Aston
Martin DB9 Driving Experience at Elvington
Date:
July 2008
Location: Elvington, Yorkshire
Vehicles: Aston Martin DB9, Subaru Impreza
Author: Chris
I
was bought a "drivers dream day" by my wife for a Birthday
present. This was for an Aston. In fact she had rung me up
at work to ask what sort of car I would rather have "for a
survey" in order to make sure she booked the right one for
me!
Booked
for Elvington in Yorkshire with no problems and the instructions
were all simple and easy to follow.
We
made a day of it and went to the air museum next door first
(not only planes but also a local car enthusiasts rally as
well on the day!) The anticipation grew through the day as
the sound of loud cars was wafting over the fields and you
kept getting glimpses of the various beasts racing past.
When
it came to go the venue we arrived in a fenced off area of
the airfield where there were a couple of tents and burger
bar. At one end were a number of lines of people and the best
collection of cars I have ever seen. Lamborghinis,
Aston Martins, Porsche
and Ferraris, as well as
an Audi R8, EVO and Imprezas. It's not that I have not seen
these cars before but not so many all in the same place at
the same time...
After
registering and paying for the excess insurance (not included
in the package and another £25 but worth it as someone spun
a Lambo the week before and did a good deal of damage and
with a compulsory excess in the £'000 it could make for an
expensive day) it was then time to cue up for the familiarisation
laps. This was a lap in a new Impreza, where we went round
the track with some instructions as to looking for the markers
for the breaking points etc. The track was a loop around an
airfield with a zigzag on the straight. We were told that
the idea was not to go all out as any dangerous driving and
the drive would be stopped, and also if you took your time
and listened to your instructor you would get more out of
the drive and end up going faster anyway.
Then
a short wait and on with my go!
Instructor was a good bloke he told me that he had been a
paying customer until last year when he did reasonably well
in the cars so was offered a job. Seems like a good way to
earn a living at the weekend (done as a second job). The drive
was fantastic. I was guided through the gears and round the
track and rather than get held up by traffic was instructed
to cut the corner in order to continue making good progress.
If you are interested enough to be reading this I probably
do not need to rave on about the Aston Martin DB9 other than
to say it lived up to all my expectations (pulled up to 110
with no protestations on the straight - fantastic handling
etc).
On
returning to the pit area after my 3 laps I was told what
mark was that I had achieved - it seems that you are assessed
out of 40 in order to let you know how you have done on the
track (if you get a very high mark you can be offered a job
I was told) after which you go back to the registration tent
to get a certificate of attendance. We passed on buying the
photo pack (taken as you go round) as the wait for these to
be printed was too long at the time As it was toward the end
of the day the staff were happy to let us walk around the
cars and take pictures, sit inside and generally salivate.
I now have a good selection of "wallpaper" shots to keep me
going on my computer.
All
in all a great day out, if any criticism I would encourage
others to book a package with a few more laps!
This
was a Driving
Experience review by Chris
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