David Cunliffe reports on the ride of a lifetime...

I went to the annual Johnny Herbert SPARKS Karting Challenge hoping to grab another interview with Johnny for the website and, maybe, just maybe, buy something worth having during the charity auction. My dear wife, Jean (rhymes with Bean), insisted on bidding in my name for Jean (rhymes with Sean - at least, Murray Walker thinks it does) Alesi's dummy, which someone had picked up last time he threw it out of his pram. Happily, I got the exclusive interview. I was even more pleased to be outbid for that valuable piece of memorabilia. It went for £1.68 - rather overpriced, in my view...

In past years, I've always been outbid for things I really wanted. This time, there was something I was determined to get - a ride in a two-seater kart with Johnny at the wheel. I kept an eye on the bidding and, shortly before the auction closed at 3.00pm, stuck in a late bid of £75.00, then held my breath. No last minute bids came in, so it was mine. Woo-hoo!

Still another hour of the kart race to go though, so I went to watch the crushing superiority of Johnny's team, Herbie's Heroes. A few people asked if I was terrified by the idea of the kart ride. Nah! Looking forward to it immensely, he said not altogether convincingly. The race finished, but the formalities had to be concluded before I was able to experience that ride of a lifetime...

When the prize giving and cheque presentation was over, the stretched kart, with its two seats line-astern a la McLaren, was wheeled out. It looked almost as cramped as the two-seater McLaren too. Let's just say that, unless you were pretty slim, you hadn't got a hope in hell of clambering into that rear seat! After donning one of The Raceway's new silver crash hats, I was helped into the small gap between the front seat and the engine. There was no way even I could get my derriere right back into the seat - all I could do was wedge myself in with my back pressed against the backrest.

Comfortable? Not a bit of it! Did I care? Not at all! I was in and raring to go!

The assembled professional photographers were almost as keen to grab shots as they were earlier when Johnny first climbed into a kart for the day (see above). If I can get a copy of one of their shots, it will be added here later.

Johnny pulled on his gloves and climbed in. "OK, David?" he asked? "You bet!" I nodded. In my nervous state, I put my hands around his visor - I meant to cover my own eyes, really! Johnny then instructed me to grasp the top of the sides of his seat, I braced my feet against the footrests alongside him, pressed back in the seat, and prepared myself for the roller-coaster ride.

The kart was fired up and off we went, haring towards the main banked turn one of The Raceway's fantastic circuit. OK, I thought, so far, so good. Not too impressed yet though - it didn't feel that much quicker than when I drove the circuit at the same event two years ago. Then Mr Herbert decide that he'd test the limits of the kart, which he was sitting in for the first time. Result - he literally took me for a spin. Hmmm, maybe he is a bit quicker than me...

Coming off the circuit's final banked turn for the first time, I could feel that Johnny had put the hammer down. And how! We belted down the long main straight flat out heading for turn one. To the best of my knowledge, he didn't brake into it but just let the tyres scrub off some speed, before hitting the brakes for the tight left hander at the end of the long banked turn. Through the Esses and the hairpins right on the edge, back end of the kart hanging out as Johnny gave it some stick. He wasn't hanging around, believe me! Woo-hoo!

This was what I'd paid for - and it was every bit as exciting as I'd hoped. It was an amazing privilege to witness, from such close quarters, the car control of one of the top drivers in the world. I loved every minute, but it was over far too soon. After Johnny brought us to a screeching halt on the start/finish line with a 180 spin stop, I climbed out of the kart, still shaking, and was told that he'd put in a 39.2s lap. To put that in perspective, David Coulthard's best lap two years ago was only 40.03s, and the lap record for the circuit had stood at 39.05s for a year (until Johnny had broken it a couple of hours earlier with a 38.55s). Absolutely unbelievable!

Would I do it again? Let me at it! Would I try the two seater McLaren if given a chance? Wild horses wouldn't stop me! You can develop a taste for this sort of thing, you know...

This page last updated 29th November 1998