Motorsport in the Emirates: F1 track driving, drifting and dune buggies

All right. Make sure you don't take the steering wheel home. Okay. All right. Removable steering wheel. So hopefully this isn't going to come off halfway through. I've learned where not to stand. I'm Paris Norris and I'm here to give you a glimpse into my world. Look at this. I've raced the world's fastest power boats, swam with sharks, and rode across the wild Pacific Ocean. We finally made it to the island of Kawaii. I'm on a mission to hunt down the biggest drills, meet the people that live extraordinary lives. Join me on a journey that will take you to the depths of the oceans and across challenging landscapes to places few have ever seen. Now, I'm always looking for some fast and furious fun, and the UAE is a playground for petrol heads. Whether it's supercars,

souped up cars, off-roaders, you name it, there's an event around it. But where am I going to start other than the biggest event in the UAE calendar, the Formula 1. So the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix is a particularly special race of the championship. It's held every year here in the Asar Marina Circuit, which is a great track, but it's also the last race of the championship. So, we don't just find out the winner of the race, we also find out the winner of the whole championship. So, a lot of people come here who are big fans, but also a lot of people come who just want to have a good time. So, there are many different ways you can enjoy the F1 experience. If you're a real fanatic, you'll find yourself in the Paddock Club.

This is where many of the teams are and the corporate sponsors. If you're here for a good time, many people bring their boats here and you've got everything from small yachts right up to super yachts parked right here in the AS Marina. Now, behind me is the W Hotel, which is literally placed right in the middle of the track. So, you can see the cars going by as you're enjoying your food and drinks there. So, there's many parties here in the restaurants, but we're going to go take a look at the richness, which follows the F1 around the world and ends with a big party right here. Let's go take a look. So, the rich list takes place here every year on the terrace of the W Hotel. It's my favorite place to come because

you have the race going on around you whilst you're in the depths of one of the biggest parties at the F1. Watching the best drivers in the world battle it out has inspired me. So, I've had a word with the guys here at the Yas Marina Circuit who said if I come back tomorrow morning when the track is clear, they'll get me in a car and teach me the art of racing. We're here at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi where I'm going to be learning how to be a race driver for the day. I'm going to be trained by some of their best coaches on the theory and then we're going to go around the track learning how to race drive. Something I've always wanted to do since I was a kid and

now I'm going to get to do it. Can't wait. Now you can see we stood just by the Yas Marina circuit here. This is where they race round on the on the Grand Prix. And we can't see much further than a few turns. So, we can't drive just yet. And the instructors have told me that we're going to be at least a little bit delayed. But the fog should clear up. And then I'm hoping that we get a chance to go around the track. We just finished the training in the health and safety room. We're going to be driving the Aston Martin GT4s. We're going down there now. It's time to rock and roll. So, I can hear the engine roaring behind me. The B's starting to go, so it looks like we're going on.

I can't wait. I'm here with Phil Ellis, who's the driving experience manager. Phil, nice to meet you. Nice to meet you, Paris. How are you? Yeah, very well, thank you. And I'm excited for today. So, what do we have planned today? Well, you're going to be driving, um, as part of our program, uh, which we call drive gas, uh, our Aston Martin GT4, right, which is a full race car. Um, Aston Martin is one of the few car manufacturers in the world who actually build racing cars as well as road cars. So, we're getting kitted up, getting helmeted on. Getting pretty excited seeing some cars race around there and the engines are getting my feelings going. So, we're here in the pit lanes and I'm here with the mass the instructor. Hey, how you doing?

What do we got planned today? So, we're going to drive Austin Martin GT4 on the track. All right. And I will be your instructor. So, I'm going to give you tips to be quicker and quicker lap after lap. Yeah. All right. The first lap, take it easy because it's a like a formation lap or for you to know the layout and I'm going to explain to you about the gear change, how fast we can go through the corners and then we start to push more and more and more till you reach your limits. All right. Right. We're going to get fast. All right. Okay. We got together. Yeah. Wow. Okay. Um brake position. So, press the brake. Full brake. Yeah. Full gas. Okay, that's fine. This is the maximum backwards, so I believe this position

will be good for you. Pretty tight in here. Yeah, not designed for big people. Yeah, but believe me, you'll have a lot of fun with this car. Especially when you drive really fast. Yeah. And when you break so hard, you will feel how cuz you want to stay to the car. Yeah. Absolutely. Right. Right. All right. Make sure you don't take the steering wheel home. Okay. All right. Removable steering wheel. So hopefully this isn't going to come off halfway through. No. No. It won't. I don't want to be All right. Perfect. You ready? I'm ready. I'll stand next to you. What a beast. What a beast. Sometimes I will help you with the steering angle. So don't fight. Be easy with me. Yeah. And uh worst case scenario, I'm going to use the brake pedal

here if you don't break enough. Okay. Okay. So you usually I will leave all the control towards you. And by the way there is no way to communicate after two laps. Okay. So you're going to be using hands. Yeah. So we use hands. So break. Go fast. Well done. You know and that's the wait for this guy. Okay. Yeah. Right. That's gentle. Jesus gear. Wow. What an engine. So from yellow, focus on the green. We go to the left. Very good. Stay more to the right. Woohoo. Third gear. Yes. Down. Off brake. Off brake. Turn the corner on the left. Very good. Light break and to the right. Very good. Start to accelerate all the way. One more gear down. Very good. Open. Go. By the way, 6,500 RPM. Yeah. Yeah. You can carry on

more speed. Yeah. Third gear. Six and a half. Change gear. Yeah. 6 and 1/2. really good. It's not too on the speed. Well done. Well done. go. Yes. Wow. Second. How's your experience so far? It's awesome. This is cool. You got the best job in the world. And the scariest. Yeah, the scary. Scary when guys like me come along. Oh my god, that was phenomenal. Oh, that was amazing. Really, I was bobbing it along. Well done. Thank you so much. Did I Did I get the hang of it? Yes. Especially in the first two laps, you was taking it easy. The third four laps you started to get more confident and I was pushing you, you know, with 6,000 6,500 RPM and then you start to get more excited. Yeah. How was my line? Good.

The lines, really good. Really good. That was so much fun. Really? I could do that all day long. I could do that all day long. Stay with us then. Yeah. Yeah, I did. I come to apply for a job now. I do my CV. No problem. Good. Thank you so much. That was awesome. Really, when you come down this far straight into the chicanees, it's like you have to have really good control. Anyway, I didn't spin out. I didn't crash. I'm still alive. That's what counts. That was so much fun. I'll do it anytime again. That's been an epic experience. But what other crazy things to petrol heads get up to when they're off the track. Of course, car park drifting. It's a growing motorsport that's catching the eyes and leaving the air smelling of

burning rubber. I've come down for a co-pilot experience with Abdo Fagali, the world champion drifter who has the world record for the longest drift. Woo! Look at the smoke. That's my perfume, buddy. I'm call. How did you get part of this? Uh, so I won a challenge. It's basically I had to drift around in a chair. And now we're here. We're driving in a Nissan 350Z, which I hear is a pretty powerful engine. And uh I've got a feeling I'm in for a ride. Next up, the guinea pig. Let's go. Oh. All right. Does this thing have airbags? How's it going? All cool, man. All cool. So, ready for some fun? Let's go. Let's go. Let's go. Heat. Heat. Woo! Woo! All right. All right. Let's do it. [Laughter] Awesome. Yellow. All I smell is

burning rubber. That's my perfume. That was awesome. That was really cool. That's fast, by the way. Feels different when you're in there. The barrier broke when you went past it, did it? You broke the barrier. Well, to be honest, the window was open. It almost hit me in the face. The tires are still smoking. Yeah. So, you've just seen me in the car with Abdul Fagali. Now, we're going to take a look at Ahmed Dahham and now the Red Bull sponsored athlete and Jordanian champion. Although, he's going to be driving a 1,200 brake horsepower car. That's almost four times what we were driving. So, I'm expecting some smoke. Heat up here. Heat. Heat. I've smelt enough burning rubber for the day. But now to churn some sand cuz there's one last motorsport that I want

to try and it's taking me off road. Today we're in Charger at the Red Bull Torque event where we're driving these babies around this track. Two cars, four laps, the winner takes it all. These babies are specifically designed for racing around on the sand. 1,200 brake horsepower engine and they're about 2 million Durham. So, serious pieces of equipment and I've heard they go pretty damn fast. Big boys are getting ready. They're going to be driving around there. Take a look how these guys roll. Two cars have been on. Take a look at how much sand displaced there. It's gone all up the side. It's dug into the ground and it's had a steamroller go over it just 10 minutes ago. So that just shows you how powerful these cars are. Tomorrow is the big day.

We got some of the region's best drivers taking it headto-head. And today they're going to be a private co-pilot experience. I'm going to drag you around here uh with some pretty high octane stuff. I am a hungry boy and this guy looks like he could be a good friend of mine. So, uh, what we got? We got some Arabic food, some kebabs on the go. There you go. That looks good. That go boom time. I'm up next in the Red Bull vehicle. This man's taking me around today in a co-pilot experience and uh we're going to have some pretty high octane stuff. Put it there. Wow. He says, "Oh, okay." Like this. Is that right? Yes. Right. Wow. Feels like I'm ready to take off. We're going to the moon. Yes. Heat. Heat. Heat up

here. Awesome. There, man. Thanks very much. Loved it. Thank you. That was awesome. Skitting around those corners, face full of sand, mouth full of mud. I don't think I've had so much fun in my life. Felt like I was going to fall out the car every time around the corner, but Abdullah didn't seem to care. He just kept driving. hotel Paris. How you doing? So, is this uh something you do every weekend? Yeah. Yeah, every weekend. Not for the price. Oh, really? Yeah. Is this yours? Yes. Nice. And And how many horsepower is this? Um 750. Nice. Nice. Yeah. So, you competing in the uh in the event tomorrow? Yes. Good luck. Thank you. We're going to watch you go around it again. Heat. Heat. You okay, Shane? Oh god. Yeah. I've learned where not

to stand. Hi. So, you can probably see now why the locals here are so passionate about high octane sports. And I have to tell you, if you ever find yourself in the passenger seat with Abdo Fagari, bring a spare pair of underwear. Hope you enjoyed the show. Till next time. Heat. Heat.