Darlington gets a taste of stunt-driving at Northern Echo arena

Paul Swift, a well-known stunt driver from Darlington gave a thrilling insight into the world of stunt-driving to a crowd of 100 people at the Northern Echo Arena car park.

The Paul Swift Precision Driving School was also there to teach driving skills in general and despite the terrible weather, spirits were not dampened.

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Paul Swift said: “It was great, it went really well and everyone had a really great time.

“With stunt-driving, you spend your time going all over the world so it was really good to do something local and give Darlington people a taste of stunt-driving so they could see what it was all about.

“It will have given people a flavour of what we do and how fun it can be.

“We did some demos with a passenger which were really fun and it got the crowd going.”

The day started with a safety briefing before experiencing a live stunt show by the pros.

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After that, a few lucky ones got the chance to get into the passenger seat, and to hold on tight while the team performed stunt-driving classics such as handbrake turns, J-turns, and doughnuts, “just like they do in the movies.”

All participants had to be over 11-years-old but there was no upper age limit.

The team also holds stunt-driving masterclasses at Silverstone Circuit.

Paul Swift is a seven-time British Motorsport Champion who began performing stunts for  the family ride on a lawn mower back in 1986 at just seven-years-old.

Paul Swift Stunt-Driving Experience in Darlington. Picture: Stuart Boulton (Image: Stuart Boulton)

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Following in the footsteps of his legendary stunt driving father, Russ Swift, Paul became part of his father’s team performing in a half-scale Mini Cooper.

At sixteen, Paul began competing in Motorsport and rapidly moved up to the National Autotest Championship.

Over the following eight seasons, Paul secured both the MSA Autotest Championship three times and the BTRDA four times, winning over one hundred events outright along the way.

Paul and his team will be back at the Northern Echo Area on Saturday, July 1.

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Picture: Stuart Boulton (Image: Stuart Boulton)

Picture: Stuart Boulton (Image: Stuart Boulton)

People got a chance to experience the stunts by sitting in the passenger seat. Picture: Stuart Boulton (Image: Stuart Boulton)

Picture: Stuart Boulton (Image: Stuart Boulton)

Picture: Stuart Boulton (Image: Stuart Boulton)

The crowd loved the stunts. Picture: Stuart Boulton (Image: Stuart Boulton)

Picture: Stuart Boulton (Image: Stuart Boulton)

Picture: Stuart Boulton (Image: Stuart Boulton)

Everyone loved the stunts. Picture: Stuart Boulton (Image: Stuart Boulton)

Picture: Stuart Boulton (Image: Stuart Boulton)

Picture: Stuart Boulton (Image: Stuart Boulton)

Paul Swift. Picture: Stuart Boulton (Image: Stuart Boulton)

Picture: Stuart Boulton (Image: Stuart Boulton)

Picture: Stuart Boulton (Image: Stuart Boulton)

Picture: Stuart Boulton (Image: Stuart Boulton)

Picture: Stuart Boulton (Image: Stuart Boulton)

Picture: Stuart Boulton (Image: Stuart Boulton)

Paul Swift and his team at the Northern Echo Arena in Darlington. Picture: Stuart Boulton (Image: Stuart Boulton)

Picture: Stuart Boulton (Image: Stuart Boulton)