I drove a single-seater race car and it was the best thing ever

"Clemsie McKenzie" (thestirringcolumn) 02/26/2016 at 11:00 • Filed to: None

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Last summer, I had the opportunity to fulfill a childhood dream by spending a whole day driving a Formula Renault 2.0. It was so much more than anything I could dream up as a kid, when I was sitting in my bed with a cushion under my knees, a book as a steering wheel and making weird noises. Which I still do, of course.

The Formula Renault 2.0 is known in Europe for being the first step towards Formula 1, after karting. With around 200hp for 500kg, it sits just below an F3, which is also approximatively the power-to-weight ratio of a Lamborghini Aventador. With serious downforce, a sequential gearbox and slicks.

The track I was at was no joke either. Dijon-Prenois was once the home of the French Grand Prix, and will be stuck for ever in F1 fans’ memory because of this epic battle at the 1979 GP:

This is a relatively short track, but it has lots of elevation changes and a lack of very slow corners that makes me think of it as a 1:2 scale Watkins Glen. Just after the safety briefing, we got in a van that took us for two laps around it, and let me tell you I wasn’t exactly feeling over confident after that. I had no prior track experience besides the usual rental kart thing, and of course had never driven a race car before that day. Suffice to say that in addition to all the excitement there was a fair bit of fear looming around.

But after about an hour of various briefings, we were told to suit up and get in the cars, for the first of three 20-minutes sessions.

So, looking like an idiot (only pro drivers can look good in race suits, it seems), getting ever more scared, I finally got to do the leg-first, arms-up gymnastic to get in the car. That made 10-year-old me who was trying to get in the bathtub like Schumi very warm inside. But when that’s done and I’m (rather comfortably, I have to say) stuck in that warm, tight and harsh carbon tub, it really downs on me: I’ll have to drive this in a few minutes, and manage to not look like a total dick. And, you know, not crash the car.

After a few minutes of me trying to not think about the fact that I did not pick the additional insurance covering crashes, a mechanic plugged what I think was an auxillary battery at the back of the car, pressed a button in the cockpit, and the car rumbled into life. And I rumbled too, since the 2.0 liters four-pot is directly stuck in the carbon tub, and so was my spine.

Then I stalled. Because of course I did. The clutch pedal has no feedback at all, so no way to figure out when it’s gonna grab. And when it does, it grabs instantly, and very aggressively. I was also, it has to be said, a bit shy with the throttle. Feeling a race engine revving instantly at the comand of your right foot was somewhat intimidating at first. I was also the only one to stall. In the whole day. Not exactly confidence inspiring.

So here we go again. Re-start the car, gestures from the instructor, this time I manage to get the car rolling, and I’m away!

“Holy hell, I’m driving a race car.”

But although my first lap was pretty scary, as you would expect, everything turned out to be smoother and easier than I feared. The brake pedal didn’t feel like I had to nuke it to stop. The steering was really direct of course (which is awesome), but not too heavy. All in all, the car didn’t feel like it wanted to kill me. The only things that were a tad worrying were the throttle pedal which that had only two positions, 10 and 100%, and the gearbox which seemed to be acting up a bit.

I quickly caught up with a queue of two drivers who seemed to go very slowly. But I did what I was taught in briefing: calmly wait for the marshalls to wave blue flag in the main straight. But that never really happened, because, as I learned during the final session, marshalls won’t actually wave the flag if you’re not already alongside the slow car. But I really didn’t want to be an ass and so I spent about 10 minutes behind a car a bit slower than me. Which was fine, because this way I had time to learn the track and get comfortable with the car.

After this first session, we had a quick debrief with the instructors, and a few minutes to relax. Again, it might seem weird, but I was less tired than after driving a rental kart for 10 minutes real hard. You don’t have to hold your body yourself because of the harness and tight seat, the steering isn’t brutaly heavy when you’re at speed, and the brakes are much less hard than in, say, an old unassisted 911. Overall, this is pretty user friendly! Which makes sense considering it was designed as a learning step for !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . The real challenge was the heat, as it was the hottest week I remember seeing in France.

During the second session, my fears went away (for the most part), and so did the guy who was in front of me. Which meant I could open it up a bit more. The first time I got full throttle out of the slowest corner, I’ll always remember. It really feels like taking off. Or going on a free fall, which makes sense since you’re laying almost horizontally in the car and so your body tells you that you are falling feet first. It really goes too, and at the end of the front straight I was doing about 220, 230 kph (around 140 mph).

But the thing is, it was hard to get a feel for how fast I was going on the main straight. There’s no speedometer in the cars, and the track at this point is pretty wide so it actually felt slower than, say, going 100mph on a normal road. Which I never ever did, of course officer. Really, the only way to tell that you’re going really fast is the wind. I’m sure the bikers around here will know what I mean: because the helmet creates a bit of lift at speed, it feels like your head wants to take off without you. Which is a bit disconcerting.

Turn 1 is a pretty wide, 4th-gear corner. But even so, it takes a serious bit of braking before entering it. In theory, you’re supposed to trail-brake it, take a wide entry and a late apex to line up for the following esses. I only did that once, because feeling the car rotate under braking, while pretty cool, is also a bit scary because you never know when you’ll get snap oversteer and you’re still going pretty quickly at that point. So, most of the time, I settled for heavy but straight braking. And man, braking is brutal. Just like acceleration feels like taking off, braking feels like landing hard. More like hitting a brick wall, really. In the couple of seconds when I was braking very hard, I couldn’t breath.

Turn 2, which is actually a couple of esses with multiple elevation changes and decreasing radius, was my favorite part of the track. You only need to lift a bit to help the nose get to the apex, and by the time you get to turn 3 (pictured above), you’re in 5th. Because for a long while you’re in corners, with G-forces increasing at each part of the esses, it’s where I really felt that my neck was getting tired at the end of the day.

The most impressive (and scary) corner, however, is Pouas, turn 8. It’s a very long right hander, with three different elevation changes in the middle of it. You enter it in 4th gear and leave it in top of 5th. Because it’s the last corner before the main straight, exit speed is crucial. Getting a clean late apex and not lifting are key. But there’s a wall waiting for you if things go wrong, and you are going at around 110 mph, experiencing the most lateral forces of the whole track. You really feel the downforce coming in there, but at this point you just have to unplug your brain and keep your foot planted. The car suddendly feels like it can turn more, when a second before there still was a bit of understeer. Sort of like the car was tied to a pole at the apex, like these !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! that reach 200 mph in tiny circles.

The steering wheel is moving in my hands, fighting me. But man, what a nice feeling when I got it right and came out like a bullet onto the straight, as if I was in a slingshot powered car.

That corner is also the main unofficial overtaking point, since to get blue flags you need to be alongside in the straight. In the third session that’s how I got a clear track for the most part, slipping past in the inside on corner exit, having a clear speed advantage with a later apex (and probably less brain).

After a whole day driving it, the FR2.0 turned out to be much more friendly than I thought. I was scared the steering and brakes would be incredibly heavy, and that the car would spin at every given opportunity. But though one other driver spun out of turn 4, it never felt like it wanted to snap on me. I also feared I would be incapable of having fun, being petrified by the speed of it. But it turned out to be the most fun I ever had in a day!

Maybe regularly driving in sims helped, I don’t know. But in the end I felt pretty comfortable with pushing the car a bit. I even overtook That Dude With a Custom Carbon Helmet™, which, as you probably know from any karting session, is the most rewarding feeling known to man.

The car just felt like it wanted me to push, and it did everything to gain my trust. On the last few laps of the day, when I was really confident to go at it, it felt like it really came alive. Before that, the car felt really obedient, somewhat transparent to my inputs. Which is great because it’s pretty reassuring. But when I pushed harder, it began to have a personality of its own, sometimes fighting back, sometimes encouraging me to push harder. The relationship wasn’t simple inputs from me and simple execution from the car, but really more two-sided. What a feeling.

Because everything is so direct, it’s like your brain is directly wired to the car. But not in a video-gamey way, because the G-forces, vibrations, noises and even smells were very real. In the end, these are what I remember the most, not the speed. Everytime I daydream about this day (and I do that A LOT), the first image that comes to mind is my legs being pushed to the side of the car in turn 2, or having to fight the wheel in Pouas.

But because pushing as hard as I dared I came nowhere close the real limits of the car, I respect even more the guys who do this at a serious level. Seeing them throw the car around, sliding everywhere is just unbelievable. The amount of talent and work it must take to be able to say “yeah, the FR2.0, I did that when I was a kid, but y’know, pretty slow thing” must be immense. To F1 drivers, this is probably not much more than a basic rental kart. To me, it was probably the best car I’ll ever drive.

Oh, what a day. What a lovely day.

When driving back from the track in a scorching heat and without A/C, the only thing I could think of is that I had to do it again one day. Now, a few months later, I still can’t believe I got to drive a single-seater in anger like that. And when I sit on my bed, dreaming about how it went and how I definitely should do it again, I put myself in that semi-reclined position and make car noises in my head.

Photo credit: J.-E. R .

450X_FTW > Clemsie McKenzie 02/26/2016 at 11:15

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1) How did you get the chance to do this? Was it a raffle? Pay to race?

2) did you had Race Car Driver to your resume? If you get questioned, it’s true, you drove an actual race car around the track...

Clemsie McKenzie > 450X_FTW 02/26/2016 at 11:21

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A company called LRS Formula does these track days at multiple tracks (Dijon-Prenois, Magny Cours, Barcelona, and I think they did one at COTA), and basically you pay around 500 bucks, go to the track, and they take care of everything. You can pay less and get only one session, or even go full baller and drive an F1 car. I also got to ride in a three-seater F1, I’ll do a post about this in a few days!

I wish I could! I even have some sort of certificate that they give you at the end of the day.

450X_FTW > Clemsie McKenzie 02/26/2016 at 11:30

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$500 is cheap for such an awesome experience!

Shane MacGowan's Teeth > 450X_FTW 02/26/2016 at 11:32

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I’d pay several times that for this!

Shane MacGowan's Teeth > Clemsie McKenzie 02/26/2016 at 11:33

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Not gonna lie, kind of hate you a little.

Clemsie McKenzie > 450X_FTW 02/26/2016 at 11:33

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I do agree! Plus my parents paid for most of it as it was a birthday gift, so that was definitely worth it!

I’m already saving for another go, but as a student it will take some time. But it’s a drug you know, I absolutely need to drive one again.

Clemsie McKenzie > Shane MacGowan's Teeth 02/26/2016 at 11:35

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I take that as a compliment! If it helps, I’m jealous of my past-self now. I want to do this everyday.

Shane MacGowan's Teeth > Clemsie McKenzie 02/26/2016 at 11:38

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It is!

I looked up their site. If they did one at COTA (30 mins from my apartment), they don’t anymore. That was very sad news :(

Clemsie McKenzie > Shane MacGowan's Teeth 02/26/2016 at 11:43

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Aww. When I was at the track, there was a DVD looping in the background about one day they did there. Maybe it was just a one shot? I also know that since then they’ve shifted away from a Lotus F1 partnership to a Williams one. So maybe that changed things a bit. Also, generally, they only stop one day per year at a track, so it’s easy to miss it. I hope for you US guys that they do it again!

gin-san - shitpost specialist > Clemsie McKenzie 02/26/2016 at 12:26

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Thanks for sharing, it’s nice to see what’s it’s like to drive a racecar around a proper track from the perspective of someone who’s not a professional driver.

The fact that it's only $500 is very surprising, since anything similar close to me is nowhere near that price. I think I need to plan a trip to France...

StingrayJake > Clemsie McKenzie 02/26/2016 at 12:27

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Very cool. And great write up. Would love to do something like that.

Clemsie McKenzie > gin-san - shitpost specialist 02/26/2016 at 12:31

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Yeah I was pretty surprised too! And it’s possible to go cheaper as well. I think if you drive only one 20mn session it’s around €300. Of course there are some options, like food, GoPro and insurance, but yeah the base price is pretty interesting. I mean it’s a lot of money to spend on a one day, but as a petrolhead it’s something I think everyone should try at least once. Gives you more perspective on things like F1!

Clemsie McKenzie > StingrayJake 02/26/2016 at 12:32

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Thanks! I hope everyone gets to do something similar in his life.

CALUSA > Clemsie McKenzie 02/26/2016 at 12:57

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Thanks for sharing, like your style of writing!

Clemsie McKenzie > CALUSA 02/26/2016 at 13:00

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Thanks a lot! Being French makes it quite difficult sometimes, but I’m working on it!

It was hard to write this post because I had so much more to say! But hey, I guess it’s what makes it interesting as well.

Alex from Toronto > Clemsie McKenzie 02/26/2016 at 13:18

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Thanks for sharing! I would love to do this one day.

CALUSA > Clemsie McKenzie 02/26/2016 at 13:18

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Didn’t notice you were French, so you did a great job. On the other hand, learning French is quite hard as well lol.

Length of the article was perfect!

Clemsie McKenzie > CALUSA 02/26/2016 at 13:21

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Oh yeah French is a bitch, even for native speakers!

Well thanks again, I’m very glad you liked it!

Clemsie McKenzie > Alex from Toronto 02/26/2016 at 13:22

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I absolutely recommend it!

Snuze: Needs another Swede > Clemsie McKenzie 02/26/2016 at 13:59

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Thats awesome and looks like a lot of fun. Also seems like a real bargain.

Clemsie McKenzie > Snuze: Needs another Swede 02/26/2016 at 14:05

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That was awesome indeed. And yeah, you tend to think about those things as “once in a lifetime” experiences, but at that price I definitely see myself doing it again at some point. Or driving an F1 if I can afford it, who knows? It’s about €2k, so I guess it should be doable at some point, though not in the near future.

Stef Schrader > Clemsie McKenzie 02/26/2016 at 18:10

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So jealous. So very jealous.

Clemsie McKenzie > Stef Schrader 02/26/2016 at 18:25

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Oh I understand that. I’m angry at myself for not driving one, every single day. The curse of the Holy Race Car!

NOTOFTHISEARTH > Clemsie McKenzie 02/26/2016 at 18:57

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So lucky, I have had a recurring dream of driving Formula car since I was a kid, g forces included.

Clemsie McKenzie > NOTOFTHISEARTH 02/26/2016 at 19:01

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Well the good news is, it’s absolutely doable! I dreamt about it for so long too, and I’ve been dreaming about it ever since. I hope you can experience it too!

NOTOFTHISEARTH > Clemsie McKenzie 02/26/2016 at 20:13

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Its on my bucket list but it wont happen until Jr goes to college. Great post man.

Clemsie McKenzie > NOTOFTHISEARTH 02/26/2016 at 20:23

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Thanks a lot!

53x11 > Clemsie McKenzie 02/27/2016 at 09:39

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What a great experience! Over 25 years ago I was given an “intro to racing” day at Lime Rock, basically boiling down to something like 15 or 20 laps in a completely choked Formula Ford (Supertrapp muffler with just one baffle) engine. I loved it but couldn’t come close to affording doing such a thing on my own. I remember the helmet bouncing against the roll bar as I couldn’t hold my head up at all. I had no idea how the real racers did it. The drive back home in my lowered, light flywheel, close ratio transmission GTI (all handling mods, no power mods) felt like I was driving a blimp. A few years earlier I got to sit in a Formula V and an old Brabhams F1 chassis (being built for full bodied Formula Atlantic), and those three cars basically defined to me what I thought of as “race cars”.

After that I built a little “racing cockpit” for playing Gran Turismo, based on how that Formula Ford felt, an enclosed wood thing. It is more “laying down” than “sitting down”. It was the closest I could get to driving another open wheel race car. All the kart rental places I knew about were putt-putt tracks and I wasn’t interested in that.

I only discovered karts about 12 years ago, and those were electric karts. With massive torque they were extremely forgiving, and you could go pretty fast (it wasn’t just putting around). I drove gas karts (rental indoors, two sister tracks, not just putting around) for the first time just 2 months ago, and I really, really, really liked it, to the point that I’ve watched YouTube videos of the two tracks, trying to figure out how to go faster/better. I’m also very conscious of my weight (there are weight classes). As a (amateur competitive) cyclist I’m very weight conscious but I was actually disappointed to drop into the next lower weight class, which means I have to lap half a second faster to qualify to drive their better karts.

My dream is to drive a car with real aero downforce, open wheel, basically what you did. Three 20 minute sessions sounds appropriate for an intro, I don’t know if I could take even that on the first day. A “low” HP, not too complex car. One day.

Clemsie McKenzie > 53x11 02/27/2016 at 10:22

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Honestly, 3x20mns of driving in this weren’t very physically demanding, and the car is pretty easy to drive even when going slowly. It was my first track experience after all, and I think I did all right. Definitely recommend it as a first time race car!

NYankee1927 > Clemsie McKenzie 02/27/2016 at 14:58

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Awesome write up. I also did drivers school in a Formula Ford and have a huge soft spot in my heart for formula cars. There is nothing quite like them. You nailed exactly why they are so easy to drive. You feel literally everything. I felt like I could feel slides coming from a mile away and catching them was no big deal. The car was happy to go back and forth over the traction limit.

Clemsie McKenzie > NYankee1927 02/27/2016 at 16:05

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Exactly! It’s like you are bolted directly on the car, and that feels so great.

SWITAWI > Clemsie McKenzie 02/27/2016 at 23:04

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I’ve got a friend with a Formula Continental that he hasn’t driven on track in at least 10yrs, but he refuses to sell it.

Now I think I finally understand why.

Clemsie McKenzie > SWITAWI 02/28/2016 at 05:07

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Oh yeah, I understand that!

Couple of years old Formula Renault 2.0 cars are around €50k here, so if one day I get rich...