Driving experiences seem to have grown exponentially over the past few years, with a track day being a go-to gift for every car lover. But with so many to choose from, in so many different locations, how on earth do you decide? We’ve got you covered with a rundown of the best tracks, experiences and cars available.
Sports v Offroad
Choosing the type of driving experience you want to get really depends on the person you’re gifting to, think about whether they want a high-speed race around a track or more of an adventure in a 4×4. Find out their favourite car or whether they idolise Lamborghinis or Land Rovers and that should give you a great starting point for deciding which type of driving experience to go for.
Sports car experiences are great for someone who is more into high-powered, high-speed cars. These are often short experiences (depending on which package you go for), usually only taking the driver on two or three laps of a track (again, this depends on the track and package you choose).
These drives are nearly always supervised, and there will be an instructor sat in the passenger seat with you, directing the driver on when to break, accelerate and how to take the corners.
With offroading, the experience will usually last a little bit longer, this is because the driving needs a little more care – you can’t be whizzing around at 90 miles per hour through rivers and over rough terrain! Land Rovers or Range Rovers are the usual cars of choice here as they are world famous for their multi-terrain capabilities.
These are often great for if you want the experience to be shared, there’s plenty of passenger room in the rear of the car and you can enjoy the excitement too!
UK High-Speed Tracks
Donington Park, East Midlands
Donington Park is set in the heart of the country, just off the M1 and next to East Midlands Airport. This track is usually more popular with motorcycle racing, as the home the British MotoGP, there are still car driving facilities available at this location.
Donington is a really popular location for track days as one of the most well-known circuits in the UK.
Silverstone, East Midlands
The home of F1’s British Grand Prix, gift the circuit that Lewis Hamilton and Ayrton Senna have graced to an F1 fanatic. Silverstone 25-minute minute drive from Milton Keynes and is easily accessed from the M1.
There are a wide variety of cars available to drive at Silverstone, from Lamborghinis to Porches to Ferraris.
Goodwood, South East
Goodwood is a historic race circuit, and the only classic circuit in the world to maintain it’s original route. The track is renowned for its yearly event Goodwood Revival, where vintage cars and motorcycles that would have competed on the original circuit are showcased.
The Goodwood track itself offers track days in BMWs exclusively, but more cars are available from third party vendors.
Oulton Park, North West
Based in Cheshire, just 13 miles from Chester city centre, Oulton Park is famed for its rapidly changing gradients and has the most height changes of any track in the UK. Oulton Park is also one of the only UK tracks to offer experiences in a high-performance single seater race car, they also offer track days in a BMW M4.
UK Offroad Tracks
Mud Mayhem offers offroading experiences in 44 locations across the UK and Ireland, they accommodate big group bookings as well as single drivers and will take you through mud, down ditches and across fields.
There are so many options for offroading experiences, with the abundance of countryside and private land across the country there are lots to choose from.
Driving experiences are perfect for the person who loves to drive and would love the chance to get behind the wheel of a high-performance car. Whether it be in a fast paced sporty model or an adventurous 4×4 offroad experience, give them an experience they’ll never forget with a driving gift.
Have a track day to offer? Get in touch to see how you can be featured on Gifted Penguin.
