You know how it is. You’ve done enough track days and you know you’re among the faster ladies or gentlemen in the group. But you also want to know if you can do it in a competitive environment. We’ll guide you through it. In the first part of this ‘Racing on a Budget’ series: Superbike and Supersport Youngtimer.
What do you need to know about this class in racing? Quite simply, it’s great fun and certainly not too expensive. You don’t need to line up at the start with the latest M1000RR or R1 in this class. That’s because these are excluded from racing in this class (otherwise it wouldn’t be a Youngtimer class).
No, even better! If your old R6, Fireblade 900, Ducati 916, SRAD 600/750, etc. still works, you can convert it into a motorbike that complies with the regulations, then get your licence (KNMV, FMB-BMB, DMSB or FFM) and you can start racing in the Belgian Youngtimer Championship. The most beautiful circuits are also featured. Last season there were four race weekends, including races at Croix-en-Ternois (France), Mettet, Chimay (yes, road racing) and Carole (near Paris).
The level of racing is also quite reasonable. The class exists not only to keep costs down (although you can make it as expensive as you want), but also to teach people how to race. To give you an idea, the fastest time at Mettet in the Supersport Youngtimer class was 1’11.6. Not exactly slow for such an old 600cc bike.
And as far as atmosphere and conviviality are concerned, it’s all good. A warm environment, close to the BeNeLux Trophy, where you can always learn from someone else. Even if you crash, there will be someone there to lend a helping hand. In short, there’s no reason not to do it.
More information about racing in the Youngtimer class or the regulations can be found on the website fmb-bmb.be.
Next in this Racing on a Budget series: BTT Supertwins and Stocktwins
