The Silverstone Experience!

Yesterday, on the way back from Wales (which was really nice, by the way), my husband Filip took me to experience what he and David (his best friend) had experienced for his 'bachelors' day out', a race car driving experience at the Silverstone race track here in England. We had booked appointments for us to be able to ride in an actual race car and be driven professionally around a race track (3 laps), which is a total of around 4-5 minutes of addrenaline! Wow! I had tried to picture what it would be like before we made it there, but once you're strapped inside that race car, you can't describe the reality of it. :) Filip went first in a Caterham 7 and came back with a huge smile on his face. He said that the second time was just as good, although last time, he had ridden in a Lotus 2-11. The Caterham 7 is an open car, so you can feel the ultimate experience, going at 100 mph, with your helmet pulling at your chin! I helmeted up and went next in the Caterham, but we hadn't even reached the track when the driver informed me of our breakdown. We had broken down and my experience seemed at its end before it even began. We were towed back to the starting point and Filip was laughing. :) I got out of the car, at which point the instructor told me to keep my helmet on, in the off-chance that the driver could find another car for me and for the others waiting after me. They took the Caterham to the garage and Filip and I waited in the cold (and rain, off and on) for my turn, once again. Long story short and a few updates later, we had waited for a whole HOUR when the instructor came back and said that the Caterham was beyond repair at the moment and they were trying to find another car for us to ride in. By that time, my helmet (very tight from the beginning) had succeeded to form a knot and a bruise on my forehead (which is still there as I write this) just by the pressure. Finally, a blue Lotus Exige pulled into the pick-up area and I was excited to learn that this was my new 'hotride'. It was a closed ride, unlike the Caterham, so it evidently wasn't as extreme, but oh boy, did it go fast! The driver (the same driver as before) was glad to be in a heated vehicle now, in which his hands could de-frost, and he went 120 mph on that track! Man, what an experience! He hugged the turns like crazy - it felt like we almost hit the cones all the way around, drifting at every turn. To say the least, it was worth the wait! I highly recommend trying something like this out if you haven't already! You'll love it! Thanks, Fil! :) What a day!