One of the mechanics, Albert Esquerda, stepped back from the track and smiled from under his sunglasses. “The one thing these people all have in common is they have gasoline in their blood.”
Despite the world-class track and professional-level equipment, the drivers themselves were not professionals. Ranging in age from their early twenties to mid-sixties, they represented half the participants in a Formula Renault debut course conducted by the RACC Automobile Club. They—and four others in their group—had just finished a short class in theory, in which they learned the basics of the vehicle and what to do if it goes off track or spins around.
“There are people who come that know how to drive, people who don’t. Mostly, they’re people who want to feel what it’s like to drive in a formula car. They’ll do four laps and we’ll note which drivers can handle the car best,” said Esquerda. “Then we’ll give them a little more instruction and do four more laps, this time with the best driver in pole position and the slowest going last. After that, the next group of four will get their turn. From start to finish, they’ll be here a little over two hours, with about 20 minutes of actual driving.”
There’s plenty of demand with a waiting list of up to four months. The cars are open-wheeler, Formula Renault vehicles: the kind that competitive drivers learn on before moving on to Formula Three and beyond. They’re capable of going from zero to 160 kilometres per hour in 4.85 seconds, and braking to a full stop from 200 kilometres per hour in 4.6 seconds. Weighing only 455 kilogrammes with a height of less than a metre, these vehicles can really fly. “It takes a curve very fast,” said Esquerda. “Such a beautiful feeling, the way it holds a curve. Not at all like a standard sports car that you take on the highway.”
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