^ Haha, I owe you a pint of Rickards after this.
Keep the M, spend that $$ for the Bell on driver training. Driver training will go a long way especially if you're still green to this stuff. After a few years when you gain more speed and confidence, you'll figure out how serious you want to continue in it and then you'll start to thinking about upgrading your safety gear (SA helmet, roll bar, fixed-back seat, harness, HANS). For now, just get seat time. You may find out that you don't like this sport ... but I highly doubt that.
