First AutoSOLO Review from James and Joe

My Son and I got up early Sunday morning (13th April) with a sense of excitement as we prepared to leave for Kemble Airfield. I have competed in circuit racing before, so I had some sense of what the day would hold, but for Joseph, it was like Christmas. Last year I took part in a Disabled Assessment Day that was run by Loughborough Car Club at Bicester Heritage, it was the second time that I attended the event, but the first time Joe had come to watch. After being told that he could take part at 14 years old, the search for a car started.

We settled on a VW Polo. Partly because I like the brand, but also I thought a small well made hot hatch would be best. Plus we needed an Auto as I can’t drive a manual due to my prosthetic leg. 

Arriving at the airfield was pretty cool in itself, driving past all the airplanes that are parked up on the runways, we even had an old plane take off during the day, it might have been a spitfire, I’m not sure. Signing on and scrutineering was really straightforward and it was great to put names to faces from our late entry emails throughout the week. Thanks so much Alice and Jamie for accommodating us.

We then walked the track. Weirdly I hadn’t actually envisaged doing this, I just thought we would use the maps that were printed out and head straight out. It was really useful to walk the track and we got chatting to one of the other chaps that were taking part. He was also there with his son in the Mighty Nissan Micra. Walking the track is also a great way to get your steps in and earn that KFC on the way home. HAHA.

Onto the driving. Joe went first, which I was a bit nervous about as this was the first time that he had driven a car at speed. He was ragged, but managed ok. I think it is the same for most men, he tried way too hard on his first runs. My runs were more about building speed and trying not to break the car. The day was supposed to be a shakedown for us, but as we got more confidence in the car, we decided to push harder as we progressed through the day. Joe actually ended up improving a lot and on his last runs he was much smoother and really starting to get to grips with the car. It is amazing that an £800 car, some cones and 90 seconds of driving can really get the adrenaline going.

The venue was great and the food provided by the food van was really good. It was a nice touch that we had a food voucher for lunch. The weather stayed off which was great, it would have been a bit of a pain if it had started raining and we probably would have left early. Next time we need to bring a little pop up to cover our stuff. I’m definitely thinking that I need to build up a small box of spares.

It was a great start to what I think will be at least one season in our Polo. I’ll probably enter us into the full season next year and we get the car sorted, then onto other events as well. What a great way to get into competitive and relatively cheap Motorsport.

Thanks,

James and Joe Russell

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