ANOTHER batch of celebrities are heading off to try their hand at tackling the World’s Most Dangerous Roads this weekend.
But not without first getting their comprehensive training to drive the mammoth 4x4s – on a farm site in Surrey.
I headed down to the training day in Surrey[/caption]
The celebs on the series get put through the same training[/caption]
I was put through my paces behind the wheel with the help of an expert[/caption]
Despite jetting off to Montenegro and Zambia for the new series, which airs on Sunday at 8pm on U&DAVE, all the celebrity guests are first sent to the course to learn how to operate the motors.
It’s a two-day car-jargon packed extravaganza that comes with instructions to bring a notepad, a licence, and a pair of wellies.
I headed down for the day – to do a speed-run version of the course – and see how I would fare up against the celebrity newcomers.
Given some of them have never been behind the wheel of a 4×4 before, I felt quietly confident I might just have the edge.
Gareth Jex, who runs the training course in Farnham, told me before getting behind the wheel: “The Land Rovers are very different to the cars that the average person will drive, with all their posh gadgets.
“We get a real range of expertise with the celebs turning up to the course – some of them have only had provisional licences.
“There are some stars who take it very seriously, for example, Jack Dee came along with a notepad, but others – well, we had one who came along and crashed straight into a tree.
“The cars certainly do go through their fair share – it’s safe to say not everyone is a natural behind the wheel.”
Avoiding crashing with a tree, therefore, meant I was already doing better than some of their famous guests.
Driving one of these motoring beasts is definitely harder than it looks, given you first have to forget “everything you know” about driving in the first step to success.
Former test driver Kevin Man warns me from the passenger seat as we hop in, surveying the muddy course ahead: “Just forget everything you know, and let the car do the work.
“You don’t need to put your foot on the break for this course, and let the car go where it wants to go in the grooves of the mud.
“And stop steering into every motion that you feel – aim for where you want to end up, not where you immediately want to be taken.
“Driving off-road is completely different to being on the tarmac.”
Confused? That’s normal, I’m told.
But, the advice works, and I’m soon navigating the mucky dips of ‘Hippo’s Bottom’, and the slippery slopes between the trees.
And despite a minor collision with a tree stump under the wheel, knocking the car into a slippy spin, I’m given a solid score of 8/10.
A second and third trip round the course only solidifies my confidence – bar one stall at the bottom of a mucky hill.
I’m soon whizzing round at speed and, confident in my ability, with a car full of passengers keen to be thrown around like kids at the fair taking a ride on the Waltzers.
Would it be possible in my Fiat500 at home? Highly unlikely, but at least I know what to do if I ever make a very, VERY wrong turn.
The new series of World’s Most Dangerous Roads starts Sunday 3rd November, 8pm on U&Dave. Stream every episode now on U.
The course involved muddy dips and hidden tree stumps[/caption]
The car was unlike anything I’ve driven before[/caption]
