Sporty driving with the classic
05/13/2025
This is far too much stress for the mechanics, they say. Others say that one kilometer on the slopes is equivalent to ten kilometers on the road. And anyway: the idea of going out on the racetrack in a moderately dynamic, old or even ancient car is completely absurd.
I don't quite agree with that. I see a day on a circuit - a "track day" - as an excellent opportunity to test yourself and your car.
Certainly, some people have been driving their classic cars for ages; they drive carefully and deliberately. The car is never asked to do what it was once built to do. I feel the same way. The longest relationship I've had with a car is now 34 years old.
But when I drive it, I do so in normal traffic, in the midst of the hustle and bustle and with all those road users who, unlike me, are not traveling consciously and with foresight. You share the road with commuters rushing to work; with moms who are driving while keeping an eye on their child; with people who see driving as an activity like brushing their teeth or chewing gum. I don't want to dwell on this, except to say that they are all involved in the traffic situation. And I come along in the middle of it all with my bias-ply tires or my single-circuit braking system as active safety features and a steering column aimed straight down the middle of my sternum as a passive safety feature - so passive that you can forget about the safety aspect. I'd rather - like the colleague from the Jaguar Driver's Club on the Anneau du Rhin in the picture - share the road for a few laps with people who know what they're doing.
And I want to know what a car without ABS, without ESP and - who knows, maybe even without hydraulic shock absorbers - does at the limit. That's why I think it makes sense now and again to give an older car a good going over - not to abuse it, but to use it. Because then I can assess a little better what could happen if the worst comes to the worst, whether there is a chance of saving myself - and even better: the antique car - or at least minimizing the damage. Or to put it another way: vehicle control is still the first step to safe driving. Of course, I consider sufficient sleep, no addictive substances and the like to be a basic prerequisite for this. Of course, I can also put the pedal to the metal on an open, lonely stretch of road (perhaps not exactly along a row of trees, in case the unregulated rear axle overbrakes and causes the car to skid). But I find it much more pleasant to do this on a dirt track; not when a colleague is just a car's length behind, of course, but with a bit of space around me and my car.
And nobody needs to drive fast. Yes, even a racetrack is not essential. Perhaps a large square or an industrial site with a run-out will do; maybe there will be an opportunity at a club outing to incorporate a small course for vehicle control and skill instead of a coffee stop? The best thing about it is that it's also fun. I wish you a safe journey!
