January 2013 – The start of the year started off with a bang, when I had the opportunity to drive the Formula Renault car in Zhu Hai, China. To those who dont have knowledge of Formula cars- Yes it looks like a mini F1 car, and will be the closest thing most of us will get the chance to ever drive one, but perhaps closer to an F3 car.
A one day event (you can book more of course), which included a full lesson on the laps, corners, where to brake, turn, how to enter/exit, the flags etc.
What made it crazier for me, was that it had been fully booked out, so I had to watch my friends drive and then, someone backed out on the 1st session and I was thrown in to the drivers seat with out much time to think. I got a shorter version of the lesson, in which I had to suddenly grasp :
1. Sequential gearbox – you basically pop and knock the stick by your right leg up and down into gear
2. Clutch in- Only for the first gear and I had to roll 10m, so as not to stall
3. JUST GET OUT THE PIT LANE
4. Braking -without locking up
5. Gears -the circuit map showed every turn and straight with what gear I should be on
6. Short shift – a complete alien understanding , where the most common reason being to change gear early during fast driving is to not lose valuable time changing gear later
7. Telemetrics – After I was done driving each session, the engineer would read the data from the car and brake down what I was and was not doing .
It was by far, one of the best human possible rush of adrenaline, to go fast down a straight and then brake into a corner, with sights of a wall in my final vision before I turned!
If you would like to try the Formula Renault cars, the most affordable place in Asia, would be in Zhu Hai at ART Motorsports.
For details visit: http://www.art-motorsports.com or give me a mail and I can lead you in the right direction!
CLAIRE LOUISE JEDREK