Ever wondered how kids could get into racing before they're old enough to get a licence and do track days? Nobody would ever suggest sitting them on a bike with no track experience and throwing them straight into a no-holds-barred club race melee. In any case the ACU demand that new racers get some basic training first. Race schools provide the answer, but there's not much choice for under-18's - one operates at Darley Moor, which is a pit of a circuit, and the other operates at Donington Park, home of the British GP. Tough choice

Provided they have reasonable machine control skills the Haslam Race Academy provides a way in (or simply an enjoyable day out) for kids as young as 12. They don't teach ab initio riding so some knowledge of steering and using gears is a must. My son JJ has been doing MX for several years so this seemed like a good time to see what he thought of the black stuff.

Booking is quite straightforward via the website, but popular summer dates unsurprisingly get booked well in advance. The On-Track session is aimed at the beginners, costing £180, and riders can progress through the school's Premier (CBR600) and Elite (Fireblade) sessions. The fee gets you 40 minutes track time with only the On-Trackers on track, plus use of the fully insured bike (CBR125 for the young'uns and CB500 for the older kids) and full riding gear.

Sign in at the paddock centre at 8.15, the chance to buy pics of yourself during the day for £20 if you want, and get kitted up ready for a sit-down briefing session at 8.40. They ran through the basics of racing lines, track etiquette and flag signals.



Finally out to the bikes. These are all kept in top condition even though a few showed the scars of use. Each rider is allocated their own instructor who stays with them for the full track session, and after a chat to get to know each other and brief them on the progress of the session they're off at 9.00, taking it easy with the instructors in front showing the right lines and pointing out peel-off and apex cones.







Halfway through the session the pair come back in for another short chat then away again, this time a bit faster.




Continued.....

It feels like barely a few minutes and then it's all over, JJ is coming back all smiles telling me he had over 100 on the clock



As the next school group head out on their 600s we take a break and they do a group debrief and hand out certificates, then head out to the main paddock where the school has set out a handling course. This struck me as very similar to CBT as it includes cone riding and braking techniques...... though the CBT doesn't include knee-down practice! Good learning material for the youngsters though I felt the paddock exercises would have been better done before the track sessions to build some familiarity and confidence in the riders (some of whom were not very confident at all).



oops





All in all, a great day out whether or not your kid is keen on getting into racing. Very well run and presented. The bikes, kit and instruction were excellent, and of course Donington itself is awesome. My only criticisms are that the paddock training would have been better done first, and the time on track was a bit short for the money.

Overall, 8/10 - recommended