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From speedarena.com General Features
Just think, you could be watching a Formula One racing event anywhere in the world and thinking: “mmm, it would be quite an experience if I could really get in one of those cars and get a real feel for it.” To this day, a lot of race fans can get those opportunities to drive if you live in the United States. NASCAR has the Richard Petty driving experience, where you can go around at some famous super speedways, and many other schools are located in Las Vegas, Nevada; Lime Rock Park, Connecticut; and even in Fontana, California, where the IRL and the Champ Car series have schools to drive. But what if you are that international person who happens to like the thrill of Formula One? It certainly means that if you wish to travel, you have to go to Europe to find that school which will make you feel like Michael Schumacher.
After coming across many opportunities on the Internet, one school stands out from the rest - the AGS school in Southern France. This school itself became a recreational Formula One company after the team folded as an F1 squad in 1989. The purpose afterwards was to entertain clients that would give people the ultimate feel of driving a Formula One race car. What makes this a different situation in comparison to other F1 schools is that the cars are close to the current Formula One specifications of today. But there is one catch to all of this - you have to start the class like every other, and that's at the beginning. And this is where it began, to travel to the south of France in the beautiful surroundings of this region, where the main cities are Toulon and the seaside resort of St. Tropez. However, to the traveler, it becomes obvious why certain companies do not offer this school as part of their program for tours and the reason is simple: This school stands out in the middle of nowhere. For most of us, a knowledge of the French language is quite a necessity considering the people in this region speak more of a Provencal tongue, rather then the French that you and I learned in high-school language classes back in America. After starting the trip in Nice and Monaco, (and quite a difference it was in September) the next step was to travel by train to Toulon and then take a car to the town of Brignoles in Provence. This town, with its small hotel Ibis on the outside of town, was a half hour from the track, but the closest major hotel you could find. When it finally came down to the day to drive, the idea was to wake up and then go to the school early. Maybe it was too early, as our arrival came 20 minutes before the gates opened.
I was joined by Patrick Gaillard, who raced for Ensign in the 1980s and is now the director of the organization and lucky for me, also spoke English. Considering I spoke very little French, it was better for me to get someone who spoke my language, just in case there were some technical problems with the car. Gaillard was also joined in my group with Jacob, who lived in Zurich, Switzerland, and Walter, who was from Kaiserslautern, in Germany. All three of us made up the international content, while the rest were from all over France. The first step was to train for about 25 laps in their tailor-made Opel/Lotus Formula Three cars which were not terribly powerful, but still gave us the feel for the track. These cars, to my disbelief, were conventional stick shifts - not semi-automatic cars like the F1 drivers use. Isabelle Geste, an attractive member of the staff and who happened to be the engineer for our international group, informed me that the cars that I was thinking about would come after I took this class. Well, you have to start somewhere, right? The cars were very easy to drive and the course itself was not very difficult. It was perfectly made for the driver who wants to learn - in other words, basic and no room to use the accelerator at a rapid rate. The basic drills were to brake, shift down, let the clutch out, and then proceed to accelerate. I did all this too early, but according to Gaillard, it was not too terrible and I moved on to taking the next 20 laps at regular speed. After this exercise, the groups then proceeded to the museum, where all the cars, engines and former race cars were on display. It was an exciting thing to see that such stars as Le Mans winner Yannick Dalmas and Stefan Johannsen (who were former students) had their cars here. It made me feel pretty important. After the museum tour, we were all driven off two miles away to a fancy restaurant located outside the track - so fancy, in fact, that the name of it does not occur to me!! But the cuisine was the best, as it always is in France, and afterward, with full stomachs and all, we proceeded back to the school and were briefed on what we came here for: To drive the Formula One car.
With the group pretty sized down (because most of the French drivers preferred to just take the Formula Three class), only two from that group took to the track for the Formula One drive, while our group all participated. And why not? We all came from rather far away to do this. When I finally got my chance, it was the shift that was still giving me problems. Considering that I have a manual transmission car at home, It was tough to control, but I figured: “Get past this part, and later you can drive the better cars.” The main straightaway was where you could make the cars go fast, but Geste informed me that coming around the bend, there was a huge hump that going full out could make you lose control over this section. Did I have to listen to her? The point is when you drop the acceleration of the car around the last corner, it is going to slow you down, and that was what happened. As I dropped the acceleration, it was tough to pick up the speed, and this made me go slow, where as in the other parts of the track, I was at a good rate of speed. Despite this setback, I had a good run in the car. Afterward we were all awarded a certificate for our actions and I drove back to the hotel, thinking about how interesting it was and looking forward to the next class. For anyone looking for a Formula One driving experience that can get close to the real deal, and can handle the expense and hassle of getting there, the situation is well worth it. Just log on to their site, www.agsformule1.com for details. I just can’t wait till the next class. © Copyright
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