He may be one of the most experienced F1 drivers in the world, but Jenson Button got the chance to go novice for a day as he sampled the rigours of Rallycross racing with the JRM Racing team. As part of a feature being filmed with the BBC, Button got a chance to try out Lydden Hill – in less than ideal weather conditions – behind the wheel of a 480bhp MINI Countryman RX, which can reach 0-60mph in just over two seconds. Following in the muddy wheeltracks of his late father John, who raced a VW Beetle to second place in the 1976 British Rallycross Championship, Button admits he was startled at its power. “The lights went out and I was in turn one – lost and confused,†he said. “You need some skills to drive one of these things. It's got so much power you think it's going to be easy; get to the apex full the handbrake and off you go. But it's not like that at all. “I can't imagine racing one of these five or six abreast going into the gravel. It's absolute madness but it's what you think of as a child – the buzz, the action, the sliding. It was a mega.