When AutoMuse co-founder Liz Dobson asked if I would like to go along to Ford #SHEDRIVES2020 I didn’t hesitate to say yes, and after a jam-packed day full of activities and fun, I can say it was one of the best days out!

The annual event is a change for female Ford owners, their friends and invited media to drive a series of Ford vehicles. This year it was the Mustang, Puma, Escape and Ranger Raptor that we drove in a series of activities.

Warmly welcomed by Kirstin, Rachel and Amber from Ford, and checked in by the wonderful Rachel from DownForce (this included being breath-tested, and although it was 9am I breathed a sigh of relief when I passed).

Coffee and a snack in hand, we were briefed on the upcoming day; we were to be split into teams of around eight women; a mix of Ford owners, media and enthusiasts, and put to our paces through myriad activities including off-roading, skid panning and track laps just to name a few.

Liz and I were picked for the Red Team, and what a team! Amazing women who were keen to give everything a go, with friendly competitiveness and laughter being the theme for the day.

Downforce pulled out all the stops with an A class fleet of driving instructors to assist throughout the day, including kart champion Tiff Chittengdon to rally star Emma Gilmour, so we were in safe hands.

Activity One - Skid Pan with ‘Fanga’ Dan'

With the sprinklers set to full bore, and the skid pan well and truly ‘skiddy’, drifter expert ‘Fanga’ Dan Woolhouse put on a show, demonstrating the skid technique and making it look like a breeze. With round one being an in-car tour of Fanga doing what he does best, we then were behind the wheel and set to it.

Having whizzed through it with Fanga, being over in what felt like a split second, I had retained little information on how to execute the drift, and instead pulled a few doughnuts around the cones with a borderline skid at the end.

Liz showed off as the last driver to make the Mustang drift through the figure ‘8’ a few times, then 360 drift around the to cones. But she admitted to the group that she learned to drift at the Southern Hempishere Proving Ground, in Cardrona, and has been on Hampton Down’s skid pan a few times.

Activity 2 - Hot Laps and Track

Brendan Leitch took each of us on a hot lap, effortlessly gliding through the Hampton Downs track and talking through the handling, steering, braking and speed required to take on the course.

Tiff ran the safety talk, encouraging us to follow the line of the lead car, being aware of oversteering and understeering and our handling of the vehicle. We were reminded to take the time to ensure we were comfortable in each Ford car, ensuring there was a bend in our elbows as we held them over the steering wheel and could comfortably push the brake to the floor.

‘Racing’ Ray Williams talked the team through the laps via radios in each car with his calm and consistent voice encouraging us to “speed up”, “stick to the line” and “look ahead to the next cone” helped the red team to glide into formation as we soared around the track. Racing Ray’s comment? “Well done, there we are, ducklings in formation”. Red Team were beaming as we hopped out of the cars having successfully and cohesively flown around the track.

Activity 3 - Lunch!

From incredible food by Flying Trestles, to the Ford team and Downforce team floating around ensuring everyone was having a good time – to the little touches, such as Ford branded face masks. We got to know the members of Red Team more, the wonderful Carol and Sharon were a hoot!

Activity 4 - Off-roading

The objective? Keep the tennis ball in the wok on the Ranger Raptor and knock the leaders off the leaderboard!

With a trial run around the track, the Downforce team calmly talked through keeping speed up and ensuring the ball was kept in.

The second round was a time trial – wanting to do Red Team proud and bump off the (albeit good times) Team Orange and Purple from the leaderboard – I slammed my foot down and got though the first turn only to lose the ball out of the wok on the second turn. Devastating! Two of the team made the leaderboard, so team red left with their heads held high.

Activity 5 - Car Handling

A two-part activity, instructor Jason Liefting talks us through a scenario:

You are on a busy motorway and the truck in front of you has lost its load, you need to swerve rapidly into the wrong lane to avoid the debris (noting there is water on the road at this point) then swerve swiftly back onto the correct lane before applying the brakes (this is the only point at which you can touch the brakes).

You have to get up to 70km/h before Jason told you to swerve. It was a scary experience the first time, but by the second drive I was able to drive the car around and not hit any cones. It was a great lesson for when I’m driving on the motorway.

Emma Gilmour taught how how to manouver through a slalom, and most importantly to focus on correct hand positioning on the steering wheel as we swerved the car through the cones. Emma told us to loop our thumbs around the steering at the position 9 and 3 to give us better control of the steering wheel.

Activity 6 - Go Karts!

So fun! I used all the skills I learnt driving on the big Hampton Downs track onto the small kart track. It was a great way to finish the day.

A quick thank you from team Ford and Downforce, and a wonderful day draws to a close! We all received participation certificates and winners on each stage were suited ready to go on celebratory hot laps.