Drive the Racetrack
- Written by
- Matt Lee
Being male and having watched Top Gear (and now The Grand Tour) since I can remember, you could say I love cars, so it’s strange to think that I had never driven on a race track.
Perhaps this is why it’s on the bucket list. So as luck would have it, I got the opportunity to do the Fun Drive at Bruce McLaren Motorsport Park.
The car you drive is a Mazda MX5 fully kitted out with roll cages, racing seats and harnesses. You can choose either a manual or automatic, and having been born at the dawn of the 1980s and being taught how to drive properly, I chose a manual. You might be thinking the MX5 is a bit of a hairdresser’s car, and I guess that is the image it might have with some people – but actually, the MX5 is hands-down the most successful roadster ever built with true sports-car DNA. It’s a lightweight, front-engine, rear-wheel drive car with pin sharp handling and a great exhaust note.
The experience starts off by signing your life away on an indemnity form – real bucket list stuff here, then you are handed over to an instructor. My instructor was Alan, who did a great job of explaining everything. We started off getting kitted up in a racing suit and helmet, walked down to the garage and got in the car. I started in the passenger seat with Alan driving me round the track explaining the correct lines for all the corners and then back in to the pit lane. It’s then all down to you – hop in the driver’s seat, get strapped
in and away you go.
Being on the track was awesome. And after the first couple of laps taking it easy, you start to build confidence and open the car up. Its handling really is sharp and just seems to hang in there as you push on faster and faster around the corners. You can even clip the red and white rumble strips on the corners like you see on TV. The laps weren’t timed, but I don’t think it matters and really isn’t what the experience is all about. Just getting the chance to go out on a track in a great-handling car that you can rev right through the gears and reach speeds worthy of losing your license on the public roads is a fantastic experience and will leave you wanting a lot more.
Based on the post experience chatter with the staff at Fun Drive, a lot more may be just around the corner, so look out for more to come. The operation is run very professionally, and I felt safe at all times. If you have always wanted to have a go on a race track, this is one to try.