Lets Race – F1 Driving Experience

Now and again you need to have a little bit of fun don’t you….well that’s what me, hubby and two of our good friends did!! When I featured Lets Race in my Father’s Day gift a little while ago I was really intrigued about it, it sounded so much fun!

Lets Race is home to the UK’s only FULL MOTION Formula 1 simulators!

I’m a girl and typically this is more something that men would enjoy and even though I was a little nervous, I was also really excited.

So babysitter sorted, friends picked up, off we went.

Lets Race is based in Horley which was really easy to find and very near to London. You could even have a visit there if your planning on going to Gatwick airport as it is really near by!

You book time slots for your Lets Race experience, up to 10 people can race at one time. We arrived in plenty of time for our time slot which was at 8:30pm, so it is great if you want to meet up after work or have a grown up evening out.

As we arrived early we had time to have a drink in the funky looking sports bar, this is a great addition to use before or after your experience. Also they can cater for parties, bigger groups and stag do’s.

We then went and had a little look at the cars which we would be racing! Nerves kicked in even more after this!!!

As you can see there are 10 cars, with 3 large screens directly in front of you. With a main large screen on the wall, I didn’t manage to see this one at all when I was driving!

I took this picture by standing on a large viewing platform, this is great for people who are coming along but not taking part. They can sit and watch everyone racing, it is cold in here, don’t worry though when you are in the car racing you will be grateful!

Lets Race having got a great experience here, their race car simulators look (apart from the lack of wheels!!!) and feel exactly like a F1 car. They move with the same motion that you would expect the car on the track to feel, with speeds up to 200mph you will feel everything!

Each car has a fantastic sound system which helps create that atmosphere that really draws you into the experience.

You even sit the same!! I wish I had of asked Lets Race to take a photo of us in the cars as this was one of the most strangest things about this whole experience! Being a women you cannot expect to do it elegantly….you have to climb into a small space that is like a bath tub but narrower than that!! Then you slide down into the car and pretty much lay back, this is such a strange driving position but once you are driving you get use to it.

You first go into a room to have your briefing, we were left to watch a video on how to use the car, manage the track and some tips to help get you around the track in the best way. When they returned we could ask any questions, this is where I am afraid I chickened out and went for automatic gears!!

Now it was time for the fun part!!

Once we had gracefully got into the car…….you attach the steering wheel and adjust your seat position. It does feel a bit strange so give yourself a chance to get settled.

The first 15 minutes are your qualifying laps, this gives you a chance to get a feel for the car, the experience, the sensation of the motion and to figure out all the tricks to keep you on the track!!

I found it a lot harder than I thought, I was braking too much, not breaking enough, then making myself spin!!

The qualifying laps were great to learn how to drive the car, take the corners and generally get around the track. I really enjoyed it, I found it so satisfying when I took the corner better and didn’t spin it.

My other friends with us enjoyed it lots, hubby really took to it and did so well……show off!!

I came last, surprise, surprise!!

Just to be aware, it is a full on motion experience, if you get motion sickness or travel sickness it might be worth taking some anti sickness tablets before hand. My friend felt really sick after the first race around!

After the 15 minutes racing we were then were taken back into the room to analyse our driving techniques and how we can improve it for the real race, this is really helpful as it could tell me why I kept stopping on the corners and why I kept spinning.

We were given print outs of our results, the black line shows the perfect race line….you can see I didn’t quite match up!

Then with our new knowledge we took on the final race against each other, I did much better on these laps and felt much more comfortable in the car this time around.

I knew I was never going to win or even come close so I ended up just enjoying driving around and trying to do better in the corners and put my foot down a little more. My friends were doing very similar times so it got a little competitive against each other for who took 2nd and 3rd place!!

Hubby was off, he did really well and beat us all!

Just so you guys can see how well (or not) we did with out racing!! I did improve on my race times so with some more practice I think I would get the hang of it in the end!

We really enjoyed our grown up evening out to Lets Race, I would recommend it to everyone for a great laugh and some fun together. 

* We were given a Lets Race experience for us to try out for the purpose of this review, however all words are honest and of my own.