F1 win sees Toti petro-head join Lotus for a day
Twenty-four people with no racing experience from different countries took part in the day.
A Toti motoring enthusiast’s dream came true when he got to experience high speed driving with a Formula 1 team last week.
Emanuel Maria flew to Nice-Le Castellet in France to join the Lotus Formula 1 team at the Paul Ricard Circuit on Wednesday, 1 October, thanks to winning a competition.
Twenty-four people with no racing experience from different countries, including South Africa, Canada, Singapore and Romania took part in the day.
“I have been a racing enthusiastic all my life and have been involved in rallies and circuits in my young days,” he said. “My son followed in my steps and he has been part of the Toyota motorsport team.”
Emanuel arrived at the 3,853km long circuit at 7am in the wet. He was soon immersed in general and safety briefings, telemetry analysis, physiotherapist sessions, starting procedures and an F1 briefing.
“Before you get a chance to drive the Formula Renault and F1 car, you have to go through a fitness test, reflex actions test, study the racing flags, study the circuit with professional racing drivers with regards to where to brake hard, where to change gears and which gears to use at each corner. You have to study the circuit, otherwise you will be out on the first corner.”
The car he got to drive was the Formula Renault 2.0, made of a carbon fibre chassis, powered by a 1998cc engine with 200BHP, mated to a six-speed sequentional gearbox, weighing 450kg and reaching speeds of up to 280kmh.
“The car is not the most comfortable to drive. There are no cushions on the seat and you are in contact with carbon fibre. Your legs lie straight and you can only move your feet – the right one for the brake and accelerator, and the left one for the clutch for the start in first gear. After that you don’t use the clutch at all. Gears are changed via paddles on the steering wheel.
You feel every single vibration of the car going through your body. Your arms are in the same position from start to the finish and you only move your fingers.
The steering wheel only moves a few centimetres left or right through direct steering.
After you’ve been on the circuit a few times following professional drivers, then only are you on your own.
It was not raining very heavy, but I wear glasses, so if I closed my visor, my glasses steamed up. If I left my visor open a little, I got water spray in.
Nevertheless, the adrenaline kicked in and I pushed the car to the limit in the wet, without taking too many chances.”
After 10 laps only two drivers were still out on track, Emanuel and a Romanian, the others having lost control.
“After that was the F1 cars, but unfortunately the rain came down harder. Safety played a big role and the day was over.
For me it was the ultimate experience and I was surprised with the news that at the end of the day I was the fastest driver with an average speed of 200kmh. My prize was a brand-new racing suit of Lotus F1 Team driver, Romain Grosjean.
Today I have more respect for an F1 driver, because I have been there.
Thanks to Shield, Unilever and Mia Haywood of Gorilla Creative Media for the hard work for me to go to France.”
