The Young Driver road safety scheme has announced the former Top Gear track as one of its newest venues.
It means children aged between nine and 17 years old can experience driving on the famous Dunsfold Aerodrome circuit – albeit at slower speeds than when it was used by The Stig and various celebrities.
Adding the Surrey location means there are now more than 80 venues hosting Young Driver programmes across the UK.
The Young Driver training scheme reached a significant milestone earlier this year, delivering its 1.5 millionth driving lesson since 2009.
No power laps here
Young Drivers will not actually use the Top Gear track layout for training. The focus instead is on teaching safe and responsible motoring.
As such, the recent Dunsfold lap record set by the Praga Bohema hypercar is unlikely to be beaten.
Instead, youngsters will take to the track in Suzuki Swift superminis fitted with dual controls, and under the supervision of fully qualified driving instructors.
As part of a launch event to celebrate adding Dunsfold to the Young Driver venue list, a number of new trainees had a chance to test out the famous track.
Stars in reasonably priced cars
At the Dunsfold test track launch, young drivers could get behind the wheel of a Porsche 911, along with meeting the Suzuki Liana – Top Gear’s original Reasonably Priced Car.
Casey O’Loughlin, Young Driver’s senior field manager, said: “Dunsfold is a dream location for a driving school. We might be based on a track made famous for fast cars and celebrity lap times, but our sessions are all about calm control, not speed.
“But the lessons are also lots of fun and they’re a great confidence boost for teens and pre-teens, who take the responsibility very seriously. When they’re reverse parking at the end of the first lesson, it’s often a shock for parents. Plus, what young person wouldn’t want to say that they’d driven the Top Gear track?”
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