A few days ago, I got a call from a radio station’s marketing manager … “Would you like to take a ride in a rally car?” Roughly about two seconds had elapsed before I snapped up the offer.
Rallying is an extreme form of motorsport (not that the other aren’t as well). Think about it: in rallying, the point is to set the fastest time during every stage of a rally and these guys achieve that by tearing down a gravel road close to, or over, 200 km/h, literally flying over any kind of hump in the road, big or small, absolutely flat-out and sliding around corners on the very limit of the cars’ abilities. And I was lucky enough to experience all of that first-hand.
Given that this would be my first experience of rally co-driving, I expected to experience a healthy bout of nerves, maybe even a little anxiousness. Surprisingly, neither ever settled themselves in the pit of my stomach. Excitement? Oh yes, excitement was abundantly present. And it was unlike anything I had ever experienced.
I was escorted to the Total Toyota RunX Rally car being driven by Mohammed Moosa. As the in-car radio crackled into life, I heard: “If it all goes pear-shaped, just tuck in your arms, don’t let them flail around and don’t grab onto the roll cage.” Honestly, I wasn’t particularly concerned about that; this was more than likely a once in a lifetime opportunity and I was going to take it no matter what.
At the start, I was pushed back into the seat by the sheer force of the acceleration. Before long, Mohammed told me we’re doing 195 km/h. But the best part was yet to come. The cornering. With the car skidding into the first 90-degree left-hander, I felt the back-end stepping out and snapping back into position under the hard acceleration. The jumps were the next most exhilarating part of this awesome ride. We literally flew over them and Mohammed controlled the car expertly as the wheels hit the ground hard just before taking off again.
About half-way through the run, he asked if I was okay. I was better than okay! Awesome, I respond, phenomenal. We came out of the final part of the stage with the car almost climbing banking on the outside … the cherry on the proverbial cake.
A short pre- and post-interview for a website was all the work I had to do for having what was one of the most exhilarating experiences. The first time in a fully fledged rally car is definitely something I will remember for a very long time. The only question now is when can I do it again?!