Under starters orders
Michelle Byrne got strapped in for some adrenalin-inducing driving at Dubai Autodrome.
‘Good luck,’ the instructor wished us as he clipped in our seat belt and hopped off the bonnet of the F1-shaped fibreglass beast, before we flipped the visor down on the oversized safety helmet and pushed the stiff acceleration pedal down to the floor. As the tyres screeched off the sticky asphalt starting line – sending sand swirling, smoke billowing and blood draining from the experts’ faces, luck seemed the least of our worries. Keeping up with the pace car in front of us (being driven by one of the country’s top racing drivers, incidentally) and not crashing Dubai Autodrome’s brand new, extremely expensive, vehicle into a wall seemed more of a priority than rabbits’ feet or horseshoes in those first four seconds that would see us hit 100kmph.
We were on the track to test out the single-seater Formula Dubai machines recently unleashed on the would-be race driving public, but the cars it seemed would be testing us. After a 20-minute briefing, covering all important safety rules, track regulations, the best way to manoeuvre and what to do if you send the car spinning, we zipped up our black and red jump suits, pulled on the balaclavas and helmets and slid into the cramped confines of the car’s cockpit. ‘These are not like your ordinary Nissan Sunnies,’ we had been told earlier by James Burnett, manager of Dubai Autodrome’s Race & Drive School – and wrenching the handheld gear lever up a notch we could see this wouldn’t be anything like a sojourn down Sheikh Zayed Road. These 180bhp beasts are built for performance, not for comfort – the slightest nudge on the steering wheel sends the responsive car swerving, there is less suspension, no benefit of power assisted brakes and you’re sat inches above the ground. In other words, they are nothing like your air-conditioned hatchback with fluffy dice and the radio blaring.
The thrill of screeching around the track is also incomparable to your daily drive to the office – there’s no lanehogging, headlight flashing or megalomaniacs on your tail lights for a start. There are also no cameras to catch you exceeding 120kmph and so provides a safe environment for speed freaks to push the pedal to the metal. While controlling the Formula Dubai takes some getting used to, you don’t have to be an expert driver or know your way around an engine before hopping in. You will need to have your licence and have driven a manual car before though. In our experience, it will take you a few laps to get into the rhythm of the car, with clutch control and the semi-automatic gear lever needing the most attention, and without an in car speedometer it is also difficult to gauge whether you have hit the 180kmph top speeds the car is capable of. If it wasn’t for your helmet, you could guarantee your hair would be raised. Still, this is the closest most people will come to fulfilling a childhood ambition to become a racing driver, as you learn to navigate the contours of the track, feeling the car’s limits and thundering forward on the straights while uncontrollably grinning.
The second new vehicle in the Autodrome’s stable – the two-seater GTS car – is an entirely different animal. The gearstick is similar to that of a normal, stick shift runaround – but that is where the similarities end. A roll cage protects you from, well, rolling, and the second seat by your side is for one of the Racing School’s qualified instructors to coach you. Whether you are apprehensive about taking to the track solo, or you are willing to put the ego aside and get some serious coaching on how to fine tune your driving technique, it’s a must.
An in-helmet microphone and earpiece means you’re in constant dialogue with the expert instructing you on the correct times to brake, accelerate and how best to take tricky corners. Positioned around the track are a series of colour-coded cones,which you aim for, much like joining up a dot-to-dot puzzle, making it clear where you should best take a corner and where you should be slowing down. While some of the novice drivers on our crash course (not literally, thank goodness) needed the extra push to get into the top gear, some overzealous speeders failed to slow down soon enough on a hairpin bend – putting our ‘what to do if you spin the car’ training into good practice. The track is closed off, however, and so there is never any real danger of an accident occurring. With Time Out’s in-car expert shouting an encouraging, ‘Come on, put your foot down,’ we saw each of our five laps taken at increasing speeds before we hit the pits, panting with physical exhaustion and almost high-fiving anyone in the proximity. There’s no better way to describe the thrill than to say it’s more fun than a fairground ride and is definitely the Autodrome experience to opt for if you’re slightly nervous about taking to the track.
The Formula Dubai single-seaters and GTS two-seaters are available for the public to drive from August. Both got our adrenalin pumping faster than the petrol through their 2000cc engines, and are entirely recommendable for speed freaks and car fanatics alike. Good luck…
The Formula Dubai single-seater experience costs Dhs850 for a one hour 45 minute course. The two-seater GTS experience costs Dhs800 for a two hour five minute course. For information, ring Dubai Autodrome on 04 367 8745 or see www.dubaiautodrome.com.