Brands Hatch drive 'was wicked fun'

A MAN WHO DROVE his girlfriend's car on to the former Formula One circuit at Brands Hatch during a race has boasted that the stunt was "wicked fun".

Jack Cottle, 21, steered Saskia Fisk's white Volkswagen Polo into the middle of a Fun Cup race at the Kent circuit on Saturday.

He was arrested yesterday on suspicion of false imprisonment after footage filmed from the back seat by his friend, Zac Copson, showed Ms Fisk apparently screaming in terror.

Before his arrest, he told The Sun: "We'd got a bit bored with the long races and came up with the idea of taking our car on the track to join the race. I knew we had to do it, it would be so funny."

And Cottle, from Tonbridge in Kent, claimed that his girlfriend was "well up for it" as they drove on to the track.

"It was wicked fun," he added. "We needed a faster car really. Saskia's Polo's not really made for racing. We must have only hit about 70 or 80mph."

An investigation into the incident involving Kent Police, the Motor Sports Association (MSA) and circuit operator MotorSport Vision (MSV) was launched yesterday.

A police spokesman said: "On Sunday 15 June, Kent Police was made aware of a report of possible offences committed at Brands Hatch race track in West Kingsdown.

"Officers have arrested a 21-year-old man from Tonbridge on suspicion of false imprisonment."

In a statement the MSA said it was "extremely concerned" by Saturday's incident.

Near the beginning of the three-minute,17-second video, which has been watched more than 500,000 times on YouTube, Ms Fisk appears to ask: "Does anyone not think it's weird that no-one's said anything?"

A few seconds later, as the car enters the race track, she begins to scream, begging the driver to stop as he and a person sitting in the back holding the camera phone laugh.

The woman later says: "I do not believe this, we will get arrested", before the car pulls over.

The video provoked outrage on Twitter.

NBC Motorsport commentator and journalist Will Buxton questioned how the car was able to get on to the track.

"The driver may be a complete idiot, but he should never have got even close to the paddock, let alone the pit lane or track," he tweeted.

A second video shows the car during the race, with a commentator asking: "Why is there a Volkswagen Golf on the track? I know these are VW Beetles, but that's not quite right, is it?"

By Alex Diaz, Press Association