The intra-car comms system wasn’t working so we were reduced to hand signals and very loud instructions by my co-driver. Between the high-revving motor and the insulation of my Stilo SR3 lid I could hardly hear the calls. Even when I could discern what he was saying the commands weren’t making much sense to me “1Right 40 into 4right into…” These were the pace notes I had heard so many times on rally footage but didn’t ever bother to learn.
I was trying to keep the front-wheel drive car pointing the right direction and with flailing arms I managed to remain on the mielie-lined track. The path was narrow and any misjudgement in grip levels or steering input would send us careering into the tall growth. Even though I have raced a Polo Cup car all through 2012 I have not spent so much time going sideways in a front wheel drive car ever before.
As the scream of the wildly-cammed, four-pot reached its crescendo I reached for the gearlever and hooked another gear. The instructions kept coming, “2Right, Keep left over crest…” Welcome to the slippery and fast-paced world of rallying.
Stuff of dreams
Driving a rally car was always something I wanted to do, and in the world of petrosexuals I don’t think I am alone in this wish. Usually such endeavours are the reserve of highly skilled and talented drivers that are contracted by teams to represent them on stages on the national or international level. If you are fortunate enough to have rich parents you may also be able to live out such dreams, until you empty the coffers and/or run out of talent, which usually results in a large accident.
Thankfully the dream can be realised by the rest of us, even if just for a short time. RallyStar Motorsport academy offers wannabe Petter Solbergs and Sebastien Loebs the opportunity to experience fully-fledged rally machines in the environment for which they were intended.
Based near Benoni in Gauteng (S 26 02 20.26 E 28 23 31.67 ) Rallystar is both a training and test centre, with the added benefit of providing one-off drives (or passenger rides) for enthusiastic members of the public.
I happened to be there to follow up on a story that we ran late last year. Rallystar owner/operator Leon Botha is very keen to launch South Africa’s very first rallycross series (link here). The events, with all rounds to be run at the Bapsfontein-based facility, will provided the thrills and spills of rallying action but within the confines of a dirt circuit. Rally-based machinery will go head-to-head over several heats in a day. Several categories of vehicles will be catered for and spectators can expect non-stop action.
Powersliding a Scooby
After Botha and I were done discussing his vision for the rallycross series he offered me a drive in two of the cars that he keeps on the premises for training and passenger hot laps. The one you read about in the introduction was a front-wheel drive Nissan Sentra. Shortly after my acclimatisation with the slippery surface I was let loose in an N4 specification Subaru Impreza WRX, a car that ANY rally nut will give his left … to drive on a dirt stage.
Unlike the buzzy, naturally aspirated Sentra the Scooby requires less revs to make quick progress. Mr Botha informed me that the preferred driving style with the force-fed boxer motor is to keep the engine in the middle of the rev-range and drive the car on the fat wedge of torque as created by the turbocharger. He also gave me a few pointers about my driving style which he noted during the earlier drive. I was cognisant of his advice as we set off: smoother steering inputs, less sawing at the wheel.
Thankfully the same “stage” was being used so the pace notes weren’t required. The WRX was far more tail happy than the Nissan but with the benefit of all-wheel drive the Impreza could be driven sideways under power. Feeling the g-forces build up as your body is pressed into the side of the race seat then release as the rear end starts to overtake the front is a wonderful sensation. Powersliding any car is fun but steering a Scooby with my right foot, on dirt just creates a smile on one’s dial that lasts for days.
Stones were fired into the wheelarches by the deep grooved rubber, the clattering noise initially had me wincing but I soon overcame that feeling as I concentrated on the task of driving. All the while that distinctive, off-beat warble emanated from the exhausts adding to the sensory overload.
After a few hot laps the grip levels from the rally-spec tyres were starting to abate so I was (sadly) instructed to head back to the car’s garage. In reality I would have driven that car until I ran the fuel tank dry.
If you have always wanted to drive a rally car, or just want to experience the ride from the passenger seat then I highly recommend giving Rallystar a call.
Images shot by Tony Alves of tracksidepics
