The simulator room, when you enter it, is as cool, hushed and dramatic as a cathedral. Chilled to a constant 16C to keep the expensive electronics from overheating, the view is undeniably impressive – 10 £130,000, full-motion Formula One car simulators, laid out in two imposing rows of five. Exact simulations of the 2014 Marussia F1 MR03 car, this array is more than a £1m worth of racing technology. The simulators sit quietly awaiting their drivers, be they there to take part in corporate bonding, to celebrate stag do's or to indulge in the ultimate F1 fantasy.
Every F1 team has simulators, but Let's Race, based in Horley, Surrey, is the only full-motion simulator open to the public. Owned by Carlin, one of the UK's most successful race teams, it's an all-purpose venue offering big-screen F1 race screenings complemented by a bar, giant Scalextric track, pit stop-practice stations and reactions-testing Batak Wall. But the main draw, obviously, is those impressive simulators. Visitors can choose from a selection of experiences, from the Premium Race Experience (15-minute qualifying, 30-minute race), Race Experience (15-minute qualifying, 15-minute race) and Practice/Lunchtime specials (a straight up 25-minute blast). First-timers are encouraged to opt for the Race Experience, as any more than 30 minutes in the "sims" for a novice can result in rather severe nausea. And trust me, you do not want to be car sick in an F1 cockpit, simulator or not.
The tech involved is both simple and enormously complex. The top notes are the simple combination of a racing game with a physical car, boasting three huge, panoramic screens coupled to a serious sound system.
"It's a medical-grade motion bed [the same kind that's used in hospitals to trundle people into scanners] that's been blown up, supersized, if you like," the simulator engineer, James Dover, says, explaining the moving bed attached to the car. "There are three motors underneath that drive the bed itself. Then there's a ball screw and a nut and a very clever twin bearing design to allow the back to pivot independently of the front, and vice versa." This is then linked to the race simulator, called "RFactor", whose "physics engine" tells the bed how to move, how far, and when. At the extremes, the cars move through 1m of distance front-to-back, and 80cm side-to-side. Dover explains that "in the simulation, the motion directly plugs into that physics file, so if you generate one G of motion, the motion bed knows it moves this much, at this speed, to give you the sensation of that happening."
But before we are introduced to the inner sanctum, there's a video briefing by F1 legend Martin Brundle, taking us through the course we're driving. (Today it's the Canadian Grand Prix Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, chosen, we're told, because it's a good introductory course with fast straights and not too many difficult corners.) Let's Race offers all the current F1 circuits alongside a track of its own design, called Orchard Lake, expressly designed for beginners. Plus, if you fancy a different challenge, the 2104 Renault Clio Cup, Porsche Carrera Cup, Formula Renault BARC and GP2 series cars can all be piped into the simulation software.
Each of the full-motion Formula One car simulators is worth £130,000
After the briefing, I'm directed to my chariot – lucky No 7 in my case – for an authentically ridiculous entry procedure. Familiarity lends F1 drivers an easy, gazelle-like finesse getting in and escaping from their cars, but for a podgy, not even freakishly tall 5ft 11in writer, it's awkward. I stand on the seat, drop my legs in, shuffle in some more, push my legs down, squeeze my behind into the tight seat and straighten my legs fully into the footwell. The car and seat are integrated into one, so two buttons move the pedals forward or backward until I'm comfortable and the steering wheel plugs in like on a bona fide F1 car. Paddles behind select my gears and the three screens inches away from my eyes fill almost all of my peripheral vision. A quick calibration and we're counting down to qualifying.
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I'm terrible. My driving style is an embarrassing mixture of gravel gargling, traction-free haplessness. No circuit is incident-free and I'm lapped by the other chap sharing the session. But the combination of sensory inputs – the screen, the speakers, the rumble through the steering wheel – and the car throwing me about like a fairground dodgem is completely convincing. My heart rate rises, concentration sharpens and my overstimulated grey matter is utterly convinced this is the real thing, even if the graphics might be sub Forza, Project Cars or Gran Turismo.
It feels like I've oafishly completed about three laps before the lights go up and the session ends. I'm told that this is a common reaction – the immersion is so deep that 15 minutes feels like five. We troop off back to the briefing room to spend a few minutes chin-stroking over our telemetry data. The best lap at Let's Race for this track is 1.16. My racing chum clocks an impressive 1.25 and mine? A risible 1.44. The reasons are obvious. I'm smashing the brakes and they're locking like a crocodile's mush. A manly push and release is all that's required. Instead, my wheels are locking, the car's swapping ends like an over-endorsed Frisbee and I'm flat-spotting my tyres and exacerbating my problems. Plus, my gear upshifts are too slow and I'm ignoring the lights on the steering wheel, which are flashing like a Skrillex gig finale. So, suitably briefed/chastised, we head back into the cathedral for our race proper.
Let’s Race offers the chance to take on all the current F1 circuits
Again, immediately I'm floundering. I'm braking better, with more panache, but still finding the gravel and the walls with alarming consistency. But then I put an incident-free lap together. Followed by another and... the session ends. Plastered across the entire front wall is my time: 1.39:901. A slight improvement.
When I slope back into the breakout area, I realise how very buzzed I am. I need a good couple of minutes to compose myself and return my body to a state where it doesn't feel like I'm being chased by bears. On the drive home, a real shift in approach is required not to drive like a licence points-attracting twerp. But the promise of the next gen RFactor 2 software Let's Race is planning to install later this summer, alongside 4K curved screens, means that I'll be back, even if my performance is more Chris Evans' mum than Lewis Hamilton.
Let's Race Practice Sessions start from £15, with Race Experiences from £25. See letsrace.co.uk for more information
