01 Nov 07
'You should get yourself a racing licence. It's dead easy.'
Team 4Car driver Fergus Campbell's assumptions about my driving prowess were heartening, if a little optimistic. However, getting a licence would be darned useful in my profession, so I thought I'd give it go.
I also thought it would be a good experiment, as I'm not exactly overendowed with natural talent on the track. I've driven karts three or four times and found myself to be useless: OK, I'm not exactly built for speed, but I still manage to end up trailing bigger guys than me. Lewis Hamilton I'm not: if I can get a racing licence, anyone can.
The first step was to contact the Motor Sports Association, the governing body for motorsport in the UK. The MSA is responsible for the 800 or so registered motor clubs, who organise almost 5,000 events in 22 different disciplines. It also issues the 34,000 competition licences currently in circulation, so it's the first port of call when embarking on an involvement in motorsport.
Anyone over the age of eight can drive competitively within certain disciplines of the sport. And many forms of motorsport can be tackled with completely standard road cars, while others permit only very limited modifications.
The first thing to do is request a Go Racing pack. It costs £51 and contains the Competitors' Yearbook with all the information, rules and regulations covering all forms of motorsport in the UK, an application form for the National B licence (a kind of 'provisional' racing licence) and a DVD that features all the information you need to pass the written element of the test.
To obtain a National B racing licence, you have to pass the ARDS (Association of Racing Driver Schools) test at a recognised racing school (there are 12 in the UK). These schools will give you some instruction on the basics of track driving and help you develop the techniques required to pass the test.
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