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If you're a novice racer and wanted to enter a racing series you might choose the Caterham Academy.
Starting from around 20,000 pounds you get a brand new 125 brake horsepower seven and a summer of racing.
But now British sports car manufacturer Radical, they've come along and as usual they've taken the term like, novice racing, and they've brought it to a whole 'nother level.
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Because this doesn't exactly scream beginner does it?
This is Radicals SR-1, the car that's fronting it's new entry level racing series.
It launched in 2013 and was deemed to be a great success.
Former Olympic cyclist, Chris Hoy, raced in it and absolutely loved it.
The SR-1 appeals to those who have to start from the bottom but want to do so in a serious bit of kit.
Powered by a 1.3 liter four cylinder Suzuki bike engine, it produces 185 brake horsepower.
Apparently, v-tuned because the prototype was just a little bit too hard core for its audience.
But don't think that makes this Radical a soft proposition though.
Weighing just 480 kilos, that gives it a power to weight ratio of 385 break horsepower per ton.
More than a Lamborghini Gallardo or Murcielago.
It also has a naught 60 time of 3.6 seconds, a six speed sequential gearbox, and an aerodynamic body that can pull over two G in cornering.
Despite all that, the series is only for drivers who've entered less than six competitive races.
For an entry fee of 37,500 pounds you get the car, worth around 29,000, race suit, race license, test phase, and entry to the eight round championship.
It may sound expensive but this is motorsport, and comparatively for the level of performance you're getting it's a relative bargain.
And today I'm going to discover just how accessible these machines are.
I've been given car number one.
No pressure there.
Racing driver, Andy Wallace will be instructing me for the day.
He's helped Radical develop the SR-1, has won Le Mond, and drove the production car record-breaking 214 miles an hour in the McLaren F1.
So I'm in good hands.
Well the SR-1 cuts unique in that first of all the drivers that are, in the series are all novices.
So it's a fairly level playing field.
Not many people have any experience at all.
The races we had last year, they were all fantastic races.
Really good over-taking, not much contact or damage.
And I think you can learn to drive in a safe environment which is really important.
Actually the cars are fantastic to drive.
I mean, they're a proper prototype racing car, they're fairly low powered, they're 185 horsepower, but they weigh less than 500 kilos.
So the cars move around, they're really enjoyable to drive.
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After getting some feedback from Andy, it was time for me to go solo in the SR-1.
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Okay so I'm going to try and describe to you the sensation of driving the SR-1, whilst trying to drive it, for the first time.
It is a real race car in every sense of the word.
But it's just so easy to control.
It's like a go kart, it really is I know that's a clich
