Jason goes for a spin
This morning I got the lucky opportunity to spend a few hours with the Ford Racing production car team as they prepared for a weekend of intense National Championship Racing at Top Gear. Now, if you know your SA motoring legends, the name Gary Formato will ring a bell for sure. The multiple national champion and former Le Mans racer let me sit shotgun with him as he took to the streets in the first practice run of the day. And that’s where the fun started!
After about an hour of mingling with the pit crew (of which there are 12 guys in the 3 car team) – I was given some gloves and a helmet and told “good luck” before being stuffed into the seriously tuned and seriously serious looking Ford Focus Ecoboost racing car – driven by Gary.
What followed was a good 15/20 minutes of white knuckle, teeth clenching, neck whipping, tear jerking, girlish like screaming as Gary put the Ford through its paces..Apparently at 8/10 of his normal speed. Ya…ok….Although he had full control of what the car was doing, the idea of rushing past a concrete barrier at 190 km/h and bending into a turn at super breakneck speeds isn’t exactly reassuring. Not only that, but I noticed that his times were getting faster and faster. The thing about these production cars is that they are regular cars…to begin with… I chatted to a few of the mechanics about the changes in suspension, intakes, compression, electronic systems and interior and exterior mods and I can safely and assuredly tell you – these cars are monsters! It’s kind of like seeing a tiger with a nappie on. It looks kinda’ tame because of its regular frame, but it’s still a dam TIGER!
Also remember that more than 90% of South African motorsport takes place on specially designed and maintained, permanent race tracks. These circuits, situated across the country, range in length from about 2kms to 4kms and offer drivers varying degrees of technical difficulty. None however, are anywhere near as challenging as a street circuit. Seriously. Concrete walls, roads designed for slow driving and conditions such as oil, dust and even wind are serious and important factors in this game.
A word of advice. If you are going to Top Gear – check out the Bridgestone Production Car National Championships – on Saturday at 12.15pm and Sunday at 12.15pm. You won’t be disappointed. You may be shocked and blown away by the sheer brutality of the cars as they mission around the track (which by the way feels far too thin for the speeds these guys take the corners on) but you will not be disappointed.
There is a saying one of the race team guys told me that I won’t quickly forget… “Anyone can drive a fast car, but only a few can drive a car fast.” Gary Formato, and the teams competing in the Bridgestone Production Car National Championships can. Really well.
