Just a few photos from my very first time in a proper rally car. This was over year ago, January 2017. The moment I put the helmet on, I just knew…this is it! I mean, I’ve always loved cars. The adrenaline of speed and the smell of petrol. I’ve been very lucky to drive cars all over the world making while television shows (nothing to do with proper race or rally driving but still I've clocked up loads of kms over the years). Funny enough, driving for me is probably the best thing about making telly altogether!

This particular driving session was more for fun, just a little teaser of what it’s like to drive like a pro. I learnt about the correct sitting position in the car, how to hold the steering wheel and do a slalom. My instructor also went through the very basics of oversteer and understeer. I somehow haven’t got any photos of the actual BMW 3 we drove that day, but this is the exact same model:

Source: Rally24.com

I badly wanted to master the drift that day ha! Yeah.. well, I tried. Frankly, no proper rally / race driver does drifts hours on end (though there are separate drifting competitions out there and it's a skill it itself). I got a good couple of hours going round and round, learning to pull the handbreak, while operating the pedals and steering wheel all at the right time. I did manage a few half decent drifts, but most importantly I realised that it takes years and years of training to become a good driver. In my case, I just hope to be a solid amateur motorist and take part in race and rally events, rather than just watch other people do it.

I was always interested in everything petrol related. Wheels and wings. Even as a teenage girl. I loved the sound of the engine, the adrenaline of speed and that feeling when the wind hits your body when accelerating on a bike. Last but not least, I’m crazy about flying (my grandad worked in the Polish Air Force and flew airplanes in the war, so at least I’ve got someone to blame for that).

I did my car driving licence at the age of 17, followed by a motorbike licence shortly after. A few years later I started my Private Pilot’s Licence training. Completed all the theory exams and started building up flying hours, but for all kinds of reasons I never finished the course. Mostly because of the lack of cold hard cash (let’s be honest, it’s an expensive hobby and I earned pennies from teaching languages), uni, exams, boys, day to day distractions. Though after 10 years I’m finally planning to do something about it. I know, I know, it’s a busy schedule for 2018 as it stands, but if I raise enough funds I’ll bloody do it.

Coming back to cars, I regularly go to rallies and races as a spectator, follow the latest news and watch the F1 (fingers crossed for Kubica BTW, hopefully he’ll be driving for Williams next year). A lot of my friends are rally and/or race drivers. Slowly but surely, I’m training towards getting my very own racing licence (that’s for circuit driving), but also more rally driving experience, mostly on 4x4 cars, though I’ve been testing all kinds of vehicles over the last couple of months.