A decade ago, I was anxious. Nothing has changed after all these years.
As I slowly rolled down the starting grid and took my position after completing the formation lap, there were images from the day before flashing in front of me – as if the events were unfolding all over again. I was feeling anxious. Sweat was getting formed on my forehead.
Dhruv had given up his racing seat for me. I’d missed the practice sessions, and was to go straight into qualifying – not ideal. Still, I didn’t feel it was all that bad – we spend quite a decent amount of time on the BIC after all, and I know the track slightly better than others. Or so I thought – big mistake! This may sound like a typical racing-driver excuse, but trust me, how a regular production car behaves against a purpose-built track machine is antithetical. Everything – braking, accelerating, cornering, steering, weight transfer – absolutely everything’s different, and so the concept of driving a track machine in quite a similar way as you drive a reasonably fast road car (read sport scar) is just plain stupid.
Now, I was back in a proper racing environment, and was racing after almost a decade – and I lined up quite a long way back in the pits when we were scheduled to go out for our qualifying session. I spent the first third of the half-hour session just going past other cars, and when I found a reasonably empty stretch in front of me, I started to push the car and was trying to experiment with braking lines, turn-in points, exit speeds and gear changes – all simultaneously. I was trying to understand the handling nature of the Polo R Cup, the way it puts down its power and the torque spread, the way the tyres grip and the brake bias – all those geeky things, basically. I seemed to be just getting into a rhythm when the session was into its final few seconds. Bugger, I thought – I could’ve gone a few tenths faster still.
Results came out. P2. Couldn’t complain, to be honest. So why was I still feeling neurotic? Because I didn’t want Dhruv’s investment of confidence in me to come to nothing. I was sure about my capabilities – and you may think this is all philosophical stuff – but I was still really, really worried.
Eyes were affixed to the lights – five of them would light up red one-by-one and would all go off together. That’ll be the start of the race. 1-clutch, 2-first gear, 3-rev needle at 3500-4000. The 6-lap race was a go! Nothing dramatic – everyone got moving well. Everyone but one, as we were to be told later. I tucked in behind Ameya Dandekar of Autocar India (who qualified first), and was trying to anticipate his entry line into T3 – the decreasing-radius right that leads onto the brilliantly long back-straight. Ameya took the racing line absolutely spot on, and my efforts of diving down the inside a bit tighter were defended really well. After the back-straight, and into T5 & T6, we were bumper-to-bumper and I sensed an opportunity when driving into the esses that lead on to the parabolia. Didn’t quite stick it too well there.
Second lap in, and we we’d pulled a good gap on the others. But then the Safety Car came out – two cars had crashed into each other – and we were stuck for 2 painful and frustrating laps behind it, and the field was back together again. Once the roar of that SLS AMG started getting a bit louder as the Safety Car picked up speed to get back in, I shifted myself in the seat and got ready to get back at speed. Eyes narrowed from behind the visor, and just as we crossed the chequered flag, it was race on – again.
I was perilously close to Ameya, and around the penultimate corner, tried to go around the outside. I didn’t judge my braking that well and spun out. Four guys went past. I was surprised by the quick recovery I made and rejoined in 5th. Some aggressive driving later, I was back in second, and then stupidity struck once more. This time, around T5, I managed a better drive out than Ameya and sensed this to be the perfect opportunity, but he defended bloody damn well and I locked up and spun out. Again. And Abhay of Evo too followed suit. I rejoined in 5th and had just a lap-and-a-half to make up as many places as I could. What ensued was a properly entertaining and brilliant battle with Cyrus of Auto India. Once I got past Cyrus, I just decided to calm down and not go into another aggressive pursuit of Ameya, as it would be silly to even think of closing a 15 second gap in just over half a lap. Easing the pace off, making every corner just right, I crossed the line classified second. Again, no complaints. When I look back on the race now, I kick myself in being a bit more aggressive than I should’ve been – but then I was really eager to get home a good result for Dhruv. And after spinning out twice, ending the race in second position isn’t all that bad.
So, when’s the next one Volkswagen?
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