Yee-haa!
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Some of my more memorable rides have played out in the passenger seat.
On a regular basis, this job entails being swaddled in safety gear, strapped in (sometimes on) to a machine and then sent out into the world with absolutely no control over what happens next.
This has certainly made me look at my own attitude towards passengers in a whole new light.
At any rate, in the furtherance of this particular line of endeavour, while secured to the passenger seat I have had the opportunity to experience hysteria in all manner of settings on land, sea and air.
Track racers have subjected me to nosebleed g-forces and rally aces have demonstrated what it feels like to be dumped into a blender on High. Pilots have sent my lunch in one direction, and me in another. (A word of advice: don’t give in to the temptation to scream. It only encourages them.)
Most recently, it was the turn of Duncan Vos, the off-road championship leader. We shared his Toyota Hilux racer at the De Brug military base, near Bloemfontein. The course we used is normally home to armoured vehicle pilots learning that invaluable skill: how to drive and shoot at the same time.
Fortunately for us, Vos was at the wheel of the V8-engined, highly specialised (dampers: R25 000 apiece) Hilux racer.
Despite rather iffy video quality*, we’ve left in the last half-minute or so, as an indication of just how manic off-road racing can become. Now multiply that by several kilometres and you get the picture…
*As my Sanyo Xacti’s battery had run down, I was obliged to fall back on my trusty Nokia E90 cellphone to record the ride.
