To start with, I missed the memo on immediately accelerating away from the brake box and it took a frantically waving marshal to get me going again. As a result my score suffered, and on my second go I didn’t stop for long enough, leading to a penalty. The third time around we pulled it out the bag, achieving a not-to-be-sniffed-at time of 77.88 seconds, very much on the more favourable side of middle of the pack.
Goldilocks, as I dubbed the car, and I performed similarly throughout the day, decreasing my scored by 10 to 20 seconds each go. Penalties, however, were abundant – for taking the wrong course and, on a couple of occasions, absolutely decimating cones. As competitive as I usually am, I was having far too much fun to take it to heart, sliding the little car through the cones with all the enthusiasm of a child standing on the back of a shopping trolley.
Ultimately, I ended up 31st out of nearly-50 competitors – not bad considering I’d never driven a Caterham, nor on track before. And, while it may have been my first AutoSOLO, it certainly won’t be my last.
If an AutoSOLO sounds right up your street (or circuit), why not take a look at joining the GRRC...
Photography by Joe Harding.