A day earlier I must admit to being a little crestfallen when I looked out the window of the Churchill Arms Hotel in Dover. Heavy cloud and intermittent showers didn’t bode well for my first Audi UK tour and my first trip to the continent in my 225 TTR. Nevertheless, I hurried through breakfast, bailed my wife into the car and headed down to the docks.
Once there we were met by representatives of Audi UK who handed over tickets, maps, driving directions and instructions for the treasure hunt. Aboard the ferry we discovered we had club tickets. Things were definitely looking up. The tour operator, Ron Brett, wandered over and introduced himself and checked that we were all clear on the driving instructions. They had used “tulip” diagrams to plot the route and they proved to be almost always spot on throughout the tour.
Day one saw us cover 172 miles from Calais to Chamouille. I was surprised how naturally I fell into driving on the other side of the road – only pausing briefly at the first few roundabouts to double check traffic flow. The morning was a quiet dawdle through picturesque French villages. Sadly the rain meant the top had to stay up. After lunch in Arras we continued our journey south-west, always travelling on secondary roads. Despite the weather, the driving was a joy.The afternoon was easy driving through the Somme with stops at several war memorials. If you ever want to try to even begin to understand what it must have been like in the trenches in World War One, visit the Canadian memorial in Beaumont Hemel, on a cold misty day. We strolled solemnly through the trenches, silently reading the various plaques. I must admit to leaving the place a little red-eyed and with a lump in my throat.
Later, as we arrived at our first hotel, where we gathered in the bar, met our fellow travellers, and forged a few new friendships. As we all had our own maps we’d spent the day driving to our own timetables. There was no pressure to be in any destination at any given time. Just be home for dinner. We ate and drank well and bedded down, wandering what tomorrow would hold in store.
A wet dawn on day two saw us heading to the nearby circuit at Folembray. Having not been on a track before, I was a little apprehensive, particularly given that it was tipping it down by the time we arrived. It didn't seem to bother anyone else who, all bar two, were track virgins like me.
Following the obligatory safety briefing we headed out on to the track. There were about 40 cars in total, doing 10 minute sessions, six or seven at a time. A few opted to watch, but most, like me, thought they’d have a go. We had exclusive use of the track for the day, so it was an opportunity too good to miss.
I LOVED IT! Double thumbs up! It's true what they say about tracks being so much easier and safer than normal roads... with the added bonus that you can scare the living bejeezuz out of yourself/the misses/passenger with what the car can actually do. I had no idea! Excited chatter over lunch relayed the thrills of the morning session. Most of us agreed that the wet conditions although unfortunate, had probably slowed us down to sensible speeds. With the exception of the A8, every model in the Audi range was represented. A keen driver in an RS6 stole the show. As I watched him blasting around I couldn’t tell whether the long flashes of white teeth from his passengers was caused by delirious excitement or sheer terror.After my first session, my wife exited the vehicle swearing to never, ever, be a passenger on a track again. Whilst I was having the time of my life, she was worrying about whether she’d ever see England again and coming to terms with the fact that a TTR has no grab rails. On my final session I really started to notice the brake fade, but thought I’d have a crack at flipping the ESP off – something I’d never done before. The very next hairpin is where I learnt what lateral slide is all about. As my heart rate red-lined, I pulled it back together and called it a day.
The next day we finally saw some sun. The top came down and we made our way to Reims through the heart of champagne country. Today was about driving on some great roads, through beautiful countryside, stopping at our leisure to try some of the local nectar. Life doesn’t get much better than this.
That evening we had a black tie dinner at Pommery. After a tour through a small section of the 18 km of caves and a champagne tasting we sat down to a magnificent five course dinner, accompanied, naturally, by vast quantities of champagne. What a great way to finish the trip. The following day saw more fabulous roads in the morning and an afternoon run on a the motorway back to Calais.It was a great trip and I highly recommend it. It’s heavily subsidised by Audi UK and represents fantastic value for money. For those who participated in the treasure hunt, there were some great prizes including the Audi Driving Experience at Silverstone. We’ll certainly be doing more of the other tours offered by Audi UK.
A final nod of thanks must go to Nick Broomhall, Events Manager at Audi UK, and Ron Brett from BRETTOURS for superb organisation of the event.
