Single seater experience @ Rockingham

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Last weekend, I splashed out £169 for just half an hour’s driving around Rockingham International Motorspeedway. Am I nuts, or what? The difference this time was that I was in a car with only 115bhp. No wait, the difference this time was that I was in a single seater race car. Well, a sanitised equivalent, at least.

True, it did have only 115 horses, but it was light enough to make this ample. Overall, though, as an experience, it’s one I won’t be seeking to repeat. After the usual safety briefing, my group of 4 was split up between a pair of pace cars (also single seaters). We then trundled out of the pits onto the National circuit in the oval’s infield and ever-so-slowly increased the speed as we got used to the controls. To be honest, the only thing that felt slightly unusual was the 4-speed, extremely short-throw gearbox, situated next to your right hand.

The kind of car I drove at RockinghamTen minutes in and we trundled back into the pits, only to head back out in about 20 seconds’ time. The rest of the session was spent gradually increasing the speed, but we never got to the point where we were pushing it. At least, not as I would describe it. If you think backing off the gas on the straights and hardly having to brake is pushing it, then maybe this is the experience for you. For me, it was just plain frustrating.

When our half hour was up, I had to ask a fellow driver whether we now got to drive the cars without the pace car, as I’d been expecting, but no, that was the experience over. What a let-down. I was so cheesed off, I didn’t even bother buying a photo of myself driving round. What would be the point? To show it to friends, saying “Here’s one of me driving a fast car like someone’s grandmother”? Bah and double bah.

Bitterness aside, I probably still would’ve been happy to have paid only 30 or 40 quid for such an experience. Funnily enough, that’s exactly how much they were going for on the day, as the circuit hadn’t filled all available places. Alas, I’d booked in advance via their website. So, if you’re in the area and fancy a quick run out in a car you wouldn’t normally get to drive, pop along and see if you can pick up a last minute ‘experience’. Otherwise, you may as well give it a miss.

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