Get into Pedal Car Racing!

A quick-start guide to the sport

About the sport:

Pedal car racing is a demanding but friendly endurance team sport featuring races of up to 24 hours duration, with a minimal rule set.

You'll need a car...

A pedal car is simply an HPV (Human Powered Vehicle) with four wheels. Cars are generally designed and built by some or all of the people in the racing teams, be they racing or non-racing team personnel. As teams build new and (hopefully) better cars, so older machines can become available for sale, rental or borrowing - an ideal and cost-effective route into the sport.

There are three main options for getting hold of a vehicle:

Borrow - There are usually a few pedal cars of different shapes and sizes available to borrow or hire for a particular race or races. Generally this is best option if you are not sure if you will continue in the sport but you will be limited in the changes you may want to make to the machine. Contact a few teams first to see what's available, or come along to a race to chat in person.
Buy - If you like it you may then look to buy a Pedal Car. Brand new cars will probably set you back £500 - £1000 if commissioned. Good quality second hand cars can be found for around £300 or even as little as £100. Once it's yours you can do with it what you like.
Build - If you are up for a challenge, or once you are well into the sport, you may wish then to build your own cars. As they are based heavily on bicycle technology the parts can be very cheap and you can be as adventurous as you like. As it is such a friendly sport there will always be people to talk to and gain ideas, advice and information from.

If you are considering building or modifying a car yourself, bear in mind it does not have to be complicated; reliability and robustness are more important factors! It must also be safe and conform to the International Pedal Car Specification (Yes, really!).

Help and advice is always available via the pedalcars forum on topics such as car design, component sources, available cars, etc.

The championship:

The British Pedal Car Championship (BPCC) currently consists of 8 rounds, spread across the country. If some races appear to be "a long way away", that's precisely because it is a British Championship! Most races are "local" to at least one enthusiastic racing team who have put the time and effort into organising it.

The races themselves are run on a variety of tracks and in a variety of formats, from the 5x 1-hour sprints of Curborough up to, of course, the 24 hours of Swansea. While each race stands up as a separate event in its own right, they are also linked by a points system to form the BPCC. Within the overall (PC1) points system, there are classes for under-16 (PC2), under-14 (PC3), under-12 (PC4) and solo (PCzero) drivers

It's certainly not compulsory to race the entire season, you're free to race as many or as few races as you wish - however, to be in with a chance of championship success then the more races you enter, the better your chances, even don't win them all (or any of them!).

Race entries generally cost £12.50 per car for at least 5 hours of racing (to around £25 for a 24-hour race) and there is an additional registration fee of £12 per year per team (irrespective of number of cars raced or races entered). Each driver will also need a licence, at a cost of 50p for under-16s and £1 for older drivers.

You'll need a team:

Pedal Car Racing is all about people. The rules for "open" (PC1) and under-16s (PC2) teams mean that four drivers are all you need for most events and races have been won with only three. This also means you can get a full team into a hatchback and strap your car to the roof rack, or put it on top of a small trailer. Alternatively, if you own a transit class van or can afford to hire one, it can be a great asset.

Note: PC3 and PC4 teams are allowed 6 drivers, as are PC1 and PC2 teams in 24-hour races; however it is not always essential to have a "full" team to win races.

If you don't have a team, again the forum has a section where drivers without a car and teams in need of drivers can advertise. There is also a solo championship.

If you want to win races then obviously training and fitness will become a part. For a Championship bid, organisation and communication is vital to make sure your team races all the events. If you are just starting out, however, you don't need to be super fit to have a great time. You just need a little imagination, a sense of humour and a determination to enjoy yourself - and that's not hard!

Teams are made up from various walks of life, including scout groups, cycle clubs, student groups, apprentices, friends, etc. In case you're thinking you need to be a professional cycle racing super-human, you don't. If you're fit enough to enjoy, for example, a mountain bike ride each weekend, or you cycle to work or college, you're fit enough to start racing.

1 PEDAL CAR + 4 PEOPLE = The most fun on four wheels!

And that's it!

Car, Race and Championship rules, team contacts and more information is available in the Info section; plus don't forget to check out the Forum for suppliers, potential contacts, cars and parts for sale, spare seats at races, etc.

The full race calendar is in the Events section.

Quick start guide by Chris Featherstone and Antony Hawkins

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