I\u2019m strapped into the car and fastened tight. \u201cThis is the buckle that will undo everything,\u201d a member of the pit crew tells me. \u201cBut if the worst happens, it\u2019s probably better to wait for someone to get you out, in case you\u2019re upside down and you fall on your neck. The only exception is if you see smoke, fire or feel burning: then it\u2019s every man for himself.\u201d I\u2019m briefed to brace my knees, and press my head against the back of the seat to avoid whiplash. At this juncture, I recall I have forgotten to fill out a Telegraph risk assessment.<\/p>\n
We\u2019re wheeled on to the track for final preparation, the car is checked and then an explosion fills my ears, the air is sucked out of my lungs as we zoom\u2026 and then stop. Only part way down the track. Just a tester, to warm the tyres. That wasn\u2019t even the main event. I\u2019m dazed as the car reverses down the track to the starting line.<\/p>\n
Ready to go<\/p>\n
Thumbs up, looking good, ready to go. I can feel the car rumbling all around me. I don\u2019t know where to look. The whole world is muffled in the helmet. My eyes fall on the \u201cChristmas tree\u201d, a traffic light system. Yellow bulb illuminated. I\u2019m thinking of Mario Kart: how you have to carefully rev your engine just before the race starts, yellow bulb, in the videogame that\u2019d give you a speed boost, yellow bulb, oh god, green bulb. Go!<\/p>\n
The speed is like nothing I\u2019ve experienced before. The families picnicking on the embankments to the sides of the track are a smudge in the corners of my eyes. Head back, knees braced, eyes spinning trying to take it all in, my whole body roaring with the engine. It\u2019s too loud to hear anything, I\u2019m moving too fast to see anything.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s over as soon as it starts. Eight seconds later the parachute has deployed and we\u2019re rolling to the end of the track. Later I\u2019ll discover I was travelling at \u201conly\u201d 165mph.<\/p>\n
Paradoxically, the thrill comes afterwards. I pull off my helmet, unable to stop laughing, gulping in air, trying to recall the speed, fighting my mind, which is already slowing it down in retrospect.<\/p>\n
\u201cBrute force, ignorance and horsepower\u201d? Possibly, but even so, it\u2019s without a doubt the most thrilling experience I\u2019ve had in years.<\/p>\n