Michelin F1 Driving Experience
Share the spirit of the race!
In 2001 Joe won Michelin F1's online contest and was flown to the Valencia circuit for one day of race driving: a Renault Clio V6 Trophy, a Formula 3 single-seater, a hot lap in a Chrysler Viper GTS — and one lap at the wheel of a genuine 650 hp Arrows Formula 1 car.
Preface
In early April 2001, I watched a TV ad for Michelin F1. The French tyre manufacturer had its web address in that ad, so I decided to check out their website. There was a new contest every couple of weeks — and the next one started the following Monday: the first person with the correct answers to five Formula One questions would win a one-day "Michelin Driving Experience".
I set my alarm clock to make sure I could play the contest as early as possible. My entry was received on Monday, April 9th at 05:33:33. Although I had almost forgotten about it, Michelin F1 messaged me on April 25th: I was the winner of the 4th round, one of 14 lucky winners to participate in the Michelin Driving Experience.
This driving event was usually reserved for Michelin tyre dealers and other VIPs. It's a one-day event during which, after being shown basic race driving techniques, you get to drive several different cars around a circuit:
- Renault Clio V6 Trophy,
- BMW M3,
- Chrysler Viper GTS,
- Formula 3,
- …as well as a genuine F1!
October 9th, 2001 — getting there
The excitement is about to start. Last week my tickets for the trip to Valencia were delivered by UPS. Having packed my stuff last night, I leave home at 8:00 AM for the train station at Liège. The high-speed Thalys takes me to Paris Gare du Nord, then the RER B and Orlyval bring me to Paris Orly airport by 12:30 PM.
Due to the terrorist attacks in the USA last month, security in Paris has been increased a lot — wherever I look there's a gendarme flanked by two soldiers with machine guns. It leaves an awkward feeling, but I still feel very safe.
At the Iberia counter I meet Marie-Laure, the person responsible for the contest winners, the other lucky winners, a cameraman and our photographer. At 4 PM our group is complete; the camera never loses track of us — those videos will be used by Michelin Motorsport Marketing for promotional campaigns. We arrive at the Consul del Mar Hotel in Valencia around 10 PM after a brief stop-over in Madrid. Everybody is getting more and more excited. Dinner, then a few hours of sleep to be fit and fresh for the big day.
October 10th, 2001 — the big day
6:30 in the morning. A quick shower and breakfast, and at 7:30 we leave for the race track. After signing in, we're divided into groups with different-colored bracelets. I'm part of the international "yellow" group together with John Steel (England), Roelof Rumpt (Holland) and Frank Lehnert (Germany) — the other groups are all French winners.
Time to slip into our safety clothes and racing overalls. We get a t-shirt, shoes, gloves, head protection, and try on our race helmets. Once everybody wears the same outfit, the whole Michelin team welcomes us officially with some general guidelines about safety and the day's schedule.
The briefing is over quickly and we enter the pit lane, where all the cars are lined up. It's a very impressive sight — I still can't believe I'm actually standing right here on the track.
Pit-stop workshop
While the first group takes the wheel of the Clio Trophy and Formula 3 cars, our yellow group simulates a pit stop: changing the front and rear wheels on one side of an F3. Our first attempt takes 35 seconds; after several tries we improve to 22 — still a long way from the event record of 14 seconds.
Into the gravel with the Clio V6 Trophy
Helmets on for our first laps. Two of our group drive the Clios (285 hp), the other two the Formula 3 cars (205 hp, 425 kg). I choose the Clio V6 Trophy, following a professional driver who shows us the track and how to enter the corners. The force of the Clio's engine is brutal, and I have to get used to rear-wheel drive and the sequential gearbox.
After the first lap I want to experiment a little, leaving more distance to the car ahead so I can accelerate on the straights. It goes pretty well — until two corners come up quickly behind one another. Going into the second one I'm a bit too fast… I brake harder and shift down. Oh boy, was I wrong! The down-shifting in mid-corner gives me too much torque, the car spins, and I end up in the gravel pit. Six hands push the Clio out; the front spoiler needs repair and the car a good clean. Could this have happened on Bridgestone tyres? Yes, I think it would have…
The Formula 3
After a quiz about Formula One and Michelin (the grand prize: a Michelin race helmet — I only managed 2 correct answers out of 4), it's time to change cars. The mechanics strap me into the Formula 3 single-seater and click the steering wheel back into place. The F3 feels good: easier and more precise gear-shifting than the Clio, great fun — especially cruising down the start-finish straight at full speed in fifth gear.
Meet the Arrows A18
Before lunch we examine the Formula One car in one of the pit boxes: an Arrows A18 of 1997 with a Cosworth V8 producing 650 hp at 10,500 rpm. It weighs just 500 kg without the driver and tops out around 345 km/h (215 mph, at Hockenheim). As the mechanic only speaks French, I act as translator for our group (German, English, French, Dutch — and a little Spanish). The parts are very expensive — a clutch costs $12,000 — and most are carbon fiber and titanium. I can hardly wait to sit in it.
Free session in the rain
After a light lunch comes the free driving session: our own speed, our own rhythm, no instructor ahead, the five F3 cars leaving the pit lane at 45-second intervals. Just as our group is about to start, the first rain drops appear on our visors — wheels off, rain tyres on, while the other groups got a dry track.
During my first lap I hold back to see how the car behaves on the wet track. The rear tends to break out and I spin once in the last corner before the straight, but quickly shifting down to first lets me turn the car around. Once I know the track and how the car reacts on the damp tarmac, it becomes a lot of fun, faster with every lap. These Formula 3 cars are really my thing — much better than the Clio. I just love it!
The Viper and the Formula 1
The Michelin mechanics fire up the Chrysler Viper GTS — what a sound as the V10 revs! Steeve, the Viper driver, warms it up while two Formula One cars are lined up on the start-finish line. We'll drive one lap in the Arrows, not at full speed on the long straight for safety reasons.
Getting the Arrows going is the hard part: to not stall the engine you follow the chief mechanic conducting with his hands — right hand circling for the clutch, left for the accelerator. The power is enormous; not many of us take it beyond 3rd gear. Having 650 hp right behind you is frightening and very exciting at the same time. I suspect our F3 lap times were faster, simply because nobody wants to be the one who breaks the Formula 1…
Then it's my turn on the Viper's passenger seat — "jumping in" isn't really possible, you climb in through the safety bars and get strapped down tightly. Steeve flattens the accelerator: at the end of the pit lane we're already past 160 km/h. There's no time to be afraid or car-sick as we sweep through the corners at the physical limit of the car and our bodies. Watching how hard he works the wheel and the gearshift, my respect for race drivers grows with every corner. As I climb out, I'm speechless. The most exhilarating experience ever.
Finals and champagne
Team yellow makes the grand final of the wheel-changing contest: 16 seconds flat — a dead heat with our competitors, so we go again. Our time stays exactly the same; they shave it to 15.8. Too bad, they win… In the quiz finals the questions get easier ("Who won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2000?" — Audi. "What was the original color of Ferrari?" — Yellow), and the two finalists each get a helmet.
Over a glass of champagne, Michelin surprises us with presents: a framed photo of each of us next to the Arrows F1, a Michelin Driving Experience watch, a flag, postcards, stickers, a baseball cap, ear plugs, booklets… Michelin really took care of us. After a hot shower at the hotel, the whole group has dinner at a restaurant — paella and Spanish wine — discussing the day until the tiredness wins.
October 11th, 2001 — homeward
On Thursday morning at 7 AM we leave for the airport. At Paris Orly everybody says good-bye as we take different trains and planes home, promising each other to enter the contest again next year. This trip was very exciting: we learned a lot about driving various race cars and experienced the thrill of speed and adrenaline!
A big thank you to everybody at Michelin Motorsport Marketing for making this unforgettable, awesome and thrilling event possible.
Merci beaucoup,
Joe Savelberg
The full photo set
Forty-six photos from the day, courtesy of Michelin F1 — click any one to view it full size and step through the gallery.
Hungry for more speed? The contest that started it all was won from a desk in Belgium — the movies were filmed from the driver's seat. Watch the time-lapse movies from Spain or browse the full collection.