It all started about 2 months ago when a friend suggested checking out PTR on the internet and asking me what i thought a and would i be interested? and as a petrolhead i couldn't resist.
PTR is billed as 'The first and most advanced formula racing simulator in the world'. After googling it, they do not lie. The centre is situated only a mile from Gatwick North Terminal and within easy reach of London and the south coast and the home counties. It seemed the perfect location for a meet-up with 9 other like minded friends, so set about organising what could be the best day out for any racing fan remotely interested in F1.
After several phone calls to the very helpful staff at PTR the deal was done. 25th April 4pm was written in the diary at a cost of £450 for the race experience plus deal for 10 people. A very reasonable £45 per head for 3x15 minute sessions. A 50% Deposit was taken to confirm the day and the rest settled on arrival. It was booked and all we had to do now was turn up on the day.
The day arrived and everyone was present and correct, which is always a worry when people are travelling from as far afield as the Cotswolds, Southampton, Kent, Berkshire and Eastbourne. All each driver had to do was bring their own set of headphones and a strong stomach against the motion sickness. The main area of the centre is an open space but in the window is a static display of Lewis Hamiltons Mercedes Mclaren and an older Tyrell F1 driven by Jonathan Palmer.
there is also a set-up of 5 PS3's with playseats and pedals with GT5 in
the machine. Tempting yes, but at £5 for 15 minutes a bit steep, but i
can play that at home. I had come for the real deal. There is a nice little coffee shop with snack food and cold drinks on offer but nothing more. A few monitors around the place showed the racing that was taking place and had track maps for us to study whilst waiting.
A little nervous and apprehensive, we were called to a drivers briefing in a back room furnished with 10 chairs and large screen TV. Our instructor led us in and we got ourselves seated ready for the briefing. Our instructor can only be decribed as young but with a good sense of humour. The briefing consisted of watching a small presentation on the TV and listening to the instructor talking about how to set up the pedal box for reach using the buttons on the dash and how to reconnect the genuine F1 wheel onto the steeering column. The car itself is modeled on an older style F1 with 750BHP no ABS and some traction control, in otherwords a real handful! we were also told that the simulator is actually turned down so it ONLY simulates 1.5G of motion not the full 4G that it can recreate for seasoned racers! He also mentioned that damage would be off for the sessions as it can be carnage with 10 drivers on track at the same time, thank god for that! the next subject was about racing lines and listened intently about the coloured cones red for braking yellow for apex and blue for exit line, couldn't be simpler, could it? with the obvious safety and fire alarm briefing done and a few minutes of banter and a Q&A session and we were led into the sim room. i can only describe this as a large room with a raised floor upon which 10, yes 10 full F1 simulators sit with a gangway between each so that you can safely get to and fro your car.
Now, the car itself looks like an F1 without wheels or a rear spoiler but thats pretty much it, 3 large monitors sit on the monocoque infront of the steering wheel and curve around the cockpit slightly, at this point you have to step in and get comfy. Well, comfy is not the right word, you can't get comfy as its a plastic seat with no cushioning and what can only be described as a plastic school chair moulded into the form of your body. The seat belts are full race harness and i chose to put these on not only to get the full effect but they are actually quite uncomfortable in your back if you don't. Once strapped in you can now plug your headphones into the jack plug by your right shoulder. these are so you can hear the engine and block out the noise from the Sim motors around you. At this point the steeering wheel is still unattached and you have to sort out the pedal for reach, a quick stab at the buttons on the dash and they either move toward or away from you, a simple but effective way of catering for everyone regardless of height. Next the wheel. simple push on until it clicks and its done. the gearbox is flappy paddle and clutchless so only 2 pedals ala kart style and right paddle for up the box and left paddle for down the box, couldn't be easier.
with everyone seated, the instructor started the sim and the screens jumped into life and i found myself in the pit lane behind another car. with a stab of the right paddle into 1st and hit the gas, left lock on the wheel and away i went up pit lane at 100mph! no speed limiter in the pit lane and out onto the track, OMG! this is insane and the assualt on your senses is immense! you feel the kick in the back from the upchanges on the gearbox and the forward motion under braking against the belts. Is this real? cos it certainly feels real? i settled down into trying to learn the track. it was gonna be tough in just 15 minutes but i'd have a good go. incidentally the track is called Aviano and is entirely fictitious which puts everyone on a even playing from the word go. after 5 minutes i was beginning to get the feel for the car and how much you can push but the track was busy and it was difficult to find space to get a clear run, but i could feel the potential, this car in the right hands would fly! after 10 minutes my hands started to go numb and i can only liken this to arm pump if you ride a motorbike(which i do), and was struggling to turn in on the harder braking areas of the circuit. if this is what a real F1 driver goes thorugh in a 60 lap race then, i have massive respect for them. All too soon the session was over and the screens went black meaning we had to get out of the car. At this point the adrenaline was still pumping through my veins and all i wanted to do was share my experience with my fellow racers and to be honest, so did they! it was like being a teenager again and i found myself regressing into expressions such as amazing, wow and awesome!
Time for the instructor de-brief. We were all handed our telemetry on A4 sheets which is a nice touch and the speed graph of our quickest lap is overlaid onto the quickest ever flying lap so you can compare yours to the best. My best lap in the test session was a 1:07.440 which i was pleasently pleased with, but i was 4th overall behind Simon, Steve and quickest overall Mark with a 1:06.481 nearly a whole second quicker than me. My first flying lap was a 1:19.977 so to take 12.5 seconds off my time in 12 laps was really pleasing too.
The briefing was basic but letting us know where to improve. I had to conquer arm pump/numbness if was to go any quicker and even finish the 13 lap race. i was told to relax and not fight the car and it would be easier. NOT FIGHT THE CAR! OMG! it has 750BHP and i am not to fight it? it'll kill me if i let it go! The telemetry sheet has a projected optimal laptime for you to aim for in your next session, which again is a nice touch. So, my time to aim for was only a 1:07.314 so i'd got to find a tenth of a second. but i was sure i could go faster than that as Mark aready had a second on me and wanted so badly to try and go for the win.
The second session is qualifiying and you only need 1 clear lap to set a good time so i set about trying to find some clear air, which is almost impossible, but i got lucky and just relaxed and let the car go, trying to find consistency. On-screen this is a wealth of info but i had trouble reading it all and was only looking at my laptime top left at the end of the pit straight, anything else would have meant looking away from the racing line and having the inevitable crash. My first lap out of the pits was a 1:12 and a settling into a rythm lap, the next lap was a 1:07.908, then a 1:07.124 then a 1:06.479 which put me into 4th on the grid for the race, whcih incidentally was 0.9 faster than my projected time for the last session. but with 10 minutes still remaining i felt i could go faster. then next lap was a disaster as someone spun coming out of the final corner and i hit them t-bone in the side at high speed unable to avoid them. this knocked my confidence a bit and the next 4 laps were all slower than my best time so far. Then it all came good with a 1:06.114 and pushed me into 3rd after 10 minutes. That'll do! but the next lap shocked me, relaxed and satisfied with my previous lap it all just happened and fell into place, it seemed fast but i certainly did'nt expected to see 1:05.140 flash up on my screen! good enough for pole or so i thought. session over and back to the briefing area.
Simon had somehow managed the lap of the day and slung in a 1:03.916, astonishing! but looking at his lap times his consistancy wasn't as good as mine so i was hoping for a clean start from second on the grid and just keep it steady and hope he makes a mistake. that was the plan. the grid order was
Simon 1:03.916
myself 1:05.140
SteveT6 1:05.157
Steve 1:05.203
Mark 1:05.225
Dan 1:06.185
Jon 1:06.872
Kelvin 1:08.576
Russell 1:10.500
Gary 1:12.552
As you can see the difference from 2nd to 7th was only 1.8 seconds so it was anybodys podium.
So after a quick break of 15 minutes we were all back in the cars and ready for the off. Now, this is the hard part. starting a car on the grid with no clutch. Throttle hard in neutral and when the lights go out hit the right paddle and select first and away you go! i seemed to get a good start and was pulling alongside Simon into the first corner which is a left right left chicane taken in 5th on a flying lap but nobody knew where to brake as we were all going slower in the run to turn 1. Simon had Mark on his left and me on his right and he backed off which caused me to brake and i got hit from behind and spun into the gravel! my worst case scenario happened. dead last and my first lap was a 1:23.745 and was at least 3 seconds behind the last car at the end of lap one. it was carnage in the first turn and i wasn't the only one to suffer. but could i make the time up? if the top 3 were Simon, Mark and Steve then no chance. As it happens i found afterwards it was them. i just got my head down and the next lap was a 1:05.029 quicker than my qualifying time and it seemed easy. so i just kept going and tried to be quick and aimed for a 1:06 each lap to catch the guys in front of me the next 3 laps were sub 1:06 and i was flying. upto 5th by lap 5 and still pushing, believing i could finish on the podium. the next lap disaster and someone span infront of me and took me onto the grass with them, but luckily i kept it straight and returned to the tarmac and only lost 2 seconds putting in a 1:07.9. the next lap in anger i was as agressive as i could be to make up those seconds and it showed in the laptime, a 1:04.078. i was amazed but had to not lose it trying too hard, the next four laps came easily and all were sub 1:07's and i could see the fight ahead for the podium. Simon made a mistake in the first chicane and span out, i narrowly avoided him and jinked left as he span right and set about the chase down of Steve and Mark. the next lap was my slowest for 6 laps but i had only Steve in my sights as Mark had made an error on lap10 i believe, and he hit the gravel at the final turn, this meant i was second but i could smell the win, and wanted it bad after being span out on the first corner. I caught steve with a lap to go and put in my second fastest lap of 1:04.470 and overtook Steve as he made a mistake and ran wide, i slid up the inside and watched my mirrors closely for the rest of the final lap with sweaty palms not allowing Steve any opportunity to pass me and using a tighter defensive line took the chequered flag with a 3 second gap to Steve, who raced well and desereved the win but for one small mistake allowing me through. Mark finished 3rd after recovering from his mistake on lap 10 and Dan took 4th place with SteveH in 5th place The incredibly quick but unlucky Simon in 6th with the best lap of the day an astonishing 1:03.556. with Russell, Jon, kelvin and Gary rounding off the top 10.
Ok, lets summarise. £45 well spent, £1 per minute of actual driving may seem expensive for some people but believe you me, it is worth it. The experience has left me wanting more and definitely has opened my eyes to what the Lewis Hamiltons and Jensens Buttons of this world go through each weekend, as i came away shattered! My body aching and bruised from the lack of comfort and my head aching from the concentrations levels at nearly 200mph in sector 2, and looking for apexes and braking points made my eyes feel like they had been burned out wth a match! and i only raced for 15 minutes, how the real F1 stars race for nearly 2 hours is totally beyond me.
I hope that the other 9 guys felt the same way and enjoyed it as much as i did. Stand out mentions for me have to be, Gary H, his best lap in session 1 was a 1:24.429 and he managed a 1:08.6 in the race, incredible improvement. if he didn't suffer from motion sickness he may have gone quicker still. Mark H for his speed right from the get go in the test session and not least Simon for only being 2.4 seconds off the outright lap record, he only needs to find consistancy and he will be unstoppable.
If you are local enough to Gatwick then i can't recommend this highly enough, the friendly bunch of guys who run it help add to the experience.
Try it, cos you'll love it!
Nice write up Ian, sounds like you guys had a blast!
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