2021 started off with some exciting research of pure driving fun.
WAC team took a 6 hours flight, with destination Abu Dhabi, home of the amazing YAS Marina racetrack, the famous F1 track used for the season finale.
The venue is famous for the amazing colours and light of the track and because it has a hotel inside that offers an amazing track view.
Like many tracks around the world, there are plenty of driving activities. YAS however has something utterly special. Most of the activities take place at night.
So what are the activities available?
Here 6 amazing activities you can experience, in order of difficulty.
1) If you are looking for fun driving activities, You can take drifting courses with muscle cars, like Camaro or Dodge Challengers; there are instructors leading your way from the briefing through the track.
2) Caterham Experience
If you have driven this car on the road before, you might have said “oh this car would be amazing on track” - well, here is your chance to exploit all the car capabilities on the track, next to a professional driver that will help you corner like a champ.
3) High Road Performance Road Cars
You can drive high performance road cars like BMW M4, 5, Porsche GT.
These cars certainly do not need introduction. They are dreamcars of petroheads, which is why this is one of the most favourite experiences YAS Marina has to offer.
4) Radicals
If you are into power to the weight ration thingy, go for the radicals!!
These are mean machines. They might have a modest 1.3 litre engine but this little monster generates 182 bhp and the car weighs 490kg, which means that this car has 370 bhp per 1000kg!!!
The driver feeling is very much close to what racers have, one seater, very tight seat and plug in race steering with no power steering nor traction control.
The car has a main protective roll bar on top of your head. Once you are well suited up and got helmet on, you are off to a great driving experience! Car is super low to the ground and it has an impressive grip that generates 1.9 g force. The engine revs quite high, which makes the noise factor very pleasing to your ear. Breaking is the best part, since the car is very light, you are allowed to step over the edge and try some late breaking.
This experience surely is the step before you go racing here in YAS Marina.
5) Aston Martin Vantage GT4
How awesome does the new Aston Martin look!? What if we told you that you could drive one and it is a GT car too!? Yeah, crazy!
But it is true. The team at YAS have upgraded their fleet with brand new Aston Martin Vantage GT4 Cars to give you the driver feeling of a GT4 racing driver.
After a briefing about safety and rules, you are off to the paddock to grab a helmet and jump inside this beautiful super light 570bhp Aston Martin, that goes up to 280km/h.
Next to a professional instructor, who will offer feedback along with your laps, you are off to a new driving dimension, where instincts are replaced by discipline and technique. If you consider yourself a great driver but you have no racing experience, this experience will blow your mind.
6) Formula 3000
That is it folks, this is as close to an F1 car as you can possibly imagine!
Formula 3000 cars are serious business!! It is you inside a very small cockpit of this beautifully cosworth powered 3 liter V6 Jaguar engine with 260 bhp inside a body of 650kg. This car accelerates you from 0-100 in 2.8 seconds, same as a Bugatti Chiron! After you get a race overall, helmet, gloves and a briefing from the team, you get squashed inside this carbon fibre cockpit. The seatbelt is so tight you feel like you cannot breath, until your body adjusts to the car and it becomes one thing with the car.
A racing driver will lead the way, which is a great reference point for your speed and braking. Also you might want to make good use of the colored coded cones to get an ideal line in the corners.
The cornering is magnificent! The grip is fantastic, you have direct vision of the wheels entering into the corners and if you have some driving experience, not necessarily racing, you will get the hang of it in a few laps.
This experience is of course the most expensive but it will be worth every penny.
Each of the experiences are unique, which is why it is hard to compare them with each other. It really depends on what kind of driving interests you nurture most.
Once you are done on the track, you might want to grab a bite or a refreshing drink with a view to the last corners of the Yas Marina Circuit.
If you were to go to YAS Marina, which one would you pick?
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