Page 80 - Cool Britannia

The following day the yellow TSR sits with its front and rear body panels next to it and it’s thick umbilical cord emerging from the front. I’m packing the drone so I can take it back to the hotel when Troels leans into the doorway and asks if I’m ready to take the TSR out. I take hold of the roll cage and slide through into the driver seat. Fastening the four of the fve points on the harness whilst Treols points out a few switches and what they do; ignition switch on and the electronic dash comes to life, I push the starter button and the 5.8ltr Zenvo V8 wurrs into life. This time there’s no manual gear shift, just paddles and I love paddles. I click into frst and ease her out of the garage and into the snow.A blip of throttle and back steps out a fraction as the power goes down and I accelerate through the falling snow up the long straight access road of the Arctic Test Center. I peel off left onto the handling circuit. The noise and feel of this stripped out race car bring every sense alive. The front and rear aero parts brushing the snow as I poor on the power. I love this car. The Orange ST1 was great fun, but this is mind blowing. I’m piling on the laps and getting braver and braver with the power. The Zenvo turns in like it’s on a race track, even through the back section of the circuit where it tends to under-steer, hoofng in the power just puts the nose right on the apex. Nigel and some of the guys have followed up in the support cars, I suspect with ropes and shovels on hand to dig me out of the snow bank, but they’re not needed today, I’m having great fun, my laps are getting quicker, I’m up and down through the box, which incidentally has possibly the quickest gear change of any car, and no tank slapper moments. Some twenty-odd laps later I’m starting to read data from the dash, so I decide it’s time to bring her in before a lapse in concentration embarrasses me. I stop the car in front of the guys and climb out. I shake Troels hand, what a great car, easy to drive, immense power yet I get the feeling even this beast in race trim would be a pussy cat around central London in traffc.80