A Car Chase Heroes Drive Part 2

As I make my way through the paddock after driving the General Lee, I notice a car at the back of the paddock that appeared to be looking back at me.

I found my dad and Maddi, both were happy to see me and also stay on a little longer than originally planned. I was shown the photo's and they all looked good.

I then went to find Tom, the owner to ask him about the car I had walked past earlier.

The car in question was this.

A MkI Ford Escort RS2000. 

Tom told me that he had bought this the day before and that he would be using today as trial run to see how the car would drive and how people took to it. His plan was to respray the car to make it look like the car that Paul Walker had driven in the Fast & The Furious 6. 

Having been given the green light from my dad and Maddi to stay on a bit longer I took the plunge and asked if I could take it for a spin. 

Making my way back to the paddock I was greeted by Amber and Michelle who were not overly surprised to see that I had come back for more. We chatted for a while I waited for my turn in the Escort.

This MkI Ford Escort RS2000 comes with a 16 valve, 2 litre DOHC engine that produces 100 BHP and a top speed of 110 mph. It has a 4 speed manual gearbox and weighs around 915 kilos.

My name was called and I made my way to the Escort. Once inside,  I put the seat belt on and got used to being inside the car. The first thing I noticed is that the pedals are tiny and offset to the right. This would make for an interesting drive as I have big wide feet.  

My instructor got in and introduced himself, his name was Oak. Oak took the driver card from me but informed me that as this was a recent purchase, they had not put in a camera to film the drive. We chatted briefly and then it was time to go onto the track. 

As I turned the key, the 2 litre engine barked to life, I put the car into gear, made my way around the paddock and towards the track entry

With a clear track  I accelerate hard and moving up through the gears I make my way to the hairpin corner. I then begin to break change down a gear and take a wide line through this corner. There is a little amount of body roll as the car makes it's way through the corner. Back on the power to change up and I accidentally push down on the brake and clutch another attempt and the gear change is completed. Down the second corner where a hard right hand corner awaited me. Once through it was time to accelerate up to 4th gear before making my way through a chicane. I was then overtaken by the white Audi R8. Time to break hard and change down for the left hand hairpin corner. Back on the power and back to 4th gear, through 2nd  chicane that heads towards the last corner which required another change to 3rd gear. Through this then back on the power for the second lap. 

Ahead of me in the distance I spot a Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, I decided to see if I could catch and overtake it before the end of the second lap. I rapidly made my way through the corners and get closer to it. Half way through the lap I close in and overtake just before the chicane. With the overtake completed safely I make my way around to finish the lap and start the final trip around the track. I made the most of a clear track in front and really got into the swing of driving this Escort.

It was then time to pull into the paddock and hand the keys back.

Professional Photo's

Once back in the paddock, Oak handed me the driver sign on card I thanked him and got out. 

It's easy to see why the Ford Escort was so good as a rally car, it's light, quick and fairly easy to drive. It’s a small car with a big heart. Making my way back through the paddock, I bumped into David da Costa, I again thanked him for the sighting laps and he took a look at my sign on card and seemed to be impressed. Moving on through the paddock, I saw Amber and Michelle and thanked them for their help.

I found my dad and Maddi waiting for me and it was time to get the photo's and head home. On the way out I spoke to Tom again and thanked him for a brilliant morning of driving.

If you ever get the chance to do a drive with Car Chase Heroes I really do recommend it. They are very easy to talk to and helpful. I would like to thank the following people for all of their help.

Tom Roche, David (safety briefing), David da Costa, Amber & Michelle (Paddock), Matt and Oak (Instructors) and finally April Essom (Office).

For further information about Car Chase Heroes, please visit

https://www.carchaseheroes.com/index and book a drive with them.