Last week I visited the home of British motor racing, Silverstone. Being a big F1 fan it was amazing to visit the track and complex which is massive. As one of my bucket list items was to drive a racing car you would imagine that I’d get the chance to fly around the track behind the wheel of a single seat racer. Sadly however I can’t fit inside the tiny cockpit and decided to experience driving a rally car.
The first part of the experience is learning how to drive a car sideways though a muddy puddle… I was expecting a one to one tuition but instead I got a 7-minute video on what to do. Most of the information was lost on me and I reverted to my driving experiences of a Saturday night in East London, which is clearly enough to handle some mud.
After getting my crash helmet I was apparently ready to tackle the course with a co-driver telling me to go left or right. The car being used was a converted 2.0lt Ford Fiesta ST with two seats and a roll cage which I hoped not to use. The engine was clearly uprated as the power was incredible and raw. I had forgotten one thing that was expected of me and that’s how to drive a manual car. Having been in an automatic 4×4 for some time now I really got the car jumping around as I fought with the use of a clutch. A bit embarrassing really….
It didn’t take long before it all came back to me and I was racing around the track with handbrake turns and mud flying everywhere. It took all my concentration to control the car at high speed to ensure we didn’t end up parked in a tree or upside down. It was over all too soon but I loved every minute of it.
Thanks to Hiran and Sam for the experience, which was given to me for my 40th birthday last year.
Moli
M, that’s fantastic. Thanks for the day out – I loved it. Well written too x
Look forward to the next instalment of your life x x