually GT racing. Where they have different classes (GT1, GT2, and GT3) running on the same track. I used to always watch the FIA GT Championship on Speed TV.