Expert help to get Tom up to speed for Mazda race debut

THOSE of you expecting to see my obituary in next week’s Advertiser after some kind of disaster in my race debut at Oulton Park will (hopefully) be relieved to hear that there’s been something of a re-think.

The  tight schedule which would have seen me taking to the seat of a race-prepped Mazda MX-5—with very little prior experience on track—has been revised to allow me some expert tuition...and I’m man enough to admit that I’m somewhat relieved.

I had my  first session on track with track legend Mark Hales, renowned racer of Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason’s $35 million Ferrari 250 GTO, and a Le Mans winner.

Taking to the track at Donington Park in a Mazda MX-5 among Ferraris, Caterhams and an extremely rapid Aerial Atom, it became clear I needed to add speed to my driving repertoire before considering a race seat.

It marked the start of plan, hatched by Mazda PR boss Graeme Fudge, to get me well and truly upt o speed before taking to the track in anger.

That will now take place in the Mazda MX-5 Cup race series in the early autumn and, hopefully, I’ll be ready to race when the time comes.

By then I should have completed skid pan training at a police driving facility in Wakefield, completed another two track day events under the watchful eye of Mark and bagged myself a race licence by passing the Association of Racing Drivers Schools’ tests.

Mark was an unassuming sight in the paddock at Donington when we met up.

His greying beard, green woolly jumper and brown corduroy trousers contrast the assembled track day devotees’ full race suites and customised helmets.

But this is a guy who has raced and won won races at Le Mans, British Touring Cars and NASCAR.

Once I’ve jammed my helmeted 6ft 1ins frame into our Mazda MX-5 Mark soon gets a taste of my driving style on track.

After jockeying for space on track the three-hour event organised by bookatrack.com, he passes his verdict.

“You can be fast,” he reassures me.

“I’m confident we can get you up to race pace. You won’t disgrace yourself.”

Although Mark praises my smooth steering inputs and I’m soon astonished by the pace he achieves with seemingly minimal inputs and absolute calm when he takes the wheel for a handful of laps.

It’s easy to see why Nick Mason trusts him with his multi-million pound pride and joy.

As cars pull aside to let the now rapid MX-5 past, Mark tells me: “If you use the weight transfer of the car under braking to get through corners your inputs are minimal and you can take a very smooth line around a track. That’s the key to being a fast driver.”

With an intensive few months of track driving lines up, I’m preying his skills will rub off.

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