Touring Car
What to expect the first time you sit in a race car on Indian tracks
A long-time motorsport writer takes a ride in a race car for the very first time. This is what he learnt from the experience.
Even though I have been writing about motor racing for many years now, I got to sit in a proper race car for the first time ever this year.
I had been invited by Volkswagen Motorsport to be the passenger in some of their race-tuned cars for a few practice runs at the Madras Motor Race Track (MMRT) in Chennai.
Be ready for really hard braking into corners
© Volkswagen Motorsport
Among the cars were the Polo, Vento and Ameo, all tuned for race conditions, with many other passengers like me waiting to call “shotgun”. They also had the Polo RX, a car in development that will hit the streets in winter and is supposed to be built for performance.
I wasn’t able to drive any of the cars, but being in the passenger seat was enough to give me perspective on why racers are top-level athletes and have to train vigorously to be competitive in their sport. Motor racing is one of the most entertaining sports on the planet, but the racers are also among the fittest.
Here is what I learnt from sitting beside race car drivers for a day.
1. A bag of nerves
It was my first time sitting in a race car and my first time riding around a proper circuit. MMRT is an FIA Grade 2 circuit, which means all forms of motorbikes and cars as advanced as F2 can be raced on the track. After years of seeing motor racing, I don’t think I was afraid, but I was definitely nervous. In the moments that I got ready and climbed into the car, I felt chills up and down my body.
2. The cockpit is very hot
Race cars move very, very quickly, but you don’t have the wind blowing in your hair. The cockpit is a very hot and steamy place. Race cars are tuned to have the essentials for racing without any added weight, so I guess no air conditioners too. Plus, this was the middle of March in Chennai, so the air temperature was high as well. I remember every time I climbed out of the car after a few laps, I just got a blast of fresh air, which was very welcoming. I wasn’t given a proper race suit, which I imagine would only make things hotter.
3. Acceleration will catch you off guard
I climbed into the car in the pit lane, and we cruised at the pit lane speed until we got to the white line. But as soon as we got onto the track, the driver punched the gas and the car shot like a bullet. I was so surprised by how fast it got in a matter of seconds, and over just a few metres. I was pulled back into my seat. Even when he accelerated out of corners, it was like the car suddenly jumped into full speed from almost nothing.
4. The suspension is not like on-road cars
Race cars are fitted with parts that help the driver go faster and get better performance out of the car. So many of the moving components on the car are different from what you are used to experiencing. For one, you have huge jerks in every turn.
“The race cars are much stiffer in comparison to their road-going counterparts,” multiple Indian National Racing Champion Karthik Tharani told me. “They are setup with stiffer springs and damping. So, it’s absolutely normal to have these jerks and vibration. It’s quite a new feeling when you experience it the first time, but you get used to it.”
Springs and dampers are much stiffer in racecars than on-road cars
© Volkswagen Motorsport
5. G-force will make your head spin
Race car drivers are daredevils. When we would be approaching a turn, I would start to anticipate the car would gradually slow down (as you do on roads) but here the driver would leave it till the last few metres to drop the speed from 140 kmph to 20 kmph. I kept thinking that we would crash into a wall, but thankfully, it never happened. Tharani confirmed what I was thinking; you try to brake as late and as hard as possible without locking up or over-shooting the corner. How hard they brake at the last metre really surprised me. And it’s because you feel a lot of g-force in those corners. The cars I was in would have 1.2 to 1.7 g; World Touring Car series has around 2 to 2.5 g.
6. Nausea might be waiting for you
I felt nauseated just from sitting in the passenger seat for a few laps. Veteran Indian racer Rayomand Banajee told me it is normal for a first timer. It is a result of not being used to the speeds, the g-force and the environment of the cockpit.
If you have claustrophobia, the cockpit can be a difficult place for you. I was strapped in with an open-faced helmet in OMP safety seat belts – both according to standard racing safety regulations – and while my body did swing around a bit with the speeds, I was basically locked into one position; so it can be claustrophobic.
The Polo RX has a rear engine and rear wheel drive
© Volkswagen Motorsport
7. It will be super-fast (duh!)
The speed is undeniably the most exciting and most noticeable factor. And that’s obvious, isn’t it? But you still can’t expect what that speed is like. Mostly it is the speed going into corners that you can’t expect. The fastest corner at MMRT is Turn 1, where the Ameo would go in at 135 to 140 kmph. The Vento would take the same turn at 145 to 150 kmph. On-road cars which haven’t been tuned would be able to take that turn at a maximum of 100 kmph. On the longest straight, the Ameo would go to about 170 km/hr; I had never sat in a car travelling at such high speeds ever before in my life, so I really didn’t know what to expect.
I’ve seen these cars zoom past me for years, but I was sitting in one for the first time. There’s only one word to describe the experience – it was majestic!