A day at Jonathan Palmer's Palmersports Autodrome
Had an absolute ball today! About halfway through yesterday afternoon in the office, the sales manager came up to me and asked me if I'd be interested in going on a "corporate entertainment" day. “Where’s the catch?” was my immediate response, and knowing Craig’s ability for a good wind-up, immediately viewed his offer with some suspicion. “No catch”, he said, just a day’s fun at the Jonathan Palmer race school at the Bedford Autodrome – I didn’t need asking twice!
So I turned up at the Autodrome this morning at the crack of dawn, to be greeted by some very lovely ladies who asked me to fill out a few forms and then got me to read some advice notes on the cars I’d be driving today – and what a selection of cars….! I’ll come onto those later. We then sat through a video safety briefing from Martin Brundle whilst we ate our full English breakfast, and were told what we’d be doing for the next 8 hours – pure automotive joy! Although the emphasis was always on safety, the organisers didn’t make a song & dance about it, and treated us all like adults, which having done a few track days before, was very refreshing. In teams, we were then transported around the circuit from activity to activity by the aforementioned young lady, while we anticipated what lay ahead.
For our team, the first car of the day was a Jaguar JP1 Le Mans style race car – a two seater open top racer, very similar to the Le Mans race cars. We were each allocated a car and an instructor, and with only a few words of instruction we quickly found ourselves out onto the track. I have to say that my instructor was incredible – within a very short space of time we were lapping at over 100mph, hitting 130 along the back straight, and he was shouting over the intercom at me to brake later, turn in tighter, clip the apex and believe that the car WILL grip, and my word, did it grip! The 10 laps were over in an instant, and before long we were cruising back into the pit lane again. A fantastic start to the day, and on reflection, my favourite car of the day too.
Then quickly on to the next activity – 150cc go karts around an extended kidney shaped circuit. No instructor, just get in and go – these were a great laugh, as they slide all over the place under heavy braking and the back will still step out even though they only have 15bhp! This was one of the only places during the day where we were allowed to actually race one another.
The next thrill and possibly the most daunting of the day – the Formula Audi single seat racer. A very different car to the Jaguar, and very much like Formula 3 cars, with front and rear wings, proper downforce, and 0-60mph performance of just 3 seconds. What was equally scary was that they’ll do 60-0mph in a mind blowing 1.5 seconds! A much more intense briefing this time, as we’d be driving these without any instructor at our side – this really was the deep end for the day! Once shown the controls, we were back out onto the same circuit that we’d just learned in the Jags, and were expected to lap somewhere near the same times as before. Fat chance without being goaded by an instructor! These cars are truly awesome and I must admit to spinning mine once under heavy braking going into the chicane. A quick trip onto the grass, which the slick tyres immediately picked up, so I was black flagged to allow the technicians to make sure the car (and I) were OK. Then back out onto the circuit to finish the session with my fastest lap, and a huge grin on my face! I have one very vivid memory here, of hitting the brakes so hard at one point the G-force propelling me to the limit of the seat belts, and feeling the tears leave my eyes and hit the inside of the helmet visor! Incredible stopping power!
This is me, cornering at
around 90mph (apparently!)
No time to rest, and once everyone was back and had exchanged stories of who had done what, we were taken to a smaller but no less demanding circuit to be tackled with a fleet of Caterham 7’s. These little pocket rockets will do 0-60mph in around 4 seconds, and are extremely light and nimble around the twisting track. This was an excellent chance to let the cars slide out of the bends, burn some rubber, and really let the adrenalin flow as you boot them around the track. Again, the brakes on these cars are amazing, and it’s unbelievable how well they’ll hold the road when your brain is telling you that a normal car would be in the gravel trap by now! I want one!
The last toy we were let loose with before the lunch break, were the latest addition to the school’s fleet, and the one car I was most looking forward to getting my hands on – Jaguar’s XKR race prepared coupe, complete with massive rear spoiler on the back. These cars are worth around £100,000 each, and here we were treating them like go karts! 4.2 litres of supercharged V8 muscle, with paddle shift sequential gearbox and full race kit. Boy, these cars are simply beautiful. Again, with an instructor beside us, we tiptoed onto the track at first, scared of the fact we’re driving such valuable cars. Then, once we’d done a couple of sighting laps, he simply said “drive it like you stole it”, and before long I was getting a full lap commentary over my intercom, on where exactly to brake, where to clip the apex of each bend, and best of all, where to just floor it! Braking from 130 down to 80 and back up to 130 again going around the chicane in this big cat will live with me forever. And that was with the traction control ON!
The time seemed to just fly by, and before we knew it we were being transported once again back to the centre for lunch and swapping stories of who’d spun what, and how fast we’d done in certain cars.
Back out again, and this time onto the nippy little Renault Clio Racers. These would be the only front wheel drive cars we’d drive today, and how different they were! Kitted out more like rally cars, with stiff suspension and sequential gears in the centre console, these were great little racers and the instructors were especially keen to see us drive them as aggressively as possible to get the best out of them. So we had cornering on three wheels, loads of squealing tyres, and the engine bouncing off the rev limiter in every gear – fantastic fun!
Next came the Porsche 911 turbo, again a race prepared car, with full roll cage, paddle shift gearbox and around 350bhp on tap. Having just got out of the Clio, and into one of these beasts, it felt completely different, and somehow “refined” for a race car. The one big mistake I made here though, was being as aggressive with it as I was in the Clio – bad idea when it’s rear wheel drive and the engine is sitting just behind you! It wasn’t very long before I found myself facing the way I’d just come, in a huge blue cloud of tyre smoke and cars dodging me left and right! A few words of caution from the instructor about being smoother and allowing it to drift out more, and we soon found a new racing line once again. I have to say, that for me, these were the most unrewarding cars of the day, and they didn’t inspire me to want to go out and buy one. None the less, a great experience and incredibly fast!
Back into the bus again, and over to the only “competitive” part of the day. The one thing I haven’t mentioned here is that you are strictly prohibited from racing with anyone on the track – it is simply an exercise in driving fast, not racing. This next stage however, was a race with a difference. Caterhams again – but only two of them….
The circuit is set up in two sort of figure of eights, back to back. So although you are racing against your team mate, you’re on one track and he’s on the other, driving a mirror image of what you’re doing. Oh, and despite the lovely sunshine and dry sticky tarmac we’d had all day long (thankfully!) this track was watered, and it was like driving on ice! One lap with an instructor first – wait at the start lights with revs to almost max, when the lights go out, floor it and just dump the clutch! Massive wheel spin, loads of tyre smoke and up into 2nd gear with the wheels still spinning. Round the first bend holding the slide and the oversteer all the time, double back on yourself, round the second bend, more sliding, and finish off back where you started, with a donut! Not the sugar coated one, but a tyre burning, smoke inhaling one! Back onto the start line, and the instructor gets out. Now it’s just you and the car against your mate, but you’ve got no idea how well or badly he’s doing until you get back to donut area! Best of 3 races wins. What a fantastic laugh!
To finish off we then climbed into Land Rover Defenders and took them for a (by comparison) very leisurely stroll along an off road circuit. Although this circuit had water that was 3 feet deep, inclines that were effectively blind as they were so steep all you can see is the bonnet and the sky, and a very tricky test that involved driving the vehicle along two train tracks. Lots of mud, steep drops, a great see-saw that drops the car into a river, loads of boulders to clamber over, and the Land Rover just took it all in its stride. A great way to end an adrenalin-filled day, by just calmly driving at 4mph.
The day ended around 5pm with a presentation of trophies for the fastest drivers in each category, and I can honestly say that it was the best day’s fun I have ever had! I’ve come away from there with the smell of burning rubber lingering in my nostrils, my shoulders ache from the heavy steering of the race cars, and my knees are bruised from how tightly the cars hold you in place – but I want more!