Race

MSV RaceMaster

Price: From £149  Contact: 08950 9000, www.msvdrivinggifts.com

Where? Brands Hatch, Kent, and Oulton Park, Cheshire

It’s hard to pick the main attraction with this experience, as you not only get to lap in a single-seater, but also the latest BMW M3. The session starts with time in the 420bhp M3 Coupé with an instructor showing you the correct lines around the circuit. Then you try your skills in a Van Diemen single-seater, complete with wings and a 125bhp Audi motor.

Thruxton Racing Car Driving Experience

From: £189  Contact: 01264 882222, www.thruxtonracing.co.uk

Where? Thruxton, Hampshire

This package puts you in the kind of car Lewis Hamilton and Kimi Raikkonen raced on their way to Formula One – a Formula Renault. There are five laps in the winged single-seater, but before that you get two laps with an instructor, then you take the wheel of a Porsche Cayman for four laps. The three-hour session finishes with a high-speed lap with the instructor.

Racing School Formula One Driving Experience

Price: £1,450  Contact: 0800 234 6034, www.racing-school.co.uk

Where? Three Sisters circuit, Lancashire

Reckon you could do better than the grand prix stars on a Sunday afternoon? Then here’s your chance to discover that it’s nowhere as easy as they make it look. It’s not cheap, but you get laps of the Three Sisters circuit in a sports saloon, Aston Martin, Ferrari, F3 and F1 car, and the price includes overnight accommodation and meals.

Extreme Dodgems

Price: £129  Contact: 0121 357 7328, www.incarace.co.uk

Where? Birmingham, West Midlands

For real racing rather than a track experience, it has to be the stock cars of Extreme Dodgems. Drivers take part in practice, two eight-lap heats and a 10-lap final. The four winners then go through to the eight-lap Showdown Shootout. Although the cars are only 1.3-litre-engined hatchbacks, thrills and spills are guaranteed.

Castle Combe Single Seater Experience

Price: £179  Contact: 01249 782929, www.castlecombecircuit.co.uk

Where? Castle Combe, Wiltshire

Formula Ford is the first rung on the ladder to F1, and this package gives you six laps in one of the series’ racers. There is instruction and analysis in a Ford Fiesta before six laps in the FFord. Alternative packages let you drive a Ford Focus ST and Lotus Elise, as well as the single-seater. Or opt for a longer, advanced session in the FFord.