Have you ever wanted to drive a Formula 1 car but know that you’re too old, don’t have the skill or lack the time and money to rise up the ranks? A new program called GP Experience claims to be the first program of its kind in North America to give people the chance to get behind the wheel an F1 car, as part of a day of high-performance driving.

The day includes instruction lapping in go-karts and eventually steps up to driving supercars. Of course, the climax is getting to do three laps in one of GP Experience’s former F1 cars. There are also chances to do rounds of the circuit in the program’s F1X3 three-seaters piloted by a professional.

Obviously, you’re not driving Sebastian Vettel’s championship-winning Red Bull from last year. According to GP Experience’s FAQ, the chassis for its F1 cars are from between 2005 and 2008, and they use V8 or V10 engines from Cosworth, Judd and Peugeot that make in excess of 600 horsepower. The company’s press release also claims that after graduating from the first level of the program, people can keep training and potentially get the opportunity to drive Kimi Raikkonen’s 2012 Lotus E20.

GP Experience already has its first events scheduled for later this year at tracks like Thermal Club in Palm Springs, CA, and Palm Beach International Raceway in Florida that cost $6,995 for a day of driving. There are also two courses set at the Circuit of the Americas track for $9,995.

Obviously, these prices aren’t cheap for a day at the track, but there also aren’t many other opportunities out there to drive an F1 car, even for just a few laps. This is one way to tick it off the bucket list. Scroll down to read more.

Source: http://www.autoblog.com