A rallying review (Feb. 2012)
In January I had my first go at driving a rally car and, as it was a red letter day experience kindly purchased for me by some of my good friends, I have decided to write a review so that they can share in my day and know that their expense was appreciated.
I took part in The Rally Experience at Silverstone, my local and well known motor sport facility. The circuit has what it describes as a "RAC Handling Stage" and after some briefing, attendees get to drive on the stage accompanied and guided by a competent rally driver/instructor. My instructor, Nathan Ellis, had a set of his own pedals and an engine cut off switch so there was little real risk of a ‘driving incident’.
The cars were 2.0 litre, 163 bhp, Group N Fiesta STs with limited slip differentials, full roll cages, Recaro seats with five point harnesses and ‘A’ pillar mounted air intakes so were appropriate for the purpose.
Here’s the agenda for the event:
As you can already judge, the amount of time that you get to drive is pretty limited and, if you are a complete novice (as indeed was I), there is only so much that you are going to learn. The mathematical amongst you have already worked out that adding up the minutes doesn’t make 2.5 hours (and the debrief only took five minutes) – the reality is that there is quite a lot of waiting around for your turn.
Now you may be wondering how I got on. Well whilst I wasn’t a natural, I did improve by the lap and if I could have enjoyed the same amount of track time once or twice more, I may even have got the hang of it.
As a driver with more than 20 years' experience behind the wheel and someone who has had some skid training and even some limited tuition on track, you may have been forgiven for thinking I’d have some flair for it. Unfortunately, no!
The car’s clutch was really aggressive and it bit hard. I managed to stall the Fiesta two or three times before I even got it to move. Watched by my fellow attendees, you’ll appreciate that as not the most auspicious of starts!
To be honest I was a bit nervous and felt a little ill-prepared when I took to the track; that meant I was a little tense and that affected my steering – Nathan wanted me to relax and to stop effectively steering with my shoulders.
To be a capable rally driver, I was surprised at how much you have to concentrate on unlearning some well established driving behaviours. For example, you are instructed to cross your arms when driving and not to feed the wheel through your hands. When the car starts to skid you are supposed to keep your foot on the accelerator to bring the back end around rather than get on the brakes and reel the slide in. When the car started sliding, my instinctual reaction was to get off the gas and steer but when I did this the car lost momentum and just spun around. I was rubbish at controlling the skid with the handbrake because I struggled to steer with one hand and work the handbrake with the other whilst staying on the accelerator and trying to read the track.
My first 12 minute session was pretty poor, I am not sure how many minutes ticked away with me stationary or trying to restart the car. I felt like the instructor was just on my case the whole time and I finished the session feeling stressed, hot and exhausted. I don’t suppose Nathan was exactly impressed either!
By the time my second session came around I was ready for another go but just to confuse matters the direction around the track was reversed. So having not really got to grips with it going one way, I then had to learn a new set of braking and turning points. Nonetheless my second session was much better, I started to gain a little confidence and have some fun (which after all was the point of the outing). The second session ended too quickly and, just when I was getting to grips with the requirements, it was all over.
All over bar the hot lap with a tame rally driver! That was fun but the short overall length of the track meant it was over too quickly. It didn’t deliver the adrenaline rush I have experienced when driven on a racing track but then the car couldn’t get up to any significant speed.
As the experience drew to a close, the de-brief took place and I was presented with my appraisal sheet. Here’s what Nathan had to say “Great concentration, looking ahead well and good throttle control too. A little tense at first – remember the least steering for the most grip. A great second drive - smooth and quick”. My overall mark was 87 out of 100 which is okay I guess (but then I don’t suppose an instructor would write “you should stick to making jigsaw puzzles”).
Was rally driving worth having a go at? Would I like to do it again? Would I recommend the experience to others? Yes, yes and yes again. What advice would I give to Silverstone? That would be; just make each driving session five or ten minutes longer – it would make all the difference in terms of driver achievement and would have had me reaching for my credit card to book another go!
Thanks very much to Chris, Pam, Mike and Reshma for rallying around to give me the opportunity to try something new!
My next Silverstone activity, already booked, is going to be the Hypersonic Experience which means being taken around the racing track in a two seater F1 car. Now that will be a guaranteed adrenaline hit. Watch this space, I’ll write a report in early April to let you know how I get on!
Back to Reviews and Recommendations Home
Home
I took part in The Rally Experience at Silverstone, my local and well known motor sport facility. The circuit has what it describes as a "RAC Handling Stage" and after some briefing, attendees get to drive on the stage accompanied and guided by a competent rally driver/instructor. My instructor, Nathan Ellis, had a set of his own pedals and an engine cut off switch so there was little real risk of a ‘driving incident’.
The cars were 2.0 litre, 163 bhp, Group N Fiesta STs with limited slip differentials, full roll cages, Recaro seats with five point harnesses and ‘A’ pillar mounted air intakes so were appropriate for the purpose.
Here’s the agenda for the event:
- 20 minutes in car briefing on circuit driving techniques
- 12 minutes: First rally session
- 13 minutes: Second rally session
- 1 lap: High speed passenger ride
- 15 mins: Debrief, assessment and certificate presentation
As you can already judge, the amount of time that you get to drive is pretty limited and, if you are a complete novice (as indeed was I), there is only so much that you are going to learn. The mathematical amongst you have already worked out that adding up the minutes doesn’t make 2.5 hours (and the debrief only took five minutes) – the reality is that there is quite a lot of waiting around for your turn.
Now you may be wondering how I got on. Well whilst I wasn’t a natural, I did improve by the lap and if I could have enjoyed the same amount of track time once or twice more, I may even have got the hang of it.
As a driver with more than 20 years' experience behind the wheel and someone who has had some skid training and even some limited tuition on track, you may have been forgiven for thinking I’d have some flair for it. Unfortunately, no!
The car’s clutch was really aggressive and it bit hard. I managed to stall the Fiesta two or three times before I even got it to move. Watched by my fellow attendees, you’ll appreciate that as not the most auspicious of starts!
To be honest I was a bit nervous and felt a little ill-prepared when I took to the track; that meant I was a little tense and that affected my steering – Nathan wanted me to relax and to stop effectively steering with my shoulders.
To be a capable rally driver, I was surprised at how much you have to concentrate on unlearning some well established driving behaviours. For example, you are instructed to cross your arms when driving and not to feed the wheel through your hands. When the car starts to skid you are supposed to keep your foot on the accelerator to bring the back end around rather than get on the brakes and reel the slide in. When the car started sliding, my instinctual reaction was to get off the gas and steer but when I did this the car lost momentum and just spun around. I was rubbish at controlling the skid with the handbrake because I struggled to steer with one hand and work the handbrake with the other whilst staying on the accelerator and trying to read the track.
My first 12 minute session was pretty poor, I am not sure how many minutes ticked away with me stationary or trying to restart the car. I felt like the instructor was just on my case the whole time and I finished the session feeling stressed, hot and exhausted. I don’t suppose Nathan was exactly impressed either!
By the time my second session came around I was ready for another go but just to confuse matters the direction around the track was reversed. So having not really got to grips with it going one way, I then had to learn a new set of braking and turning points. Nonetheless my second session was much better, I started to gain a little confidence and have some fun (which after all was the point of the outing). The second session ended too quickly and, just when I was getting to grips with the requirements, it was all over.
All over bar the hot lap with a tame rally driver! That was fun but the short overall length of the track meant it was over too quickly. It didn’t deliver the adrenaline rush I have experienced when driven on a racing track but then the car couldn’t get up to any significant speed.
As the experience drew to a close, the de-brief took place and I was presented with my appraisal sheet. Here’s what Nathan had to say “Great concentration, looking ahead well and good throttle control too. A little tense at first – remember the least steering for the most grip. A great second drive - smooth and quick”. My overall mark was 87 out of 100 which is okay I guess (but then I don’t suppose an instructor would write “you should stick to making jigsaw puzzles”).
Was rally driving worth having a go at? Would I like to do it again? Would I recommend the experience to others? Yes, yes and yes again. What advice would I give to Silverstone? That would be; just make each driving session five or ten minutes longer – it would make all the difference in terms of driver achievement and would have had me reaching for my credit card to book another go!
Thanks very much to Chris, Pam, Mike and Reshma for rallying around to give me the opportunity to try something new!
My next Silverstone activity, already booked, is going to be the Hypersonic Experience which means being taken around the racing track in a two seater F1 car. Now that will be a guaranteed adrenaline hit. Watch this space, I’ll write a report in early April to let you know how I get on!
Back to Reviews and Recommendations Home
Home
|
|
