Taking to the track for the first time ever

Doing something for the first time usually goes one of two ways. You’ll either hate that particular activity for the rest of your life, or you’ll be hooked and left eagerly anticipating the next opportunity to participate in said endeavour again.

Now I’ve never driven a car on track before, so when I was invited to take a selection of BMW M cars around the historic Goodwood Circuit, I desperately hoped the experience would fall into that latter category. Cars are something I’ve always loved, and the opportunity to spend a morning blasting around a circuit seemed pretty choice to me.

However, mixed in with the excitement of my first track day was an underlying sense of dread that I would somehow run out of talent in spectacular fashion. Would I spin out in an M4, or put an M2 into a wall while travelling backwards? All of these thoughts had crossed my mind in the days leading up to the event.

Annoyingly, they were still present when I found myself at the driver briefing, just before we were about to head out in the cars. Tiff Needell, of Top Gear and Fifth Gear fame and an accomplished racing driver in his own right, was there to introduce us to the track.

Words such as “narrow”, “fast” and “prestigious” were all used with great enthusiasm to describe the circuit – presumably with the intention of getting us drivers pumped up before we got behind the wheel.

However, in my case, they had the irritating effect of making those reservations I had seem that much stronger.

The briefing was soon over, and we were herded out into the pit lane, where we were greeted by an enviable selection of metal. There were a BMW M6s, M4s and M2s, as well as a Mini John Cooper Works Challenge to name but a few of the cars at our disposal.

As we only had half an hour on track each, there was no way we’d get to go out in all of them, so I decided to jump behind the wheel of an M4 for my first three laps.

Luckily, there was an instructor in the passenger seat. A quick bit of mental arithmetic told me my chances of having an off had dramatically reduced, which was a good thing.

So, with slightly more confidence than I had started with, I gave the car in front of me plenty of room and planted my foot.

The M4’s traction control cut in immediately as the rear tyres struggled to find grip on the damp circuit, but soon the car launched itself off down towards the first bend.

With 425bhp and 550Nm of torque, the M4 is a quick car – and I wasn’t even pushing it. Not yet, anyway. I rounded the first bend and punched it again towards the next corner. Before I knew it, the first lap was over and I was starting to feel a lot more confident, braking later, turning in more aggressively and accelerating harder out of the sweeping turns.

By the time I got to my third and final lap in the M4, any reservations I had were long gone. I not only had a feel for the car, I now knew the layout of the track as well. I even had to slow down so as not to get too close to the driver in front of me.

After cruising back down the home straight and parking up, I jumped out of the M4 and into an M2. This was a car I’d heard many good things about, and couldn’t wait to head out on track brimming with my new-found confidence. After starting it up, I even asked the instructor if I could switch the car into Sport mode – an idea he shut down almost immediately. For legal reasons.

It quickly became apparent the M2 was a completely different beast to the M4. It uses the same 3.0-litre straight-six engine, but with 365bhp as opposed to 425bhp.

However, it’s smaller, lighter and has a shorter wheelbase – meaning it feels much tighter and sharper than its big brother. You really don’t notice that it’s the best part of 60bhp down on the M4 – the M2 is still a rapid thing.

In fact, because I was now familiar with the layout of Goodwood circuit, the M2 actually felt faster. After a lap of getting to know the feel of the car, it was back to going as fast as my (limited) talent would allow.

Before I knew it, I was at the end of my third – and final – lap of the morning. I parked up and hopped out of the car, hoping we would have time for one more go.

Unfortunately, we didn’t, but that was okay, because I was buzzing for the rest of the day. I’d gone from being nervous about my first track experience, to looking at how to get a racing licence on the internet when I got home.

So, thankfully, this hadn’t been one of those occasions where you’re put off an activity forever. Personally, I couldn’t wait to get my next fix.

Oh, and if I were to pick between the M4 and the M2? Without a doubt, my money would go on the M2. Not only is it cheaper, it also feels like more of a hooligan than the M4, and that counts for quite a lot in my book.