On Tuesday we were lucky enough to have experienced the closest thing to driving a Formula One car without actually driving one, thanks to the guys at Pure Tech Racing in Gatwick.
On arrival we were greeted in the huge main foyer before being taken for a quick look-around PTR’s brand new facility and being given a quick heads-up on what would happen throughout our visit. As we were only there for a short visit, we didn’t experience quite what a paying customer would, for example; to get the full experience you would suit up in a pair of overalls, just like an F1 driver would, then after a quick safety briefing (not like those boring one’s at track days which last for hours), you’ll be taken through to the simulator area, which on first impressions is quite astounding.
Ten pristine simulators lined up, worth in excess of £1 million in total, each with three of their own Lenovo screens giving you a fantastic front facing view as well as a peripheral view akin to that of an F1 driver – it really shows you how difficult it is to see who’s coming up the inside of you into a corner or along the straight as they slipstream past you.
Once you’ve gotten over the sight of such an impressive room, a dream come true for any motorsport enthusiast, you’ll lower yourself into your own simulator – one of which can be adapted for disabled users – you’ll notice just how low to the ground you are and at what a horizontal position F1 drivers sit at, similar to that of lying in a bathtub with your feet on the taps. A four-point harness will keep you secure as the cars move up to 1.5 metres in any direction, producing up to 1.5G’s, a truly impressive feeling as you blast around the track at upto 300kph, shifting up to seventh and back down to third on the sequential gearbox for the final corner, a tight hairpin onto the start/finish.
The engine sounds are pumped into your ears through headphones, allowing you to listen out for the best point to change gear, or you can look at the screen straight ahead which tells you the best point to change using a light system similar to that of a real-world F1 car. In the coming weeks the cars will feature all this information, including current gear and speed on the steering wheel, again, just like a true F1 car.
The centre currently has two tiers of simulator racing, you can opt for a 15-minute practice session for £15, or you may choose a race session for £35 which includes a practice/qualifying session and a short race. We recommend this, as after 15 minutes you’ll be left wanting more. The practice session will allow you to hone your skills and see just where you can push the limits without spinning, don’t worry if you do, you won’t damage the chassis, but a serious impact could result in death, luckily for you all that entails is returning to the pits.
Once you’ve finished the practice session, you’ll get a readout of your laps, including individual sector times, as well as your optimum laptime which takes your best three sectors, Ryan’s was a 1:04.563, Adam’s was a 1:08.694, whilst the best laptime was in the 1:01’s – that might sound like we were pretty close, but we were running with some lower settings which meant it was harder to spin, stall and we experienced less oversteer in the corners.
The simulators can be set to run at different levels, including Formula 3, GP2 and F1. The highest settings are in fact so close to how F1 car’s perform, that teams use the systems themselves to give upcoming drivers racing experience.
As a motorsport fan, you’ve most likely dreamt of competing in some form of racing series, however without hundreds of thousands in the bank it’s unlikely you’ll get the chance. Whilst these simulators aren’t the real thing, there as close as you’ll come to experiencing the rush a driver gets as he lines up on the grid with the revs hitting 18,000 before engaging first and battling wheel to wheel into the first corner – and trust me it’s hard work. After several minutes you’re guaranteed to have some sweat on your forehead as you concentrate and fight the rear-end as it attempts to go somewhere you don’t want it too.
The centre is in an ideal location, with plans to open several throughout the UK, which in the future will be linked up allowing you to race your mates in Leeds, whilst you’re in Gatwick. Anyone over the height of 1.42m can take part (no age restrictions), but don’t worry if you’d rather watch instead of competing. There are plans to install a mini-grandstand allowing you to watch all the action on the big screen which includes live timing, GPS location and a live race feed.
For those of you who enjoy the experience and feel you could be a frequent visitor to PTR, a membership scheme will soon be available – make sure you check their website for further information on membership.
PTR’s large, and very modern complex also boasts a small cafe called ‘Fluid Dynamics’ which is a must, as it’s pretty thirsty work.
If all that wasn’t enough, Pure Tech have some amazing ideas which they hope to install soon. Including pit walls, allowing your race engineer to speak to you, giving you tips and changing the car settings; Leagues, which will allow you to compete on a regular basis and work your way from Formula BMW, through to F1 – and if you’re good enough you might even land yourself a real drive within the Pure Tech Racing team – yet another future addition they hope to introduce, plus many others, improving on an already outstanding experience.
Make sure you check out their website: PureTechRacing.com, their Twitter @PuretechRacing and their Facebook page. If you happen to visit, which we highly recommend, we’d appreciate a mention.
Check out Neil Cole’s video below of when he visited the centre.
On Tuesday we were lucky enough to have experienced the closest thing to driving a Formula One car without actually driving one, thanks to the guys at Pure Tech Racing in Gatwick.
On arrival we were greeted in the huge main foyer before being taken for a quick look-around PTR’s brand new facility and being given a quick heads-up on what would happen throughout our visit. As we were only there for a short visit, we didn’t experience quite what a paying customer would, for example; to get the full experience you would suit up in a pair of overalls, just like an F1 driver would, then after a quick safety briefing (not like those boring one’s at track days which last for hours), you’ll be taken through to the simulator area, which on first impressions is quite astounding.
Ten pristine simulators lined up, worth in excess of £1 million in total, each with three of their own Lenovo screens giving you a fantastic front facing view as well as a peripheral view akin to that of an F1 driver – it really shows you how difficult it is to see who’s coming up the inside of you into a corner or along the straight as they slipstream past you.
Once you’ve gotten over the sight of such an impressive room, a dream come true for any motorsport enthusiast, you’ll lower yourself into your own simulator – one of which can be adapted for disabled users – you’ll notice just how low to the ground you are and at what a horizontal position F1 drivers sit at, similar to that of lying in a bathtub with your feet on the taps. A four-point harness will keep you secure as the cars move up to 1.5 metres in any direction, producing up to 1.5G’s, a truly impressive feeling as you blast around the track at upto 300kph, shifting up to seventh and back down to third on the sequential gearbox for the final corner, a tight hairpin onto the start/finish.
The engine sounds are pumped into your ears through headphones, allowing you to listen out for the best point to change gear, or you can look at the screen straight ahead which tells you the best point to change using a light system similar to that of a real-world F1 car. In the coming weeks the cars will feature all this information, including current gear and speed on the steering wheel, again, just like a true F1 car.
The centre currently has two tiers of simulator racing, you can opt for a 15-minute practice session for £15, or you may choose a race session for £35 which includes a practice/qualifying session and a short race. We recommend this, as after 15 minutes you’ll be left wanting more. The practice session will allow you to hone your skills and see just where you can push the limits without spinning, don’t worry if you do, you won’t damage the chassis, but a serious impact could result in death, luckily for you all that entails is returning to the pits.
Once you’ve finished the practice session, you’ll get a readout of your laps, including individual sector times, as well as your optimum laptime which takes your best three sectors, Ryan’s was a 1:04.563, Adam’s was a 1:08.694, whilst the best laptime was in the 1:01’s – that might sound like we were pretty close, but we were running with some lower settings which meant it was harder to spin, stall and we experienced less oversteer in the corners.
The simulators can be set to run at different levels, including Formula 3, GP2 and F1. The highest settings are in fact so close to how F1 car’s perform, that teams use the systems themselves to give upcoming drivers racing experience.
As a motorsport fan, you’ve most likely dreamt of competing in some form of racing series, however without hundreds of thousands in the bank it’s unlikely you’ll get the chance. Whilst these simulators aren’t the real thing, there as close as you’ll come to experiencing the rush a driver gets as he lines up on the grid with the revs hitting 18,000 before engaging first and battling wheel to wheel into the first corner – and trust me it’s hard work. After several minutes you’re guaranteed to have some sweat on your forehead as you concentrate and fight the rear-end as it attempts to go somewhere you don’t want it too.
The centre is in an ideal location, with plans to open several throughout the UK, which in the future will be linked up allowing you to race your mates in Leeds, whilst you’re in Gatwick. Anyone over the height of 1.42m can take part (no age restrictions), but don’t worry if you’d rather watch instead of competing. There are plans to install a mini-grandstand allowing you to watch all the action on the big screen which includes live timing, GPS location and a live race feed.
For those of you who enjoy the experience and feel you could be a frequent visitor to PTR, a membership scheme will soon be available – make sure you check their website for further information on membership.
PTR’s large, and very modern complex also boasts a small cafe called ‘Fluid Dynamics’ which is a must, as it’s pretty thirsty work.
If all that wasn’t enough, Pure Tech have some amazing ideas which they hope to install soon. Including pit walls, allowing your race engineer to speak to you, giving you tips and changing the car settings; Leagues, which will allow you to compete on a regular basis and work your way from Formula BMW, through to F1 – and if you’re good enough you might even land yourself a real drive within the Pure Tech Racing team – yet another future addition they hope to introduce, plus many others, improving on an already outstanding experience.
Make sure you check out their website: PureTechRacing.com, their Twitter @PuretechRacing and their Facebook page. If you happen to visit, which we highly recommend, we’d appreciate a mention.
Check out Neil Cole’s video below of when he visited the centre.
