RE: Fear factor: PH Blog

RE: Fear factor: PH Blog

Friday 15th May 2015

Fear factor: PH Blog

Why rally drivers really are loons



I don't scare easily in a car. Which is, of course, an important part of being able to drive quickly. Stop too long to ponder what could happen and you'll be reduced to trundling, windscreen licking wreck.

I should qualify that. I don't scare easily in a car in a setting where the risk is entirely my own. Whatever you're driving if you're going quickly enough to frighten yourself on the road you've got bigger issues regarding your social responsibilities.

That important distinction made I'm talking about the ability to compartmentalise fear. Anyone who's participated in a gravity sport will relate to this; with experience you can rationalise and/or deny the sense of peril and simply savour the rush of conquering it. Likewise there's the appreciation of how fear can be self perpetuating, tension increasing the likelihood of it going horribly wrong.

Obviously there's a balance to strike. Complete, gung-ho denial can be admirable, likewise the 'beginner's pluck' of those who don't know yet know any better. Luck is a finite resource though.

Hang on Dan, thought you said you didn't scare?
Hang on Dan, thought you said you didn't scare?
With the honourable exception of that snappy, malevolent 991 GT3 that tried, repeatedly, to kill me on its Cup tyres and a sodden Silverstone Grand Prix circuit, wet track days are a good example. I'll share the collective dread in the briefing if there are puddles in the pitlane. But out on track I've often found myself having more fun than on dry days, the extra focus required enhancing the buzz. In the cold light of day I don't want to think what losing a fifth-gear drift in a Caterham and hitting the Armco would feel like. But it's only by setting that thought aside you stand a chance of dealing with it and preventing the nightmare becoming a reality.

I'll be honest though. Rallying that Defender scared the crap out of me. And for prolonged periods I felt a most unnatural sensation of simply backing off out of fear of what might happen. I just couldn't take my eyes off the trees, rocks, drops and other perils beside the track. I choked.

I think this is the difference between rallying and circuit driving. On a track there are, relatively speaking, periods of mental 'down time' between the bits that demand your full attention. It's a bit like an electric car's regenerative charging, just for your brain instead. What I learned in that Defender is that on a rally stage you have no such luxury. You have to be on it 150 per cent all the time. Only then will you be able to look beyond what's waiting for you if you get it wrong. This in a Land Rover with a 170hp diesel engine too. What must it be like in a proper rally car capable of covering the same terrain at twice the speed?

I already knew rally drivers were mentalists and a complete lack of imagination is a prerequisite. And I can watch onboards with known 'if in doubt, flat out' lunatics like McRae, Kubica and that Kiwi chap in his old Escort on endless repeat and never get bored. I love the ruthless, combative aspect of circuit racing. But get properly transfixed purely by the driving in rally cars. The motor skills required to do it I can just about comprehend. But the mental strength to carry it off? That's something else entirely. Respect! And as for the co-drivers...

Dan

Oh dear god

Scaring spectators

Kubica after dark
 

[Sources: humebob, LKMedia59 and stiepek89 all via YouTube]

Author
Discussion

Turbobanana

Original Poster:

6,160 posts

200 months

Friday 15th May 2015
quotequote all
Good article, Dan.
I've only done limited track time and no rallying, but any time I have been in that fortunate position it hasn't scared me (even in a Monaro VXR8 at a teeming wet Rockingham, courtesy of PH 2009). I think it's either that I have been in control of everything going on, or that anyone else around me was engaged in a similar pursuit with a similar mindset.
What worries me is the actions of others in everyday motoring, particularly in wet / snow conditions where I can be doing nothing wrong and still end up in a mess. That or those more concerned by what's on the radio / phone than on the road.

rob.e

2,861 posts

277 months

Friday 15th May 2015
quotequote all
That Ari Vatanen video is epic!

Happyjap

382 posts

108 months

Friday 15th May 2015
quotequote all
I love Ari Vatanen

R8VXF

6,788 posts

114 months

Friday 15th May 2015
quotequote all
Turbobanana said:
Monaro VXR8
In both a Monaro and a VXR8, a Monaro VXR, or a VXR8?

Turbobanana

Original Poster:

6,160 posts

200 months

Friday 15th May 2015
quotequote all
R8VXF said:
Turbobanana said:
Monaro VXR8
In both a Monaro and a VXR8, a Monaro VXR, or a VXR8?
Is it important? What's important for me was that ex-BTCC driver Karl Jones was in the passenger seat tongue out

R8VXF

6,788 posts

114 months

Friday 15th May 2015
quotequote all
Turbobanana said:
R8VXF said:
Turbobanana said:
Monaro VXR8
In both a Monaro and a VXR8, a Monaro VXR, or a VXR8?
Is it important? What's important for me was that ex-BTCC driver Karl Jones was in the passenger seat tongue out
Technically yes it is as the Monaro VXR8 doesn't exist wink Two very different cars.

But I agree, probably immense fun!

the_hood

769 posts

193 months

Friday 15th May 2015
quotequote all
"Oh, dear God!" I'd have to change my boxers at the next pit stop of I was sat in the passenger seat!

Fastra

4,277 posts

208 months

Friday 15th May 2015
quotequote all
rob.e said:
That Ari Vatanen video is epic!
+10000000000


Loobuz

26 posts

110 months

Friday 15th May 2015
quotequote all
Kubica

D.no

706 posts

211 months

Friday 15th May 2015
quotequote all
Having spent time both behind the wheel, and in the looney seat of rally cars (albeit when I was much younger) my fear threshold must either be extremely high or it must have fallen off during one of the many "off-piste excursions"!

Can't say I've felt fear whilst driving, and have only been marginally concerned on the odd occasion while co-driving, though trust in the nut behind the wheel must be entire. In contrast I've felt bloody terrified at 20mph as a passenger, with certain less than able drivers on the road who seem oblivious to the unfolding situation(s) around them.

Ari Vatanan - a legend in the true meaning of the word, and Terry Harryman a complete nut-job for sitting alongside him!

Axionknight

8,505 posts

134 months

Friday 15th May 2015
quotequote all
That first video..... No, no, no, no, no.

No thanks!

HarryFlatters

4,203 posts

211 months

Friday 15th May 2015
quotequote all
The 'moment' that Ari has at around the 2 minute mark eek

iloveboost

1,531 posts

161 months

Friday 15th May 2015
quotequote all
With rallying there's a real sense of speed and danger. An F1 car moves so smoothly around such smooth, large and wide tracks, that it looks slower than it is. When a rally car bounces sideways four foot from a pine tree, it looks bonkers fast.
In F1 drivers analyse to gain tenths, whilst preventing the car from sliding past a neutral state. Conserving tyres, fuel, tactics, team orders, blah, blah, blah. biggrin
Rallying is almost the opposite.
Rallying is about having the confidence in your ability to overcome the fear of hitting solid objects at high speeds whilst sideways. I know often they crash at the speed of light and walk away with bruises, but you need guts.

FWDRacer

3,564 posts

223 months

Friday 15th May 2015
quotequote all
Fastra said:
rob.e said:
That Ari Vatanen video is epic!
+10000000000
2:05. Mere mortals do not recover that. He certainly had a lick on hehe

GTID

146 posts

117 months

Friday 15th May 2015
quotequote all
That video of Vatanen makes me flinch whenever I see it!

Riding shotgun in a WRC spec rally car on a stage will beat any rollercoaster ride you will go on, ever.. it can be made even more interesting by trying to hold onto a laptop and alter the fuelling and ignition rotate

I love circuit racing but rally driving takes something extra imo, even bigger balls!


Zod

35,295 posts

257 months

Friday 15th May 2015
quotequote all
FWDRacer said:
Fastra said:
rob.e said:
That Ari Vatanen video is epic!
+10000000000
2:05. Mere mortals do not recover that. He certainly had a lick on hehe
It's not just the recovery of the rear end, but the getting through the gate. Even if you could recover the rear, the chances of going through that gateway without hitting either post would be slim for most of us.

Gus265

264 posts

132 months

Friday 15th May 2015
quotequote all
I am a self certified driving God but even I couldn't do what the rallyists do. They must have something disconnected from their brain? But I love watching it so thank you.

Shambler

1,184 posts

143 months

cerb4.5lee

30,189 posts

179 months

Friday 15th May 2015
quotequote all
Shambler said:
That is just amazing the way he positions the car and he seems to make the road seem so wide, just such an awesome talent behind the wheel, enjoyed that thanks.

sjabrown

1,910 posts

159 months

Friday 15th May 2015
quotequote all
I'm at my calmest when co-driving for a driver that I trust. Total concentration, complete calm.