Was at Donnington on 1st August for my first try at track racing. It was an xmas pressie from Mrs Wolf, and what do you know - after months of rain it was sunny and warm! I arrived 30mins before my allotted start time, and while registering was looking around to see how many other 'oldies' were on the course - none! OK, I feel so much better now!

There are 16 riders per group, put into pairs with an instructor. My team-mate was Paul, who proved to be the quickest rider on the day (so no more pressure then!) and we were originally given to an instructor called Owen who had the daunting task of turning me from 'wanabee' to 'racer' in an afternoon. You do a classroom session first to learn the track and the flag meanings etc, but luckily I used to marshall there so easy for me. I used their kit in case I had a spill. This is me trying to look more relaxed than I felt!

Then out onto the pit lane to get allocated bikes (same one all session). Fairly new CBR600's in racing trim. I had been a little disappointed that I had to do the Premier course before I could do an Elite (Fireblade) course, but now I see why they do that! I would have had a spill on a blade first time out, I'm sure of that. Look at the concentration on that face!!

You are on track pretty quickly and for the first two laps just learning the racing lines etc. Then the instructor (on a naked Hornet) winds it up a bit and you start to fly (or at least it seems like that at the time). There are several 'pairs' on the track at the same time, and we also had Ron Haslam on a Fireblade welting around and making us look like total novices! .. and talking of novices, here is a photo in my first session - nervous or what?

After the first session its back to the classroom to discuss on-bike positioning with a static bike setup, and how to get more speed on the lap by taking more speed into corners. Then back onto the track and try to put it into practice. However during the second and third sessions Paul and I managed to get an instructor each which was much better, not only for him as he was way faster than anyone else on the track, but also so I could follow a new instructor (Kieran on a Fireblade) rather than being behind Paul and trying to see the instructor in front of him (from some way back!). Following Kieran's racing lines and trying to keep up with a professional racer on a blade was great fun. I had a couple of 'moments' by not following his line, but (and I pat myself on the back for this) I got straight back on the throttle and by the end of the session I was lapping pretty quick and we overtook several other riders (below) which felt great.

Back to the school for training on right gearing for corners, and how to accelerate into and out of corners. Also by now you have (hopefully) got rid of the 'Oh my god I'm going to crash' mentality you started with and we were encouraged to go for it in the last session. So back out on a one-to-one session and although this is actually a photo from the second session I was beginning to enjoy myself.

On the last session I was throwing caution to the wind (please Mr Professional Photographer - tell me you got at least one photo of that???) and I achieved what to me was the holy grail - I actually got my knee down twice, once at McLeans (fast right hander - see track layout above) and also at the Melbourne Loop. One small step for man.... and all that.

I know its stupid but to me then I was a Track God, hence the cheesy photo of me pointing to a damaged slider!! Sorry folks ....

A great day, fantastic fun, and I learned so much. I went round corners faster than I could have believed possible, and for an old git over 50 I was well chuffed, especially as I stayed on which some didn't, and I passed several younger guys. They tell you that you are not racing each other - don't believe it. Once the adrenaline starts to flow you want to be passing slower riders. We did have a couple of fallers but no-one was seriously hurt thankfully, and everyone got a lot from the day. I'll definitely go again, but I think I will do another Premier before I tackle the Elite to try and put this experience into practice and get really confident before I go for the big boy's course - if you had seen what they were doing on the Elite course you would know why, it was hairy stuff, especially when you are trying to follow a 'Rocket' on a Fireblade!!

I recommend this to anyone as its entirely at your speed (but you will naturally get a lot faster lap just by having a better racing line, irrespective of whether you increase your actual speed). There is no pressure other than what you put on yourself, as the instructors will not encourage you to do more than you believe you can, but you will definitely have a blast. I know my lap times were tumbling all day, and by the end I was hanging off the bike and not using the brakes at all apart from the esses and the Melbourne Loop. Naturally I ended up wanting a fourth session, but lets be realistic - they want you to pay to come back and do it again!!

Its well worth the £250 in my opinion, especially as you are on their bikes with no excess if you crash, and with as much of their kit as you want to borrow. I'll post up some more pics when I get them - hopefully at least one will show me 'going for it'!

Get more info about the school here..... Ron Haslam Race School

All pictures courtesy of Tigertotz Photography (my sister - thanks Sis!)