Drive a Formula Ford………Its great fun!!!

[Aeron]

A week ago Dad and I went to Oran Park to do the Peter Finlay Formula Ford Drive-Day. Dad and I had the newest car of the fleet, a ’99 Van Diemen with 2000 suspension. Each car is fitted with an adjustable rev limiter. As the day goes on Peter will turn the limiter up to give you more revs and more speed as you get more familiar with the car.
The cars are amazing to drive. They have Ford Zetec engines from the UK. At first we were just doing laps of the main straight. Put the thing in first and nail the throttle and pushes you back in your seat, but you have to grab 2nd early, because the limiter was set quite low at this point. 2nd gear, the same thing. Pushes you back.
Then we were split into 2 groups and the instructors took us for a few laps in a road car…………My road car, just to show racing lines etc…
Then, it was time to be let loose on the track. Everything the car does, it does well. Acceleration, braking, cornering, all fantastic.
Throughout the day the rev limiter is turned up bit by bit, but the Formula Ford that Dad and I had, had a small problem………………..the rev limiter wasn’t working. So I came down the main straight and usually its on the limiter half way down, so we don’t crash, but it never limited. I stayed into it thinking, “nice, Peters turned it up quite a bit……..still no limiter………..still no limiter…………….I’d better brake now”. At speed, you would not believe how much your head moves around, its quite a physical car to drive. Anyway, a few slides out of turn 4 (South circuit) later and our 40 laps are over.
Dad and I had a blast and now dad wants to buy one

The day costs $750 and that includes lunch. It’s a fantastic day for any petrol head and you don’t need to have any previous track experience.

Here are a few photos Peter took on the day…

Me into turn 1


Dad and I in the pits



Here is the web site ----> http://www.finlays.com.au/pages/formulafordcourse.html