You simply brake, steer and go - the Swift Cup is a very approachable car to drive

Budget motor sport’ must be the biggest oxymoron ever to be uttered on earth’s racetracks. Contrary to popular belief, there’s no such thing as low-cost racing. It just doesn’t exist. Otherwise I wouldn’t be sitting at a desk typing these words; I’d be out there trying to search for the stickiness of a set of slicks. Whichever way you try to look at it, just by the nature of driving anything to its physical and mechanical breaking point means you’re consuming materials – and therefore replacing them – faster than your wallet can keep up with. And there’s no getting away from it, no trying to go easy on the car or conserve energy, because if you don’t search for those outer limits, you’ll be slow.

What can be considered an affordable form of motor sport? A Clio Cup car? Race one in the UAE’s Touring Car Championship and you’d be looking at close to $ 5,000 for a weekend’s racing – considering it all stays in one piece, and minus the cost of the car itself. Buying a used car? Well, it’d have to be pretty special to compete with the top teams, and if it is, there’s always the question of reliability, which means more money. Karting? Competing in a Rotax Max Senior class in the DAMC series will set you back $ 8000 for a race-spec kart, around $ 700 per race meeting and another $ 3000 for the spare engine, which will last less than a dozen hours. Then you have the tools, spare parts and endless tweaking to add to the list. And all for just 15 minutes of wheel time per race. Hardly a bargain, you’ll agree.

If these figures don’t sound like a lot, that’s either because you’re not on a budget, or have Red Bull as your sponsor. For everyone else, it’s the one-make series, with the ‘Arrive and Drive’ format that’s proving to be the most popular option worldwide. Pay your fee for the weekend and the organisers will take care of the race preparation, fuel and event co-ordination, leaving you to do the important bit of driving. In the Middle East, we already have the one-make MINI Challenge running in Saudi Arabia, but the $ 65k asking price for the Cooper S alone isn’t a wallet-friendly proposition.

The new Suzuki Swift Cup, a championship that’ll make its debut in the UAE later this year, looks to be a far more reasonable proposition. The organiser, Sean Stevens, aims to tap into a market of wannabe racers who are looking for an accessible form of motor sport. ‘The hosting of a Formula One race in the region has dramatically raised interest in people wanting to go motor racing, but we feel many see taking part as a daunting process,’ says Stevens. It may sound optimistic for the Middle East, but thirty-or-so drivers are expected to line the grid for the first round of the series. And that’s because the Swift Cup looks to be that most unlikely find: a bargain basement motor sport. When it latches onto the UAE National Race Day in September for the start of a five-round series, $ 12,300 is what each driver will hand over – for a full 10-race calendar, that is. Sounds like a bit of a bargain.

To make sure all Swifts are equal and none are more equal than others, drivers will be ballasted up to the heaviest driver’s weight and the only adjustments allowed will be tyre pressures.

Gatecrashing a trackday, I arrive at a beautifully clear Dubai Autodrome to see what makes the Swift such a popular proposition in its native Hungary (where every Swift is built, and where the series first started in 2007) and its equally popular offshoot in New Zealand. Based on a 115bhp converted road car, this cute, front-wheel-drive, stripped out city-runaround isn’t fast and isn’t powerful, but its 980kg, close-to-road spec simplicity is endearing. Changes from the road car are minimal. A strut brace is fitted across the front, a K&N air filter joins the remapped 1300cc four-pot and race-spec suspension and shocks make the Swift squat onto its tiny wheels. ABS is disengaged, and the brakes are uprated, but only slightly.

Dropping into the bucket seat, it’s so teensy you can almost touch its corners with an arm stretch. The stripped-out interior carries the dash and instruments, with the speedo now housing a set of LEDs just below the readings, which light up in stages towards the dial’s centre, like an F1 steering wheel. The seating position has also been lowered and the pedals have a set of metal plates to lengthen their reach and improve foot grip. I haven’t seen a more uncomlicated race car.

‘You can just imagine it: a gaggle of Swifts, all darting about the track’

Motor sport, they say, is only memorable when there’s some contact; it’s the mark of a true battle. Some overtaking into a corner is fine, but bumping, tapping – well that’s entertainment. Looking at the combat scars of the Swift I’m about to drive, I’d say it’s had a few. There are small cracks, bumps and tyre marks all over the bodywork. It looks like a hardened racer. Not that you could tell from a distance. Unadorned by splitters or wings, there’s no superfluous bodywork, and consequently less parts to replace if you end up swapping paintjobs with another Swift.

The controls feel the same as the road car’s, except with no sound-deadening, which produces a few subtle vibrations. But it makes the right noises, sounding rough and buzzy, like a small-capacity rally car.

After a couple of familiarisation laps, the tyres up to temperature, the chassis becomes easy to place on the track. There’s none of the gentle, point-perfect attitude that you have to adopt with more powerful racecars. It’s attitude is simpler: you just brake, steer and go. It’s not stiff enough so as to be snappy, yet still planted and grippy. There’s just enough movement to sense the transitions in weight, without it feeling a bit of a jelly.

Through the steering wheel, there isn’t as much detail as you’d like. Small bites at the helm produces little result, and there’s the creeping understeer you expect, with grip fading gradually. Slightly disappointing for those stepping out of more expensive racers, good for those who’ll take their first steps on track with the Swift Cup. This is a very approachable car to drive.

Fun, too. The short-wheelbase means you can trace just about any line you like, and change your trajectory half way through a corner just as easily. Lift off a touch, or brush the brake pedal mid-bend and there’s an instant reaction. It pivots around you. It moves like a shopping trolley does when you hold it with your left hand and push with your right. You can feel the effect best on the long tightening Turn 14 of the Autodrome, as you slow in, hitting the late apex just at the right moment to power out without scrubbing the tyres. It’s a factor that’ll make for great racing. You can just imagine it: a gaggle of buzzing Swifts all fighting for the same piece of track, all darting about going into corners.

In terms of driver involvement, the brakes aren’t the Swift’s strong point. They’re soft, and the pedal is long in its travel, so you have to push it almost to the floor to get any real feedback. There’s not much bite from the system (the rears are bog-standard drums) and you have to stamp on the middle pedal aggresively to brush off speed.

With a slightly wondering gearshift and low power, racing will also demand consistent driving. Being half a second late with your right foot or mis-shifting is going to be magnified on the track. There’s plenty of time to stare at the scenery on the straights, but in the corners it’s all go. There’s no trailing throttle; you are either on the brakes or fully on the power. The moment you hesitate is the moment you lose revs and momentum. Then, it won’t be just the guy behind that overtakes you, but probably three others right behind him. In tight bends like the uphill Turn 10, it’s going to be absolutely key.

As a test run, there are currently eight Swifts latched onto the back of the UAE Touring car grid, and by the looks of the drivers’ faces at the end of races, they’re having more fun than most of the guys ahead of them. Having stepped out of the Swift after chucking it around, I have to say I know how they feel.

Elsewhere in this issue, David Vivian explains that joyous feeling of eeking out another kilometre an hour from a low-powered car already at its limit. I have to say I agree with him - it’s a great motoring experience. Mind you, when it’s on a racetrack, and costs a fraction of what you expect, it’s an even better one.

	Suzuki Swift
Engine	In-line 4
Location	Front, transverse
Displacement	1300cc
Max power	115bhp
Transmission	Five-speed manual gearbox, front-wheel drive
Weight (kerb)	980kg
Power-to-weight	117bhp/ton
0-100kph	Undisclosed
Top speed	Not very high
Basic price	$ 12,300 for a 10-race season
EVO Rating	4 stars