Caterham Academy 2014: Game on!

He's done his ARDS, he's got his car but is Matt ready to race? He'd best be...

Oh blimey, it's actually happening now! The car is built, the kit is on its way and the first test day is just a few weeks away. My Caterham Academy season is underway and I'm absolutely terrified.

Getting in and out of the thing is the first lesson

Of course, there's massive excitement and eager anticipation thrown into the emotional stew for good measure but always with a bit of underlying fear. It must be simply of the unknown having never even attended a track day before. The Toyota Sprint from last August seems an absolute life time ago and I'm frantically trying to prep myself for the circuit as quickly as possible. At present this hasn't extended to much more than reliving the BTCC's glory days on YouTube but it will step up soon. It has to.

But then everyone else has to be in the same boat, don't they? Seeing such a huge diversity of guys at the ARDS day (more on which presently) was really encouraging as it promises a fascinating array of abilities. Some were seasoned track day goers wanting to take the next step to competition, others had been encouraged by family members and one was sold the Academy after initially wanting to buy a Seven road car. Great work! Fingers crossed there are a few with similarly tiny track exposure and experience; I don't seem to have found them yet...

Anyway, the next step in the Academy season is a handling day at Silverstone on March 16 and then a test day at Castle Combe on April 16. Competition begins at Aintree on April 26, or Not Very Far Away. Here's what has happened so far.

ARDS Day
Arriving at a dank Castle Combe for 0745h on a Wednesday is a great reminder of how motorsport isn't all glamour and excitement. Having said that, the prospect of leaving Wiltshire with a race licence was tantalising.

Back to school. Seating has got comfy at least.

We were off to the skidpan first, Shed Civic driving over to the back of the circuit behind a Merc SL and Range Rover; standing out much? It looked far more at home in the proximity of two especially scabby BMW E36s used for teaching everyone about under- and oversteer though. With the assistance of a specially greased-up surface, the 3 Series was hilarious. Provocation via throttle just wasn't needed, the cars wobbling around with the tiniest bit of lock. With inconsistent grip, spins were inevitable. Or so I keep telling myself. But plenty learnt.

Shamefully, I have a real lack of car maintenance and set-up experience, so the talk on preparing 'our' Seven for competition was especially enlightening. The footwell full of essentials in the car rammed the point home about the level of prep too. I can't wait to put it into practice.

More fun than doing your GCSEs it turns out

Fortunately (or perhaps not) my group was saved the serious stuff until after lunch. But as it turns out, the actual ARDS theory and practical assessment wasn't too terrible. 15 minutes on flags and race etiquette was nowhere near the exam I was expecting and, once over the initial trepidation, the driving part just became genuine fun. A couple of iffy shifts and missed apexes was (hopefully ) to be expected, and I now can't wait to get back to Castle Combe in a couple of weeks. I will get Quarry right!

The car
You know how many writers make a huge deal of visiting factories? The illustrious gates at Maranello or Sant'Agata evoking memories of great cars and stunning drives. Not so much at Caterham Dartford, a fairly nondescript unit in an industrial state. Still, we could have been collecting the Seven from a multi-storey car park for all I cared, the excitement was unbearable!

Entry procedure like a Tekken special move combo

The assembly line at Caterham was packed, surely a good sign. There were Seven 160s and 620Rs in abundance actually, along with what looked like a few Supersport Rs also. Then sat at the end of the line by the door was our Seven looking fabulously utilitarian with its unadorned white paint, basic wheels and rudimentary hood.

In my haste, I attempted to get in without expert instruction. The pictures will hopefully demonstrate what an utter mess I made first time round. With the hood on it's especially tight on entry but comfortable enough once ensconced in the seat. Until I realised the harnesses were under my bum. Having had a, erm, detailed display of how to belt up a harness at the ARDS day involving championship coordinator Jennifer Grace and horrendous embarrassment, I thought it would be comparatively easy. Oh no, more practice required!

The Caterham Academy Sevens don't have a heater but, presumably just out of spite, the car is fitted with a switch for one to remind the driver what they're missing. All the other basic controls are scattered across the dash. The fuel filler cap key is the same Rover item I used to start my 25 as an eager 17 year-old.

Symbolic driving out of the factory pic

Having not covered many miles yet (frustrating, but I will make up for it) there's not an awful lot to report on the driving side. It's the immediacy of every control that is so shocking at first, and the predictable intensity from being in something so light. The glorious feel of unassisted steering is something I can't wait to experience further. Maybe the rain will stop one day soon as well.

So that's how the Academy season is going so far. More to come after a few more miles in the Caterham; bring it on!