IN THIS FEATURE Pleasure and pain Unique supercars Melting trainers Accessible motorsport Adrenaline junkies

Simon's Peugeot packs around 120bhp, and can propel itself to 60mph in around 8 seconds. Strapped into the passenger seat, I don't have the sweat-on-brow fear that I felt in the Escort. This is, after all, just a stripped-out road car, whereas the Escort was a fire-spitting animal. And you can forget such luxuries as launch control in the 205. Instead, Simon uses good clutch control to prevent too much wheelspin at the startline. The Pug's engine has a lumpy idle and the exhaust sounds as if it's got a hole in it, which is nothing like the race-car yowl from Pat's highly tuned Escort.

There's no shortage of pace in the Peugeot, though, as Simon throws the 205 around the stage with abandon, his feet dancing on the pedals as he left-foot brakes. "I used to do karting when I was younger", Simon tells me later, "so left-foot braking comes naturally to me". He upsets the balance of the car to let it run wide and then puts the power down, pebbledashing the underside of the 205 with gravel.

Per season the Escort costs £150K, the 205 £15K

Simon and Pat's enthusiasm for Rallycross is off the scale. And their commitment is even more impressive when you consider the expense involved. Pat's Supercar will cost him £150K over a season, while at the other end of the Rallycross scale, Simon will spend some £15K running his humble 205.

So I ask Pat and Simon why they do it and they answer as one. "It's for the pure buzz". And then Pat continues: "There's nothing quite like Rallycross, it's technical like rallying, but you get the support from the crowd like a circuit racer. It also allows you to do some real showboating for those extra cheers".