The Racing School’s Formula 1 & Touring Car Experience

Money talks, they say. But when it comes to getting close to our sporting heroes, there’s normally a deafening silence. Whether you want a kickabout with Wayne Rooney or a net session with Andy Murray (debatable), I think personally a hot lap with Lewis Hamilton would trump them all. It was this thought in mind, I decided to attend Europe’s longest-established performance driving school, The Racing School which has been operating for 37 years and currently operates at four venues across the UK. Even The Duke of Cambridge chose the adrenaline fuelled experience of driving supercars at the world-famous Donington Park race circuit as a stag party treat with his brother Prince Harry before marrying Kate…

The Racing School offers an unrivalled range of driving experiences. Whether you follow Formula 1 or rallying, dream of driving a mind-blowing supercar or tackling testing terrain in a 4×4, they have an experience you will love.

The exclusive new driving experience, revealed at Donington Park, will spearhead the school’s 2015 activities. It offers a unique opportunity for fans to experience the brute power of the beasts they see race on TV, both by driving them and sitting alongside the men who have raced them quicker than anyone else.

“Many of us dream of these cars as we’re growing up, never believing that we will ever get the chance to drive them ourselves,” said Andrew Jordan, the reigning British Touring Car Champion.

The Touring Car Experience involves driving cars representative of the British Touring Car Championship’s supporting cast – a single-seater, Porsche 911 Carrera, Ginetta GT4 and Renault Clio – before progressing to a 300bhp variant of a 2015 BTCC race car. This is designed to give an unprecedented insight into the touring car world.

It’s not just touring cars that you can pilot though. If there’s one thing more impressive than how quickly a 200 mph Formula 1 car accelerates – 0-60 in under three seconds – it’s how brutally fast it stops. Most of us never get any closer to these cars than our sofa, never mind driving one around a real racetrack, but The Racing School is able to offer the only Formula 1 experience available in the UK.

The full day experience starts with a comprehensive safety briefing, followed with five familiarisation laps of the circuit in a sports saloon driven by an instructor. You then advance to driving the saloon car for 10 laps yourself before climbing behind the wheel of both the Aston Martin and Ferrari supercars for two 6-mile sessions. These are designed to hone your skills for the move on to a Formula TRS Single-Seater for a paced 10-lap session.

Your progression continues with seven unpaced laps in the single-seater, followed by 10 laps in the stunning Formula 3 car. The day climaxes with 10 mind-blowing laps in one of The Racing School’s two 600 bhp ex-Formula 1 cars: a Forti Corse or Arrows.

The Touring Car Experience will be available at Donington Park. Price: £849. The Formula 1 Driving Experience is available at Three Sisters. Price: £1599. For more information, click here.