For some people, just watching rally driving is more than enough to satisfy their need for speed, but not us. We wanted to know what the rush of rallying was really like, and fresh from thrashing us all at karting we knew there was only one man for the job – inhouse IT expert and part-time petrol head Etienne. Here’s how he got on in his attempts to master rally driving..
“Before booking my Rally Thrill at Elvington I’d never really tried anything like rally driving – I tend to avoid potholes and only use the handbrake for parking! I wasn’t nervous though, I was just really looking forward to getting behind the wheel of a real rally car. In fact I was so eager to get down to action that I arrived early, just in time to see some supercars zooming past.
Even though my session was scheduled for a 12pm start we started a little bit earlier, which was great. After signing in and seeing the supercars complete a couple more laps, we climbed into a minibus and were taken to the rally course, where we were briefed ahead of our stint in the driver’s seat. The instructor’s advice was really clear; steady on the throttle, stay in second gear and avoid using the brakes around the slalom course. He also urged us to stay at speeds we were comfortable with, and to gradually build it up on each lap.. easier said than done!
My time behind the wheel was awesome, and even more exciting than I expected. At first I battled a bit with understeer, and the car would sometimes stay straight when I was turning the wheel, which is why I missed the first hairpin. The car just wouldn’t turn, but I was probably pushing a bit too hard too. I also had to recover from a couple of slides, but that only added to the excitement of racing round the course. Towards the end of my experience I felt like I was really improving with every lap though, and I managed to pull off some great handbrake turns on my last few laps, so I was really pleased with what I’d achieved.
What really made the experience for me was our instructor, who was very friendly and knew exactly what was needed to improve my stage times. By the end of my experience I was getting more and more comfortable with handbrake turns, but I must admit it still felt a little bit alien to keep yanking the handbrake on. With that said, I had a lot of fun and have already recommended it to my friends and family, and I’ll definitely be back to give rally driving another go.”
If Etienne’s antics at Elvington have inspired you to try your hand at rally driving, visit our website to find your closet venue, and strap yourself in for some serious fun!
