I
n the last issue of Luxx it was suggested I learn how to fell trees with a treacherous chainsaw. This month they’ve asked me to drive some of the world’s fastest racing cars. Do you think my boss is trying to tell me something?
To be fair, it’s a hot topic: the F1 movie with Brad Pitt, featuring Grand Prix race scenes shot at Silverstone, Monza and Las Vegas, has brought in more than $400 million at the box office; the fly-on-the-wall television show Drive to Survive has been watched by millions and racing drivers now even have their own fashion lines. So a few weeks ago I dutifully pootled down to Goodwood, in West Sussex, to swap my Fiat 500 Riva edition for a BMW M2 CS Cup Car, Ginetta G56 GTA, McLaren 570 GT4 or Ferrari 488 Challenge Evo. What could possibly go wrong?
The Goodwood ProDriver Experience, which launched this spring, enables customers to drive the legendary motor circuit owned by the Duke of Richmond in a curated range of modern race cars under the expert tutelage of DTO Motorsport. DTO specialises in racing and driver coaching, and is there to help novices who wish to tackle a racetrack for the first time.
You are teamed with a professional driver, who will join you for four 15-minute driving sessions in the car of your choice, during which you will learn how to tackle corners at high speed, how not to scream into the microphone attached to the front of your helmet and how to work with a British GT pit crew. You also get coaching tips from data analysis and video footage captured during each of your races.
