KTM X-Bow Drive at the Red Bull Ring

A single day at the Red Bull Ring in Austria, guided, driving a KTM X-Bow on the Grand Prix circuit.

The car is the point. An X-Bow weighs 790 kilos, has 330 horsepower and no roof, windscreen or doors, which on a circuit is about as direct a driving experience as anything road-legal offers.

Arrival is at the circuit by a quarter to ten, and the morning runs four sessions of around twenty-five to thirty minutes each on the driving centre’s test route, with English-speaking instruction, to learn the car before the stakes rise. Two hours on the Red Bull Ring itself follow: the first in convoy behind an instructor to learn the racing line round the 4.3-kilometre circuit, and the second as free driving with full track access, which is the hour everyone comes for. An aperitif and a three-course dinner with wine pairing close the day.

The X-Bow rental with rotating sessions and insurance with a deductible, the full training course with English and German-speaking instructors, the facilities and driving time at both the centre and the circuit, a two-course lunch with soft drinks, the three-course dinner with wine and the aperitif are all included; flights, the insurance deductible and the accommodation, which the operator reserves at a nearby four-star hotel but the guest pays directly, are not. Dates follow the circuit’s calendar, which runs spring to autumn. One day with no overnight included makes this an add-on rather than a holiday, and the price listed should be confirmed with the operator before booking.