A chap in Finland and a pretty swift driver in his own right, from another forum I frequent, posted this yesterday . . . thought some people here would be interested. I’ve been a passenger in a club rally car and was in awe at the speed they can go on gravel but this must have been just incredible. If you’re not sure who the driver is, have a read: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcus_Gr%C3%B6nholm
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Hi folks,
We seem to be having a “finnish” moment so I thought I would after all share
my Monday with you.
My mate Mr Gronholm called me last week to ask if I wanted a ride in a WRC
Focus on a Finnish rally stage with him. My answer was fairly unrepeatable
but was in the affirmative… Now I should preface this with a note that I
went for a ride in the same car in Wales last December with Jari-Matti
Latvala. So I had some modest experience of what to expect.
I worked with the members of the Ford & BP PR people to ensure that I was
the last of about 30 people to be taken down the stage. I think it’s worth
adding that Marcus and I really do seem to get on very well and we swapped a
few jokes over the weekend (And quite a bit of abuse it has to be said: You
should have seen the crowd of Finnish fans faces when I yelled at him “get
out of my way you f***ing ‘has been’ I’m in a hurry here” and he yelled back
something equally polite). Anyhow, I indeed was the last to go down the
stage - we did about 8k, 4k out, 180, 4k back.
As I strapped in we were chatting over the intercom and I told him I was
last so we could go for it and it wasn’t a problem if we rolled 
He
laughed and said OK, we go out quite fast and then we will see. So, we
pulled out from under the awning and he pulled up, engaged launch control
and sat there on the limiter for a second or two before we set off - fast.
The stage was not much wider than my driveway, trees (dense) both sides,
covered in the usual gravel and mud etc. in places there were fairly deep
ruts too. Marcus gave me a running commentary as we went along, “here I
need to enter sideways and full power” etc. He also pointed out some data
on a little LCD panel between us (floor level) it showed all sorts of stuff
about the car, crucially I could see our speed. It’s incredibly hard to
explain just how tight and sharp some of these corners were, nor how
incredibly smooth it all felt, even when we landed after some jumps, the
Focus just took it in its stride, Marcus never seemed to be in the least bit
“active” behind the wheel. To say I was taken aback would be the
understatement of the century. BTW, along the stage Marcus also pointed out
corners and spots where drivers had come to grief, including a crash site
which apparently brought Markku Alen’s career to an abrupt halt.
So, we got to the farthest point and there was a small piece of ground into
which we handbraked into a 180, ready to launch back. Ominously Marcus
looked at me while tightening his belts a tad more and said, “OK, now we go
rally speed”. (Its at this point that I noted that double world champ
Marcus has had quite a bit of practice on this particular stage, 30 odd
times already today and that going last may or may not have been the smart
move…)
Launch control engaged, off we went. If it wasn’t rally speed, God help us.
I was in absolute awe, dumbstruck, expletives were coming out of my mouth,
looking at Marcus, he was in another world (So I shut up!!), engaged in the
business of driving, the look in his eye was all I needed to show we were
indeed going pretty damn quick. As we entered a downhill, S bend, uphill
complex I looked down, the digital numbers were inconceivable, according to
this we were entering the complex at 176kph, having just landed over a
“yump”, we glided through, Marcus working the wheel and pedals with a new
sense of urgency, all too soon the stage end loomed into sight (At that
speed 4k goes by very quickly indeed!) and we coasted down, Marcus chuckled
through the intercom, “not too bad eh, for a has been” Oh boy… :-))
I got out of the car and the guys from the team huddled round, they knew it
had been a quick run, they laughed at my loss for words… Some may have
mistaken this for fear or something. Actually it was a complete brain
reset. I’ve hustled a car along on tarmac and I have had the privilege to
witness some darn quick guys, I’ve watched rallies for years at very close
quarters but never ever ever had I imagined just how fast these guys go and
just how impossible it all is.
I saw a real driving God at close quarters on Monday and I felt very very
humble indeed. (Not to mention a sense of extreme gratitude for the
privilege of the experience).
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