We’re diving into the Maggotts/Becketts/Chapel complex at Silverstone, a flowing set of corners famous for being very quick, and very difficult to get right. I’m behind the wheel of a BMW M2 with more than 500bhp. It’s not my car. My passenger is a professional Le Mans driver. And he’s encouraging me to go faster.
This is my first experience of Hype Drive, a new premium track day experience from new company, Hype Motorsport. If you'd like to indulge your motorsport interest further, check out our other articles on the best Formula One books and our favourite Formula One gifts.
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The premise
If you want to take your own car on a trackday, it can be an overwhelming endeavour, with a lot to take on board and a lot to prep for. Not to mention a pricey one: entry fee, insurance, fuel and instruction – the best way to go a lot faster, safely – all cost money. You’re conscious those are your own tyres and brake pads you’re caning. And the chances are, if you get bitten by the track driving bug, you’ll want to upgrade to a faster or more exciting car before too long.
Likewise, if you want to explore the capabilities of a modern performance car, the circuit is the only place to find out what it can really do.
Hype Motorsport was founded in 2022 and aims to streamline the trackday experience by taking care of all of the above, and giving its customers the chance to drive three of the most exciting performance cars of the moment at a calendar of high-end trackdays.
Its customers drive the Hype Fleet of Alpine A110S, BMW M2 Competition and Porsche Cayman GTS, with a professional instructor alongside in each car. Hype takes care of the cars, the entry, offers a range of insurance options, and a warm place to base yourself and your guests in for the day with a smart modular set-up installed in one of the circuit’s garages with comfy chairs, a simulator to learn the track and refreshments.
We joined Hype as a customer at one of its first events in 2022 to experience a drive event through the eyes of a customer.
The cost
Hype partners with high-end trackday companies to offer a calendar of events through the year at different circuits. Prices vary depending on the circuit, and range, broadly, from around £600 to £900. Or £1750 upwards to rent one of its cars exclusively for the whole day.
The cars
All of them have had five-star reviews in CAR magazine and been on its cover at one point or another.
Each car in the Hype fleet has had subtle upgrades to make them track-suitable without spoiling their essential character. The Alpine and Porsche have had minor suspension upgrades and the BMW M2 that aforementioned ECU upgrade, and all have had uprated brakes and tyres.
They’re also all liveried in the company’s eye-catching green/grey colour scheme.
The instructors
No skimping on the quality of instruction. The trio of instructors there for the Hype Drive day we took part in at Silverstone could legitimately claim to be among the best drivers in the world.
Adam Christo is a professional racing driver for Mercedes-AMG, and has three 24hr wins to his name including the Nürburgring 24 Hours. Fellow pro David Pittard is part of Aston Martin’s works endurance racing team, making his Le Mans debut in 2022. And Max Coates is as quick in front-wheel-drive racing cars as rear-drive ones, having competed in the British Touring Car Championship and Renault Clio Cup, and arrives at Silverstone fresh from a win in the hyper-competitive Mini Challenge the day before at Brands Hatch.
The experience
All of the instructors are very friendly, patient and great company too. Hype provides its own helmets with intercoms so you can chat with your instructor throughout, and they encourage you to press on while also giving advice and tips.
Some of Hype’s customers have never driven on a circuit before and some have competed in motorsport before, and the instructors are equally encouraging to all. The company goes to great lengths to ensure people new to track driving aren’t intimidated, and that experienced drivers are challenged and all get something out of the experience.
They’re not shy about letting you push the cars: the BMW M2, which proves to be something of a rocketship, hits 150mph on Hangar Straight and the Porsche’s suspension tuning makes it a very agile, oversteer-biased car.
The little Alpine, meanwhile, is one of the surprises of the day: the slowest car (a relative term) but in many ways the most fun, with eager, nimble handling and the pace to embarrass many more powerful cars out there on the circuit.
Anything else?
Hype offers a driver-of-the-day trophy, and all customers also get a passenger lap with one of the instructors. We sat alongside Adam Christo in the M2 while he chased a Porsche 911 GT3 around Silverstone, an experience we won’t forget for a while.
Hype has partnered with Carbon Positive, a company involved in emissions-reduction projects, to help offset its carbon emissions over the season, which assuages at least a little of the guilt of the high-octane fuel burned.
Verdict
The three cars on Hype’s fleet are fantastic fun individually but each car has a very different character, so you experience a real variety through the day.
There’s a friendly, welcoming atmosphere and you’re well looked after in the hospitality unit built within the circuit garages, and that encouraging approach extends equally to complete novices as well as hard-bitten track regulars.
It’s not cheap – but you get what you pay for. Thoroughly recommended.
hypemotorsport.com
Pros
- Great car selection
- Guidance from professional racing drivers
Cons
- The fun has to end eventually