Somewhere, amid all the smoke and screeching, is Formula One's future racing champion, Cameron Twynham. As he burns round the corner and his impressive car comes into sight, you can sense the speed beneath your feet.
At just 18 years of age, Cam is one of the brightest young stars in British motorsport.
The Great Bowden boy racer is hotly-tipped for the big time and has graduated – mid-season – to the Formula Renault 3.5 Series with the Comtec Racing team.
It's a step away from Formula One. Two years racing the Renault World Series, they say, and you're ready to drive with the big boys.
But Cam's not letting it go to his head. He's got a job to do: a last-minute promotion to prove himself worthy.
And on this British track, for a "by special permission" testing, his main objective is to get acquainted with his new car. It's just the second time Cam's driven the Dallara-built, carbon fibre monocoque racing car, with 3.4 litre V8 engine.
His World Series career began in spectacular style at the Nürburgring in July. Despite starting 22nd and having never driven the car before, he came 11th – his fastest lap only 0.3 seconds off the race winner's.
So, today, pushing 170 miles per hour on the straight and a little less than 140mph on the bends, the talented teenager seems pretty at home in the powerful single-seater.
"He's so fast compared to last year," grins Cam's dad, Julian, as his son zooms past. "With this car, you need to be able to hold on to it. You want to be thinking about your lines and corners, not about physically driving it. And Cam's really working on that."
Cam's next important race is at the Hungarian circuit at Hungaroring, next Saturday. He's seen that track from every angle – even upside down.
Fortunately, the experienced young driver has got to know many of the international tracks on the racing circuit since he made his single seater car debut three seasons ago.
But now, now he's going head-to-head with Red Bull, McLaren and Lotus junior drivers, in a car more powerful than anything he's ever driven.
"I can't compare it with anything. It's something you don't understand until you're part of it, but this car, well – it makes me smile," says Cam, stepping out of the driver's seat and into the hanger.
"When you're going down the straight and being forced back into your seat, you can't imagine, there's nothing like it. You're so close to the track, you can feel the bottom of the car and every bend is a thrill.
"It's really boring driving my BMW One Series on the road now. Not that I speed, or anything," he laughs. "Losing my driving licence and not being able to race would be awful."
In the hanger, there's a screen full of graphs, showing Cam's every manoeuvre in the car and on the track.
Zig-zag lines retell his speed and gear changes, brake pressure, steering and the like.
The Comtec team seem genuinely impressed by the new boy. But then, it doesn't take an expert to realise Cam is a very good driver.
Where others might flaunt it, there's nothing arrogant or boastful about this 18-year-old. He's just enjoying the ride.
In between laps, starts and pit-stop practising, there's a lot of sitting around, says Cam, slipping out of his driving suit.
"It's part and parcel of racing. You don't spend every hour of the day on the track."
Yet, getting into the World Series is something of a blur for the youngster.
"It all happened so quickly," he says. "The opportunity was there, on the table, and there was no way we could turn it down – we had to grab it with both hands. Two days later, I was racing at the Nürburgring."
Looking back, it seems a lifetime ago that Cam first sat in a go-kart on holiday, as a five-year-old.
"My legs were too short," he laughs, all 5ft 11in of him. "They had to give me a wedge of foam so I could reach the pedals. I was not happy."
Not that it counts, he says.
Cam didn't start karting properly until many years later, when he was 13, at a track called Whilton Mill, in Northamptonshire.
"It started as a fun thing to do on the weekends with my dad, but quickly became a serious hobby," he says.
"By the end, I was attending meetings all over the country and racing as part of the Karting British Championships."
The graduation was natural. And though he wasn't yet old enough to legally hold a driving licence, Cam was 16 when he moved into racing cars.
He made his Intersteps Championships debut in 2012, driving a BMW FB02 single seater and came fourth overall that year, achieving seven podiums.
"It was a really good car to learn in," he says. "We pushed ourselves and it paid off."
The following season, just last year, Cam moved up into European Formula 3 Open Copa Class and came second overall. And he'd made a good start in this season's EuroFormula Open, before Renault 3.5 snapped him up.
Cam quit Pitsford Grammar School, in Northamptonshire, this season, to concentrate on his driving.
It was a hard decision, he says, but then, racing had become so intense, he was missing three days a week, twice a month, while he travelled around Europe.
"I'd already missed four months of school when I was 14," he admits – his tone changing slightly.
"That was when my anxiety problems began.
"It started off in a lesson one day. I felt like I was stuck, that I couldn't leave the classroom. I thought I was physically unwell, but it turned out it was actually mental illness."
It affected Cam's school-life significantly. He couldn't bring himself to go in at all, at one point.
"I would be sat outside in the car, feeling anxious and sweating. It's hard to explain what I was thinking. I would be panicked, worrying how I would get out of a classroom if I needed to leave.
"It sounds irrational, when I say that."
Cam's dad came into lessons with him, to explain to the teachers. It was a hard thing to explain.
"It felt weird at first, but as I've got older I've realised it's so important to talk about anxiety. There is a stigma surrounding mental illness and that doesn't do anything to help those experiencing it.
"I eventually saw a psychiatrist and that helped, massively.
"Everyone is triggered by different things. For me, it was school. It seemed to come from nowhere. It was hard to understand."
Today, Cam is an ambassador for Anxiety UK – a charity that promotes the relief and rehabilitation of those suffering with anxiety disorders, and their families.
"If we'd have known about Anxiety UK when my problem was at its greatest, it would have helped my family to understand and support me," he says. "We struggled along at the time."
Being at the peak of mental and physical fitness is paramount to any sport, no less racing driving.
Cam is recently back from Menorca, where he has been cycling and training with his driver coach and mentor, Ollie Millroy.
Ollie drives for BMW in the Asian Le Mans series and has been working as a stunt driver on the forthcoming Mission Impossible 5 film.
"It was important to find someone I trusted, but after a few failed coaches, it just clicked with Ollie," says Cam.
"We get on well, we have a friendship as well as a serious working relationship and, most importantly, we have a laugh."
That helps, when training is full on and frequent.
"I'm working hard right now, but you don't have to be a slave to it. I try to mix it up," says Cam.
Starting the day on a big breakfast of cereal, egg on toast and a cup of tea – "you've got to have a cup of tea" – is standard for the athlete.
Then it's a session on the climbing wall or a work-out at the gym.
Cam has a personal trainer in Market Harborough and works with sports therapists and fitness trainers – Function Jigsaw and Optimal Strength in Leicester – many times a week to build the correct strength and body weight balance for his sport.
Getting car-fit, strong and healthy is a full-time job in itself.
In terms of driving, the iZone at Silverstone circuit, plus a simulator in Italy, at the Dallara factory, is the only real practice he can get.
He has onboard videos in the car, too, to get a sense of where he needs to be on the track.
"All of this training helps with my anxiety," says Cam. "There's a lot to think about and I have to make sure my head's in the right place.
"It's a challenge to balance things, to make sure the pressure isn't too much, but just enough so I don't lose my edge."
Cam knows being on the ball is not just about racing fast, it's about being safe.
"I don't think about it, when I'm out there. It's not productive or necessary. I rolled, in Hungary, in my last F3 race. I was evacuated from the car, on a stretcher into an ambulance. I was fine. I was more bothered about scratching my helmet," he says.
"The insurance is not something I worry about either – and I don't mean that disrespectfully. I go out to be as quick as I can be.
"You come into the sport knowing it's going to cost a lot."
Safe under the Comtec Racing team wing, Cam knows he's got the next four races to prove how good he is and secure sponsorship and a team for next season.
"And that's the hardest bit," he admits. "Dad's the driving force behind all the sponsorship and getting my name out there. I wouldn't be able to race if it wasn't for him and the funding."
Comtec offered the Twynhams an enticing deal to finish this season. In an industry where it's all about how much money the driver has got, it would normally cost one million euros a year to race in the Renault World Series.
Aside from Leicester's Function Jigsaw and Optimal Strength, Cam has the support of a number of sponsors, including his father's company, Mitchell Rubber Europe; a Formula One supplier, Emkay Plastics Ltd; freight management company Geodis Wilson; Bardon-based sports nutrition company High5 and Lapizta racing watches.
The prestige of being named a British Racing Drivers' Club (BRDC) Rising Star last year, following in the footsteps of both Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button, and becoming a member of the Motor Sports Association (MSA) Academy, have also worked in boosting Cam's profile.
Perks of the job? It's got to be telling women you're a racing driver, right?
"Most don't believe you," he says, a little shyly. "You have to show them a picture or your name on the side of the car, which is quite cocky," and seemingly not Cam's style.
On the track, Cam rates Lewis Hamilton. Off the track, not so much, he says. "He moans constantly, and yet, he drives racing cars for a living. It's a very privileged job. Right now, I feel very lucky.
"Not in the sense I've fluked my way into being a racing driver, though. I've put in a lot of effort. I've worked hard."
So the aim is Formula One. There could be no other.
"It's very, very hard nowadays to get into that championship. But it's not impossible," he smiles.
"Many F1 drivers have come through this series. This is the best place for me to learn, even if I end up driving sports cars.
"And if I got into F1, I'd like to drive for McLaren. They're British – a classic – and one of the nicest-looking cars out there. They know what they're doing."
If ever there was a confidence boost for the youngster, it was Red Bull's recent decision to sign 16-year-old Max Verstappen to drive with Toro Rosso next year.
"I've never raced against him, but it's great for someone so young to get on in the sport.
"I'm not in a position to say I don't think he's ready. I can't. If I was in his place, if Red Bull said to me, tomorrow, 'you'll be racing for us in 2015', I'm not going to say I'm not ready.
"I think it's great. It's good for the sport. It shows everybody you can get in on talent alone."
Thankfully, talent is something Cam isn't short on.
Comtec's team manager, Phil Blow, is very pleased with his new team member's progress.
"This car is a huge step forward from what Cam's been driving before and he's doing very well. All I want to see now is steady improvement – no pressure," he says.
"That's important, the psychology of it all is a huge part. The drivers are getting younger every year – or maybe it's just that I'm getting older," he says. "It's a volatile industry, but Cam seems to be taking it all in his stride."
If he's honest, Cam couldn't wish for much more right now.
"Training is going really well and I'm working very hard to give me that edge," he says.
"I'm not really nervous, after testing. I'm confident with the car now, so I think we're going to be in a good position next weekend at Hungaroring.
"It just feels like we're getting there, that we're making the right moves towards the ultimate goal.
"I want to stay out of trouble and get on the main podium. I always want to be the best I can be."
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![Speed cam: The teenage racing driver with his eyes on the F1 prize]( "Speed cam: The teenage racing driver with his eyes on the F1 prize")
