Formula One Racecar

Formula One Racecar

A Story by ettorney
"

Not really a story. More of a blog entry I think. Yeah, this was me.

"

My wife gave me speed for my birthday.  No, not what you 70's kids turned leaders of industry think.  She sent me to the Dubai Autodrome to drive an F1 racecar at over 100 miles per hour.  For those of you that don't know, an F1 is a formula one racecar similar to U.S. Indy or Cart cars.  BADASS.

 

What a rush!  I'm not a small guy, in girth anyway.  Not huge, but a typical midwestern beer drinkin, baseball lovin, barbecue eatin, scratchin the belly kind of guy. Squeezing into an F1 is like, well the only analogy I can think of is an off color but extremely accurate joke.  I'll clean it a bit for this forum. 

 

“Men spend the first nine months of their lives trying to get out of a woman's vagina and the rest of their lives trying to get back in.”

 

That's what stepping into an F1 for the first time is like.  Tight and overwhelmingly exciting. At first there's a bit of resistance but once past a certain point you slide right in.  OK enough with that.

 

But seriously driving one of these machines was incredible.  No.  It Was Awesome.

 

Because it was my first time in a racecar I had to drive behind an Audi TT pace car with a professional driver behind the wheel and my thirteen-year old daughter strapped into the passenger seat. Our track time was not on the main track.  It was on what they call a peanut track because it is essentially an oval with the long sides squished in. 

 

The pace car waited patiently for me to hit the ignite button and bring the four wheeled missile to life, which I did, with more giddiness than a little kid turning on his dad's car for the first time.  Vroom.  Varoom! Really, that's the sound it made as it roared to life.  I'm not kidding.  I  could feel the power behind the engine just waiting to explode.  Waiting for me to take my foot off the clutch so it could transfer that power onto the road.

 

We did just that.  My daughter, bless her heart, she told me afterwards, had said to the driver, "My dad likes to drive fast."  Did I mention I'm living in Dubai at the moment?  The average speed here is about 140 kilometers hour.  That's about 87 miles per hour for us yanks.  I routinely drive between 160 and 180 kph in a Nissan Pathfinder or about 100 to 111 mph on the desert highways here and I have to move right to let Maseratis, Porsches and yes, monster Toyota Land Cruisers (complete with dark tinted windows), zoom past me at +200kph.

 

The point being, the Audi TT took off like a shot.  I let out the clutch, timed the revolutions on the engine and ZOOM! G-forces spressed me into my seat as we went zereo to sixty in four point nine seconds.  First gear, second, third, pulling on the paddle shifter one after the other, wham, wham, wham. Then, just as quickly, I had to back off the accelerator, apply a light touch on the brakes preparing for the first hairpin, downshift to second, pick my line then keep a balanced foot on the gas looking for the apex so I could hammer down and accelerate up to 160 in no time.  Then, do it all again for the next turn.

 

Each lap I gained more confidence, getting a better feel of the car.  The thing is, I learned to pick my speed entering into a turn.  The faster your entry speed provided you’ve picked the right line, the faster your exit speed.  The feeling of entering a turn on the edge or beyond your comfort zone is exhilarating.  Each turn I pressed harder and tighter to the right line, the faster my adrenaline pumped.  The closer I came to the limit of the machine the bigger the rush.  The thing was, I learned during the post race debrief, me and the other guy in our duo were out driving the limits of the pace car.  Meaning, we were nowhere near the outer limits of the racecar’s ability.  These things can reach speed in excess of 230 kilometers an hour!

 

Once I heard that, I immediately signed up for level two.  That’s in a few weeks, on the main track behind another F1.  My daughter said, "ah dad, I can't sit in the F1 pace car.  It's a single seater!" 


"I'm so sorry Sweety.  You'll just have to watch Dad. "


I can’t wait.

© 2010 ettorney


My Review

Would you like to review this Story?
Login | Register




Reviews

Wow, and I thought going 115 MPH on the New York State Thruway in a 1963 Chevy was exciting.

Posted 13 Years Ago



Share This
Email
Facebook
Twitter
Request Read Request
Add to Library My Library
Subscribe Subscribe


Stats

163 Views
1 Review
Rating
Added on May 7, 2010
Last Updated on May 8, 2010

Author

ettorney
ettorney

Chicago, IL



About
I love to write. I love the process of writing. I’ve been gone from writing for a decade! Time to get back on the horse, don’t ya think? Although not perfect myself, I hate bad gra.. more..

Writing
Too Chicago Too Chicago

A Poem by ettorney