Wheels on fire

After drizzle the night before, it was a greasy, slippery mess, and as we rounded the first few corners the back end nearly overtook us.

I'd like to say that it was down to my Schumacher-like car control that we didn't end up flying off the circuit in a chorus of screaming.

However, there were three hands on the steering wheel as the back end was brought into line - and one of them belonged to race instructor Chris Campbell.

"Brake, brake, brake! You need to scrub off more speed before you enter the corner," he explained, as I took his advice and jumped on the anchors.

"That's better, just a couple of miles an hour slower makes the difference between getting around the corner fast and not getting around it at all."

This was my first taste of circuit racing, and it was exhilarating.

However, as much fun as it was tearing around the Northamptonshire track in a cloud of tyre smoke, Chris Bailin and his Bournemouth-based Piranah Racing Team hadn't brought me here to shred their rather expensive tyres.

No. I was here to learn the skills required to be a racing driver, and for them to show me what a typical day at the office was like for members of their team.

And there was an element of competition in the mix too. I was one of 10 people here for this track day, and we were all being assessed.

During the day we'd go out with three different instructors, in three different cars, and would be marked on our control and technique. The one with the most points would win.

On hearing the feedback from my first stint in the Porsche, I was encouraged.

Chris Campbell gave me some constructive criticism, a little praise and, more importantly, some respectable marks. I was buzzing.

After my run in the Porsche, I joined Chris Bailin on the pit wall. He was staring out over the track with a frustrated look on his face. "The track will have to dry before I take my car out, otherwise I'll be off in the first corner," he explained.

And that's because his car is no ordinary motor. It's a Juno.

Unlike the Porsche, this machine is built solely for the track. It has a wing to stop it taking off at high speed, and boasts the aerodynamic efficiency of a housefly.

Today, however, it's wearing slick tyres and, on a damp track, it would be like driving on ice.

While Chris Bailin's luck was out, though, mine was in, with a Lotus Elise waiting for me in the pit lane.

After half a lap in this, it was obvious I was in a much better car than the Porsche. All right, it didn't have any carpet, electric windows or a radio - but that didn't matter.

This was a driver's car, not a poser's car.

Where the Porsche had to be goaded around the track, it was the Lotus egging me on to push harder.

Even when I thought I'd carried too much speed into a corner, the car was planted - and the acceleration on the way out was phenomenal. It was like downing a flaming sambuca after sipping on a white wine spritzer.

I was ecstatic when I climbed out of the Elise - it had given me the confidence to really attack the drying circuit.

With a beaming smile (and commendable marks) I thought I'd had the ultimate driving experience - but then I got behind the wheel of my final car, the Caterham 7, and changed my mind.

The performance in this machine was blistering, the noise ear-bleeding and the grip immense.

Had I attempted corners at the same speed in either the Porsche or the Lotus, I'd be writing this via a Ouija board.

I was having so much fun my instructor had to physically make me pull into the pits when the time was up.

However, he gave me great feedback and some cracking marks, which overall helped me win the bragging rights of being the best driver on the day - as well as a bottle of Champagne and a trophy.

However, they weren't going to let me go home thinking I was the best thing since Ayrton Senna.

It was time to show me what a real racing driver could do behind the wheel of a real racing car.

"You're not leaving until you've gone around in this," said Chris Bailin, pointing towards the Juno.

Just getting into this machine was an event in itself. It took two people to strap me in, and there was a real sense of occasion about it all - it was like being locked into a ride at Alton Towers.

And the roller coaster similarities didn't end there.

Out on the track, my driver, Chris's teammate and former Caterham Challenge Champion, Graham Fennymore, hit speeds of 150mph. As we hurtled around the corners, my stomach threatened to return my lunch.

I spent the three laps holding on to my head, holding down my sarnies and laughing out loud. It was that fast and that good.

This track day was a great opportunity to not only see what it's possible to get out of a car, but also to see how good these racing drivers really are.

The cocky wannabe racer in me thought it would be hard to go around Silverstone quicker than I did, but Chris Bailin and the rest of his team made me look like a Sunday driver.

I salute their fearless abilities and thank them all for a great day out.

• For more information on Silverstone track days, call Piranha on 01202 736788.