Ice Driving

"People pay thousands for an ice driving experience" the marshall said. And there we were at Rye House kart track, temperature -4°, doing a day of owner driver testing for a mere £51. An ice driving experience for a fraction of the cost.

When Kate took to the track for the first session there were icicles on her carburettor, the marshalls were exhaling steam, and most of the track looked like something out of Hyde Park's Winter Wonderland. 10 minutes later she came in because she couldn't feel her hands or her feet.

The numbness was probably a good thing because Kate hit the ice and then the tyre wall about a minute into the second session. Kate was fine, but the cost of this ice driving experience was rising. New track rods £30, new steering column £50, new steering boss £50. I had the spare parts in the van, but it took a while to fit them because the bent steering boss was wedged onto the no longer cylindrical steering column. So we missed a couple of sessions before Kate got back on the track.

She was getting the hang of the ice driving though, and hit an astonishing 36.3s lap time before her chain guard went flying. With the rush to get the kart back on the track, I hadn't spotted that the impact of the crash had loosened the chain guard. Tillet chain guard £50.

I was actually quite relieved when Kate finished the final session early. She'd had a couple of scary moments when what looked like a dry corner wasn't a dry corner, so she decided she'd better call it a day before she had another crash.

It was a good day though. A PB lap time, and an amazing ice driving experience. But not the bargain we thought it was!