They say you should face your fears so it was very natural for me to suggest that I take a night time stint in this years 12 hour race at Ebisu to see how I would get on. I was feeling rather confident as the weather was perfect with zero rain or fog forecast.
Rod arrived in full of excitement and told me how great it was on the new tires and how he'd just set a new fastest time in the car. Obviously it was fantastic out there. Belted up and waiting for the last of the fuel to be added, I felt ready for the 45 minutes of darkness ahead to bring the car home. A knock on the car and wave and I was off, racing down the pit lane and out into the first corner.
Around the first, down the hill to the S-curve but I couldn't see where it started. I knew it was there somewhere so kept up some speed and turned in. Out the exit of the S-curve and top of 3rd down the hill into the right hander at the end of the hill. Damn - I couldn't see anything, the lights were on, but I could only see part of the road ahead. Not really far enough ahead that is to be hitting around 130kmph into the next bend. I could see the spot light ahead but not where it was shining on the apex. I braked way too late and just barely made it around the corner... Wow. it will take time for my eyes to adjust I thought. It can't really be this dark can it?
Up the hill into the inside hairpin which I also couldn't see, around that and down again through the right kink before the last corner. Darkness... Were my lights really on? Why couldn't I see anything? I expected a lot more light than this. The second lap, was just as bad. Top that with the onset of cars that seemed to be driving way too fast up behind me? How could they possibly see enough to go that fast?
Lap after lap, I had no clue where to brake, I tried counting seconds at full acceleration, looking for where someone had locked brakes on the road, following other cars as much as I could... All I could think of was how well I knew the circuit and yet how little I could see. It shocked me and brought up images of awe at those who race around the ring in the 24 races they have over there. How well can they possibly know the ring and how do they avoid those faster cars who must bully their way by, lights ablaze... Back to the immediate reality, how was anyone else able to drive fast at night like this?
Doubts crept in. I thought about coming in for a driver change, but then again the car behind us, was perhaps only 10 laps or so a-drift and coming in might mean losing a place if the next person wasn't dressed in his gear. The radio had stopped working after all, so I had no way to tell anyone to be ready. No - I guess I would just have to do this, even if I did it slowly... Just bring the car home.
As time went on, I tried to get better and better but I still couldn't drive anywhere near what I can do when I can actually see what is ahead. It was like going into a ghost house where they have dark rooms and all you can do is follow a rope or the wall until suddenly you find another wall and then feel around for the next path. I thought the HIDs would make it easier for me, but I guess I need even more light than they provide for me to function.
At 8:59 on the in-car clock I rounded the last corner and headed up the finish straight staring at the flag tower looking for the checkered flag. Nothing. Next lap too. Then another lap and another... Hard to believe but I guess the race didn't start on-time so they extended the finish to match for a perfect 12 hours.
I ended up doing about an hour that final stint. It was one of the most demanding hours I've ever done in a car. I can't say I learned how to drive in the dark but I did survive it so I am proud at least of that.
I'm rather disappointed in my lack of vision at night. I knew it was bad but am thinking that perhaps as a result of my LASIK operation earlier this year, it is worse than it used to be. It's good to know though.
Would I volunteer again for a night stint? Mad as I am, I'd probably answer yes as I'd like to see if my vision improves next year. Somehow though, I think I would be more effective during a day stint or even in the rain. It was another educational racing weekend!
Read more about our weekend over on our TGR blog.
■エイトリアンカップの2クラス、Absolute・Enjoy～絶対と楽しさのはざまで～
6 days ago
2 comments:
I'm glad I finished at dusk then.
I would have liked to do the dark stint. But my stupid frames on my optical glasses don't fit in my helmet, So I asked aki to bump me up the order so I could still waer my sunglasses.
Baka!
Maybe it's a bit to do with alignment of the preludes lights because at the end of my stint I could only see the fog lights reflecting on the track.
Check them out sometime.
We thought about how to tell you about the 9:10 finish, but decided, you'd probably just come in if you saw the pit board go out.
Russ.
guys - one mod for the future will be properly designed, dedicated driving lights. The HID were good enough for me (I didn't really recall anyplace that was overly dark - but yes the housings were not designed for HIDs) but for next year's 12 hour race, this is something we need to work on.
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