Justin Hynes reports on the Uniroyal Fun Cup, the race series that brings track thrills to the common man.
Six in the morning. The body is unwilling, the mind is weak. Shoulders are aching, my back is sore and my arms feel like lead weights as I struggle down to a hasty breakfast. I'm having a ball.
Really, having a ball. In an hour's time for the second day in a row I'll be clambering behind the wheel of a Uniroyal Fun Cup VW and driving it out to qualify for the afternoon's race at Donington.
Donington, the circuit upon which Ayrton Senna had one of his greatest wins, the 1993 European Grand Prix, the home of the legendary Craner Curves, a place steeped in racing history.
And the best part? This is arrive and drive racing. A one-make series, sponsored by tyre manufacturer Uniroyal with cars to buy or simply rent for a weekend. From circuits such as Donington to dream venues such as Spa-Francorchamps and Monza, individuals or teams of drivers can land, get briefed, suited and booted and behind the wheel of a serious racing car to indulge in some serious racing, and all for a couple of grand a weekend. Split three or four ways, it's about the cheapest, most enjoyable racing going.
Drivers must be in possession of a race licence but the series organisers can help with a fastrack course designed to get you up and racing as quickly as possible.
So what about the cars? Fun Cup cars feature tubular steel chassis, a mid-mounted 1.8 litre VW/Audi engine and a mildly modified Audi gearbox, race brakes and fully adjustable suspension. Each car is also fitted with Uniroyal Rainsport1 road tyres to keep it properly glued to the track. It is, in other words, a proper race car. Fast, and furiously exciting.
And the excitement hits you on your first lap out, even pussy-footing around Donington for a painfully slow navigatioon lap. The car feels superbly balanced, the brakes are good enough to feel confident enough, within a couple of tours, to bury the Beetle-silhouetted machine deep into corner before literally jumping all over the brake pedal and even after a five-hour race the brakes never seem to fade to the point of wariness.
Donington, though, is daunting. Across the finish line flat in fifth take you deep into the first long right-hander, Redgate, get it just right and you're beautifully set-up for the run down to the famous Craner Curves.
Flick the car across to the middle of the track, hit the 6,000rpm mark, thump the gearbox to fifth and float through the right, left sweep that takes you further downhill towards the tight right of the Old Hairpin. But it isn't as easy at it sounds.
It takes a long time to build up the confidence in the car and yourself, a long time to persuade yourself that the sudden plummet down is really approachable at full tilt in top gear, picking up pace as you tumble down the steep, steep hill.
But once the comfort zone is reached it was a remarkable feeling, knowing that you had pushed at the limits of both the car and your expectations of yourself.
The only trouble is that once through the section you have to contend with a really tricky uphill section through a long left-hander and then through a tight right-hander up to Coppice Corner, a dizzying blind right-hand turn that, for me, spelt defeat every time I approached. Never in the right gear, never turning in at the right point, never trusting enough to the Fun Cup car's ability to hold its line, to safely guide me through and out on to Starkey's Straight.
But if the back end of the circuit was giving me problems, it wasn't for public consumption. In true eve-of-destruction style, these were private concerns to be mulled over in a dark hotel room after the third brandy of the evening.
It sounds daft, and quite frankly is probably completely over the top, but it does inspire those moments, hours when you feel like a real racing driver, plotting strategy, lying awake picking over the nuances of each braking point, each turn in, each exit, each gear change.
Most driving experiences never offer that kind of involvement, never reward driver input with such pleasure. Or such pain.
Saturday morning and I'm aching all over from the previous day's test session. But wolfing down coffee and croissants, I can't wait to get in the car again.
The Irish team qualifies well - in the top 10. We're looking good. The first of our drivers, experienced at circuit racing, keeps us in touch with the leaders. It's the same with the second driver, again an old hand at single seaters. Almost two hours into the five-hour endurance event we're there or thereabout, just a few seconds adrift of the leading pack.
Then it's my turn - relatively inexperienced, but Donington savvy now, confident in both myself and the machinery at my disposal. The driver change happens in a blur. I'm strapped in by team-mates, the five-point harness pulled tight, the shoulder straps biting, keeping me flat against the seat. Fifty minutes to go, 50 of the most electrifying, most enthralling, most exciting minutes you'll ever have in a car.
Further information on the Uniroyal Fun Cup is available at: http: www.uniroyalfuncup.co.uk