The Nissan Freerace Freefarce?
By Dan Cross | PUBLISHED January 19, 2010
Do young boys still want to be train drivers when they grow up? Surely with the constant backlash and negative opinion of rail operators, the romanticism of perhaps one day operating a locomotive through the English countryside has all but vanished now?
If that’s not in vogue with the kids, I’m pretty sure that becoming a racing car driver is sitting quite high in their goals in life, and let’s face it, who wouldn’t want to be immersed in the glamorous world of F1, rather than do the London Marylebone to Birmingham line everyday?
Being the wrong side of 25, any potential I now have of pursuing a racing career has all but disappeared. But it’s ok, I’m a realist. I accept I now have a life of tedium ahead of me. And if truth be told, my driving skills are probably more akin to Morgan Freeman in “Driving Miss Daisy” anyway.
Yet, I was presented with a glimmer of hope just a month ago. An opportunity of perhaps being able to join the good life, a chance to unleash my potential behind the wheel and turn heads with my amazing speed and prowess.
Do you horde old copies of Autosport magazine? Go route out the December 10th issue from last year, the one with Ayrton Senna on the front cover. Open it up and have a good look at the first couple of pages. You should see a strangely elusive, yet very enticing two page advertisement encouraging those with a set of ‘big balls’ to ‘prove it’ by entering ‘Europe’s newest, toughest driving challenge.’
So that’s exactly what I did. I submitted my details to take part in the very first UK FreeRACE event, despite the fact the whole thing was shrouded in an air of mystery, bar a page on Facebook which held about as much information as an ingredients label on a bottle of water.
A few days into the New Year I received an email in my inbox congratulating me on being selected to attend the FreeRace tryout stage at Long Marston Airfield with a week’s notice to spare. This, along with the actual date of the event, would later change due to the adverse weather conditions that struck most of the UK, and as such the 200 drivers chosen would need to take a trip down the A43 to Silverstone instead.
But one question still remained: just who is covering the costs of this driving equivalent of “Pop Idol?”
Answer: Nissan.
But despite the announcement of a large Japanese car manufacturer backing the event, something didn’t quite ring true with me. My doubts, combined with a conflict in my hectic diary, which involved attending Autosport International in Birmingham, saw me opt out of showcasing my racing talent for all to see. And by the looks of things, it was just as well I did.
Of the 200 participants who showed up, only 12 were selected to return the following day and take part in the national final, where finally four finalists would be chosen to fly the flag for the UK in the grand final held somewhere in Europe.
Interested to know the names of the four individuals who made it through?
Say “hello” to Nick Tandy, Robbie Kerr, Ryan Lindsey and James Littlejohn.
Those of you who have an interest in the various rungs of the single-seater career ladder will have heard of at least one or two of these gentlemen. But just in case, let me provide you with a brief idea of what I would have been contending with had I bothered to attend.
Nick Tandy: participated in British F3 and F3 Euroseries last year, before taking part in a couple of Porsche Cup rounds.
Robbie Kerr: best known for the three seasons he spent driving for Team Great Britain in A1GP with three wins to his name.
Ryan Lindsey: a 21-year-old karting hotshot who has competed in several national categories.
James Littlejohn: experienced driver who has GT and Asian F3 championship experience under his belt.
Not a bad selection of drivers I’m sure you’ll agree. But hang on a minute, what was the point in letting the public enter this event when clearly they had next to no chance of winning it? The whole thing seems very suspicious, with the only reason Nissan inviting 190 odd ‘average Joes’ along was perhaps to suggest that everyone had a fair chance of winning – when clearly they had next to no hope at all.
This could well have been a stepping stone for someone to get into motor racing. To provide someone with a chance of leaping out of the doldrums of arrive-and-drive karting on the weekend and make a name for themselves.
It’s a bit like going on Master Chef and finding out you’re going up against Gary Rhodes or Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall. You just wouldn’t bother if you knew in advance, as you would know full well they would grind you down with their pestle and mortar.
You have to wonder what the point of all this was. I’m willing to bet that most of you reading this had absolutely no clue about the event before I posted this up on here for you to read, and any TV coverage that might see the light of day will probably be stuck on some obscure satellite channel anyway.
So what has Nissan got to lose by omitting professional drivers? Absolutely diddily squat. Instead they’ve probably got a PR disaster on their hands. At least they ruddy well ought to.
10 Comments
Adie on January 20, 2010 at 7:59 am.
Morning.
Feel exactly the same, I received my invide with 7 days notice. To attend trials on a Friday. Wasn’t impressed as I, like many others work Monday to Friday.
Bit of a waste of time too, 3 hours to Silverstone for 5 minutes in the car not knowing what the event entailed to drive 3 hours back again. Pleased I didn’t go as being up against those 4 would have left me pretty miffed!
Dank on January 20, 2010 at 9:32 am.
Exactly. I read a few accounts on the Facebook group from some people who booked hotels to participate. If that were me I would be serious annoyed having wasted both time and money for something I probably had as much chance as winning as the lottery.
Tulula on February 15, 2010 at 11:50 am.
The definition of a profession (as in a professional driver) is to receive remuneration for your work. I can guarantee you that at least 2 (if not 3) of those drivers above do not make a living from racing cars. So wind you neck back in and have a think about what you have written. They could do with the £10k for their racing as much as anyone else so why exclude them?
Dank on February 15, 2010 at 12:07 pm.
Rather than picking holes in defining the terms on which a driver is classed as a ‘professional,’ why not concentrate on the fact due to the complete and utter lack of information prior to the event, not one entrant knew they would be competing against those with a wealth of experience behind the wheel of a car?
Tin top, single seater, they’re naturally talented individuals who would, and did, run rings around anybody who they went up against. The whole thing was geared up for racing drivers, from the written tests to the event in Silverstone’s car park. So, unless you fancied a test drive in the Nissan, why bother turning up?
I believe the event could have been handled much better and I’m still not sure what the point of the Freerace is to be honest, certainly to me it seems like a lot of effort and investment for negligible benefit.
Vinnie Tennant on February 19, 2010 at 5:04 pm.
I hear your point Dank but isnt that the nature of competition? There are always going to be people who are better than you (and probably quite a few worse as well!) Whether you’re a “Professional” or “Joe amateur” nobody likes to lose but this is the point of sport. Would it have been a better event if it was handicapped? Doubt it. If you went to a arrive and drive karting event would you be kicking off if Jenson Button turned up for a bit of fun? Found the video of the Sunday event here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRcozC-Z6CY and it seems the Joes did rather well!
Dank on February 19, 2010 at 6:14 pm.
I’m all for competition, so long as the overall goal is within the realms of possibility. Going head-to-head with several drivers who have driven in categories only a few rungs away from F1 is a bit much to expect of your ‘Average Joe’, some of whom had booked hotels so they could enter a contest they couldn’t ever hope to win.
I’m not disappointed in the drivers who won, I’m a fan of Nick Tandy (see here) and given the situation he’s in at the moment, I too would have probably entered.
Stu on February 23, 2010 at 6:34 pm.
Hey Dank, I went to this too. What a let down! I thought driving a 370z in the wet round some cones in nothing other than first gear was a pretty poor gauge of someones racing talent. We arrived at about 9am and were done by 10am and were asked to wait until 8pm to find out if we had made it into the last 12 and would need to come back the next day. But they said we would not be contacted if we had not made it through even if they had made their decision hours earlier (annoying!).
Luckily we had some free tickets and spent the rest of the day at the autosport show and luckily my mates car was LPG!! I came up from Devon and nearly booked a hotel too (glad i didn’t). Anyway we couldn’t be bothered to wait around for two hours after the show and went home but i just wish they had said more about what we were doing. If i’d known we were supposed to drive round a load of cones and do the odd doughnut i would have gone to my local tescos car park or something.
I have no idea why people who have commented, don’t understand that it is dam cheeky asking people to travel half the length of the country for something most of us actually had no interest in at all. I think they thought that we would all kill to get a go in a “race car” AKA stripped out 370z. I would have preferred a 30 year old Nissan Sunny and a decent challenge TBH. As you say, good on the guys who got through but i wish I’d known 1, what it was all about and 2, who i was realistically up against.
lukej on March 17, 2010 at 9:53 am.
Stop maoning and take it for what it was a chance to drive a race prepared Nissan 370Z. I am a close friend of one of these drivers, I know how hard they try to get budget to race and frankly they deserved a chance at it. It was about being the best natural driver and some members of the public did get through it was done purely on capability and as a result time trials, if you were fast you went through simple.
Dank on March 17, 2010 at 9:59 am.
Once again, for the avoidance of any doubt, I’m not having a pop at any of the drivers who participated…
jamesgrainge on November 16, 2010 at 4:32 pm.
I was there, i also set the fastest time in my practice lap, yes i know people probably wont believe me, bu tthen i hit a cone on ym timed lap, the instructor was really dissapointed but i agree that it was stacked as i didnt get through?!?! I am now chasing a route into motorsport but it is too expensive regardless of the talent you have. It was fun but no reward for normal people, i was hacked off that 9 of the 12 drivers were professionals.