Super cars give power to the people

RENAULT’S latest advertising campaign for its Clio has more than a whiff of the ridiculous to it.

Rich and famous Beverly Hills residents patiently wait for a bus-load of envious tourists to pass so they can swap their Ferraris for the reasonably priced little car with the tag line “a sign of inner richness”.

So when I found myself behind the wheel of a beautiful Ferrari on an empty airfield, albeit a wet one, with no other traffic and the freedom to put my foot down Renault’s ad become even more ludicrous.

Because if you could afford to own a super car, why on earth would you jump into a dull as ditchwater economical hatchback with the personality of a wet lettuce?

And it wasn’t just a Ferrari 360 Challenge Stradale that I sat behind the wheel of on that rainy Sunday at Elvington airfield near York. I also got the privilege of chucking an Aston Martin Vanquish S around the track, a Lamborghini Murcielago LP640 (one of only 17 in the UK) and finally a race specification BMW M3. Also available for my pleasure was a race ready Caterham 7 and the Meccano-looking Aerial Atom – even more of a rocket propelled roller skate than the Caterham (if you can believe it).

As well as my own grossly amateur lap drives, I was also passenger to instructors who effortlessly demonstrated their cars’ capability. It might have been a slightly stomach churning and expletive generating experience but the stupid grin on my face on my ungraceful exit said it all.

I’ve always loved fast cars despite my growing environmental consciousness and guilt. It’s a combination of their sleek design, raw power and the jump from purr to roar as they move off that has me babbling over-enthusiastically.

So the opportunity offered by 6th Gear Experience to drive any of their fleet of 12 super cars was one this self-confessed petrol head was hardly going to refuse.

And judging by the milling crowd eagerly hugging the safety barriers watching and waiting for their turn, neither were they.

But it isn’t just the cars that are slick. 6th Gear’s operation is equally as impressive. Working to a tight schedule, changed constantly by visitors adding on cars or race laps, the drivers and support team members demonstrate cool professionalism. And it’s this, as well as the cars offered by the firm, that is helping propel 6th Gear into pole position in what is becoming a very crowded grid.

Founded in 2006 by car enthusiasts Simon George, David Scholes and Andrew Cummings, the company already boasts a £1.5m turnover and has taken on a second venue in Kenilworth, near Coventry. It prides itself of offering drivers a unique “affordable” experience that includes a £99 package that sees drivers taking a super car of their choice around the track for four laps plus a bonus hot lap in the M3.

There are also packages for those who want more time spent in their favourite car and the company also offers bespoke corporate days. Even the kids get to have a turn courtesy of the North’s only junior Ferrari experience, which enables youngsters over 4ft 10in to drive an automatic Ferrari 360 Modena around a specially designed track.

There’s no hiding the pleasure Lamborghini owner Simon George gets from seeing hundreds of satisfied customers. The self-made entrepreneur, who once worked for British Gas, made his money in property before diversifying into franchising. Today, he and fellow director David Scholes, run Subway franchises throughout the North – a business interest that is still maintained despite 6th Gear’s accelerating growth.

Although it was George’s success as property developer that enabled him to by his first Lamborghini for a mere £180,000, it was the Subway franchise that was to give birth to the 6th Gear idea. A breakdown of Elland Road’s Subway delivery van left George with no choice but to deliver customers’ lunches in his distinctive white Lamborghini LP640. Orders went up 31% the following week so desperate were customers for another lunch time lift, and the office was inundated with applications to be a delivery driver.

Keen to find ways of managing what he describes as “horrendously expensive” running costs, George qualified as a race instructor and soon after began hiring the car out. It was meeting third director Andrew Cummings through a shared passion for Lamborghinis that 6th Gear became a reality.

Talk to George and it’s hard not to be impressed with his genuine desire to give people the opportunity to drive cars very few have the privilege of owning.

“You get all sorts of people here,” he says.

“Mostly its husbands who have had vouchers bought for them by their wives, but we do get female drivers too although we’re trying to build up numbers.

“We have pulled together what we think is a great team of instructors and that makes a difference to the experience. They’re all people who we really respect.”

Ask whether it’s difficult containing the Ayrton Senna and Lewis Hamilton wannabes and the answer is surprising.

“We find that about 75% of drivers are in fact very sedate when it comes to driving on the track. There are those who get carried away, but we have a rule – if you spin you’re out because if you do it’s only because you’re not listening to the instructor.”

That respect is essential, especially when sitting in a very powerful and heavy rear wheel drive car in the wet. There’s no doubt that I was slightly nervous on each outing, unfamiliar with the vehicles layout and performance. The price tag also bothered me slightly too.

But within a few minutes the reassuring professionalism of the instructors, many of whom are race drivers, makes you feel less inferior – but only just.

The day however wasn’t without its issues. For an environmentalist like me, finding out the amount of fuel being burned (around £200 for each car, per day), was just a little harrowing. But George calmly tackled my “green” question.

“We are aware of the environment,” he said.

“Moreover, the catalytic converters on these cars are so advanced they emit very few particulates. However, we are looking at offering customers a choice of carbon offsetting schemes.”

As I drove away in my own little super car (its once proud 210 bhp now dull compared to the beasts I’d just driven) my mind was taken back to the Renault add.

It was something I’d read on the press release, something about George reversing his Murcielago into a Renault Clio in full view of a packed Leeds city centre. Embarrassing and costly as it may have been for the entrepreneur, I couldn’t imagine a more befitting assault on the little French car. Inner richness indeed.