Me & Karting (A Brief History)

 

I’ll never forget the first time I went karting. It was at a friend’s birthday party at a local indoor circuit, and although it was fairly sanitised (With cones on the track dictating the racing line) it was enough to get me hooked. I’d been watching Formula One for about a year and I remember feeling like a grandprix driver even as we lapped the small circuit at relatively low speed. I’d never been particularly athletic and usually got overlooked when teams were picked in school for football and such, but here was something I felt I picked up quite quickly, and even then I was convinced I was faster than the other kids that were at this party.

Me and my brother convinced my parents to take us along to the circuits ‘Junior Kart club’ which I think ran every other Sunday. Groups of us youngsters were taught the basic fundamentals of karting, with some (very) basic theory mixed with track time. I always remember thinking these were very well organised sessions and I'm glad to see that my local circuit still gets kids involved from a young age. The sessions used to begin at about 10am and last a couple of hours, which usually meant I could get home in time to watch the F1, which would just make me want to sit in a kart even more!

At the age of maybe fourteen or fifteen we went on a family holiday to Spain with another family, and on one of the days we went to this outdoor circuit in a dustbowl where they had these crazy two-seater karts, with the seats next to each other and the steering wheel going pretty much down the middle! My Dad went out with my brother, and I had a kart with my Mum. I think we did one lap before I had to pull in because she was almost hysterical! As she went back to the safety of the spectator area, I got into a conventional one-seat kart and took off back onto the track. My Brother is convinced to this day that I drove over his and Dads kart as I overtook them! All I remember is that it was one of the most fun days we had on that holiday and also that I don't think at any point I took off my Ferrari baseball cap, even for dinner in the evenings! Other than that I seem to remember spending a lot of money playing the Sega F1 arcade game at the hotel, which was supposed to be the first proper ‘3D’ racing game. Looking back now it was pretty crude, but it kept me and my friend there busy in the evenings whilst our parents were in the bar!

I think by then I was of an age where I was a little old for the junior kart club at our local circuit, but still too young to compete in the adult GrandPrix events they had there. After lots of pestering I managed to convince the instructor there that I would be able to hold my own, and eventually they let me enter. My first proper race!

I think it took me a couple of attempts, but once I won my first race there was no turning back! I think some of the older guys begrudged me a little because I was usually a lot smaller than them and therefore lighter, but I'd had so much practice at the circuit I knew it with my eyes closed. The lap couldn't have been much more than twenty seconds long, and it was pretty tight with few overtaking opportunities, but I racked up quite the collection of ‘Raceway Bristol’ trophies.

For some reason or another that I think may have been due to the planned housing developments in Portishead, the track owners moved into a larger unit based in Avonmouth a couple of years later. I remember being so keen to have a go there I dragged my Dad along to have a look at the track before it was even finished!

Once the track was up and running again I used to enter the ‘Open Grand Prix’ once every few months, adding to the small trophy collection I had and also giving karting ago at a few other venues near us, such as Supakart in Newport (a pretty good circuit let down by a poor fleet of karts) Castle Combe, which despite being outside doesn’t really offer the thrills of a proper outdoor circuit due to it being so small, Hulavington (good karts, poor circuit) and Thruxton, which is a good track with proper race karts and a long lap of over fifty seconds. The last time I was there actually I was driving the incredible Ferrari 458 on the main circuit and the instructor that sat in with me had actually raced karts against Michael Schumacher! Needless to say, I was interested to see what tips he had to offer!

 Over the years I’ve driven in several national competitions, and also done some karting in France, but for 2012/13 I decided to commit to two series, one being ‘Chase the Ace’ held over five rounds at my local indoor circuit, and the other competing in three rounds of the ever popular British Rental Kart Championship, a six event competition run across the country at a variety of indoor and outdoor circuits. Unfortunately I was unable to commit to every round due to work commitments; however you only need to enter a minimum of three rounds to score points toward the championship

Ferrari 458 Experience

Last summer, I had the oppurtunity to drive a Ferrari 458 Italia around Thruxton circuit in Hampshire. Here is the write up I did for Bristol Pegasus Motor Club's monthly magazine. Enjoy!

 

My day started early, as I made my way to Thruxton circuit in Hampshire, ready for the 11am briefing. Upon arrival, I signed on, caught a glimpse of resident racing driver and Fifth-Gear presenter Tiff Needell, and made my way to the briefing room, but not before grabbing a bacon sandwich!

After a short but thorough briefing, a small group of us were taken around the track for a few laps in a Mazda 3 MPS, where we were shown the lines, braking points etc. We were then returned to the pit area, where we were each assigned an instructor and a Porsche Cayman, for our initial ‘instruction’ laps. I started off steadily as I got my bearings in the small German sports car, finding my way around the track amongst the various Exotica. By the end of the stint I felt I was up to speed, even if I had been overtaken by a rather sideways Tiff, who was on hand giving ‘thrill rides’ to passengers in a BMW M3.

After a positive de-brief with my instructor, it was time to take to the wheel in the Ferrari.

Anybody that’s seen Top Gear recently will know what I'm on about when I say that this car simply has a certain something that gives you a certain ‘fizzy’ feeling! It may not be the fastest, most powerful, cheapest or most economical supercar on sale, but it just has that certain something. For arguments sake, let’s call it soul. And by god, it’s a beautiful machine!

I was shown into the car by another instructor, who talked me through the space shuttle controls, before jumping in alongside me. Putting the key in the ignition, you select neutral by pulling back on the carbon fibre wheel-mounted paddles, before pressing the red starter button, which fires up the incredible sounding V8 engine. My instructor then said something that I think may have been the cause of the huge grin;

‘Right, as the car is semi-automatic, you can use your left foot to brake if you like’

Left foot? As in, like a Formula One car? In fairness, the car only has two pedals, yet its’ a slightly alien feeling using your clutch foot to slow the car. Once you calibrate your foot to the pressure needed however, it does feel natural.

What followed were four laps that I will never forget. Don't ask me how fast I went, I couldn't tell you. I know I got up to seventh gear, and I know that the howl from the engine is spine-tingling. There was a lot of speed and noise, some overtaking on my part, and then it was over, far too quickly. By far the most impressive thing is the paddle shift gearbox. Its eye-blink quick, with just a flick of your finger, a change in engine-note and another thump in the back as the car just devours the track. Small lights illuminate on the steering wheel as you reach the higher rev range, and then it all starts again as you shift up. Braking was equally impressive, as was the steering, and anything else you care to mention. It was just over far too quickly! On returning to the pits, my instructor ran through the laps with me, and awarded me with a score of 81%. We’d been told earlier during the initial briefing that anything over 75% was a good result, so it goes to say that I was well pleased, And to top it all off, I stayed ahead of Tiff!!

Afterwards, I thought I’d pay a bit extra to take one of the circuits' Formula Renault single- seaters around the track, which was again amazing but in a completely different way from the Ferrari. Before heading off, I also went over the road to the kart track for a short arrive-and-drive session. Finally, after a good few adrenaline-fuelled hours, I headed back to Bristol.

I would definitely recommend Thruxton motorsport centre if you are looking for a driving experience day beyond our own Castle Combe. They offer fantastic value for money, and a selection of cars people only dream about driving. You won’t be disappointed, I know I wasn’t!