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An
impressive roll call of racing legends have sped around the track
at Castle Combe, North Wiltshire.
Names
of note include David Coulthard, Damon Hill and Ayrton Senna. Another
recent addition to that list, thanks to the Castle Combe Racing
School was mine, Wilf Guyatt.
The
Racing School has operated in its current form since 1991. Its professional
reputation and value for money were cemented in December 2001, when
motor bible Auto Express gave them a ‘four-star rating’ and the
‘best budget buy’ award.
Courses
cost from £80 to £275, and give you the chance to get behind the
wheel of cars including the Ford Focus, Subaru Impreza, Lotus Elise
and the single-seater Formula Ford.
The
'beginners package' gave me the chance to have instruction with
a racing driver in a Ford Focus, as well as six unaided laps in
a 1600cc Formula Ford.
The
Formula Ford car has propelled many racers from local race drivers
to international superstars, including Nigel Mansell and Johnny
Herbert.
Learner
drivers spend time with an instructor in a Ford Focus
For
the first time in months, I was really scared - how could I handle
such a powerful, and in the wrong hands, dangerous car? My fear
was soon allayed, thanks in part to my super-cool and ultra friendly
instructor Hugh Elliot, who took me around the track in a far tamer
Ford Focus.
By
the end of my three laps behind the wheel of the Focus, he was repeatedly
imploring the mantra of ‘more gas, more gas!’
The
laps with an instructor teach the racing students how to tackle
the course, explaining the racing lines, driver protocol and simple
"do’s and don’ts", the most important being ‘don’t crash the
car.’
My
time with the instructor was soon over and it was amazing to see
my confidence improve throughout the 10 minutes on the course. It
was then my turn to strap myself into one of Castle Combe’s Formula
Ford's.
Forget
all of your luxuries you are used to in your own car. Single seaters
have no power-steering and no automatic gearbox. One thing a Formula
Ford does have is an engine that can apparently out accelerate a
Ferrari from a standing start, not bad for a car with no stereo.
After
being shoehorned into the car, I was given some last minute instructions
from the pit-team and was pushed out of the garage, where the mechanics
connected a battery to start the car.
A crowd
of interested spectators had formed along the pit lane to see me
roar off towards Chippenham. Unfortunately my stalling the car meant
that many of the crowd began to laugh, not something you often see
in Formula One.
The
butterflies disappeared when I finally pulled onto the track, turning
my morning of theory into practice.
The
training with Hugh had certainly paid off - not only was I thinking
in terms of the "racing line" but also on my choice of
gears and braking. These are obviously a set of skills you don't
usually employ on the stop start journey from Chippenham to Swindon.
The
six laps soon disappeared and I was just beginning to enjoy myself
when the chequered flag signalled the end of my run. A debriefing
session followed, and unsurprisingly several of my fellow students
asked how they could get into motor sport as a hobby.
Alan
Cooper, the Senior Racing Instructor told me that a ‘well looked
after’ Formula Ford car could cost about £3000. I guess then the
next step is to get the champagne on ice and order the jet.
The
Racing School operates from March until early January. Bookings
are already being made for courses next year.
Wilf
Guyatt
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Castle Combe Racing School takes courses from March until
early January each year.
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