When Stu called me on Saturday morning to say there was a Leon Cupra Race car at Brands Hatch, my mind was made up that I was going, when he sms'd me later to say it was Liam McMillan's and that Rob Huff was there (he's his tutor) I was well on my way.
I spent the morning taking some pictures round & about the circuit, but mid afternoon I was meandering around the pits, and see Rob sat in the Leon - he called me over & told me to get a wrist strap & my lid so he can take me out.....
I was buzzed. Liam walked me over to the signing on sheet & that was that. after clambering into the car (not easy in a pair of jeans, trainers & being 6 foot tall) I then wedged myself into the not generously sized race seat.
I've been in & driven some pretty fast cars before, but never having been in a Touring Car before I was pretty excited about what was about to happen.
first impressions were 1) I have loads of legroom 2) it's bloody noisey in here. After a bit of nattering with Rob and we're waiting in the traffic jam to get out on the open pit lane track day I decide to pipe up "I don't scare easily" - Rob replies "I don't expect you too"....
Now as I stated above, I've never been in a touring car, and only been driven by a Touring Car driver once (in a road car at Brands)... to say I was excited about being driven by a World Touring Car race winner in a Brand new SEAT Leon tin top would be an understatement.
How was it? after we exit the pit the throttle is planted with an immense exhaust note / rattling and we quickly catch whatever car was infront at the time. Round Paddock hill & down towards the bottom of Druids we're gathering pace quickly. Right past the BRAKE! sign, and Rob's still hard on the gas, waits until we're well past all the road cars braking points (almost until level with the clipping point on the apex it felt like) and he stands on the brakes, shifts down a couple of gears on the DSG 'box and he's back on the gas - the mechanical grip was huge on this car... I guess 8" wide slicks & a full aero package, including a flat floor helps!
Traffic was quite busy out on the track, but whenever there was a chance to get past & make some progress Rob put his toe down & the Leon just went. LCR's TVR's 911's Evo's all got schooled on outright acceleration (no suprise really)
All too soon we're in the pits... I can't say I was unhappy - I was already dripping with sweat and found it really tiring! and I was only sat in the car, no driving involved.
