An ongoing look at the people, places and machines of the worlds most demanding open road race.
Sunday, March 04, 2007
It's called "What If" racing
Speaking from experience I can tell you the best way to achieve any goal is to prepare and part of preparing for anything is to have a total understanding of what it is you are up against. Sure it helps to know who your competitors are and what their car is like and all but the truth is all great athletes understand only one thing... "It's not the competition that controls my destiny." Ultimately it is me who will have the steering wheel in my hands not my competitors. It is my skill or lack thereof that will decide our fortune. There are however two other factors of more concern than other cars or drivers and those would be the car preparation and those unseen gremlins we sometimes encounter. Take for example... You come sliding into a corner caring some speed only to see half the friggin road missing or somebody's pet donkey grazing in the apex of my turn!!! It's moments like this that preparation, practice and luck are all called upon. It's also called "What If" racing.
I can assure you I will not be installing a cow-catcher (or donkey-catcher) on the front of my car. However both Jon and I will be in a car that will be as safe as any car taking part in this race. As I read about the history from over the years it is apparent many others took the risk for granted and in doing so many have paid the price with their lives. To make assumptions in this race with regards to safety is to dance with the Devil himself. Like everyone else I have no intention of doing some "agricultural driving" but as any good race car driver knows, it can and does happen. That's just one more reason to be prepared thus the need for a Nascar style fuel cell cage.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
Gary
Be prepared for donkeys we came around a corner and in the middle of the road there stood two of them. We swerved to miss them almost lost the car ended up going off the edge road and blew a rear tire. We finished the speed section changed the tire and we had a good story to tell at the end. your car looks like it is coming along well.
george Sullivan
Thanks George. Nobody needs a donkey hood ornament, that's for sure. Having grown up in the wilds of Oregon I can tell you what a major amount of damage a deer can do to a car let alone what I can only imagine a donkey could do neither of which would look good on a Shelby. Now the thought of a big old Packard is beging to sound more apealing.
Post a Comment