Photo by Lafinboy

A couple of weeks ago, I was invited by Audi for their Supercar Experience. I was there primarily to interview Quincy Quek, who is sponsored by Audi. And since I travelled all the way up to Sepang, the kind folks from Audi thought that I must give the powerful R8 V10 a spin, which I regrettably did.

Thing was, I missed the training session in the morning because I couldn’t get onto the earlier flight. The participants got the chance to accustom themselves to the car’s power, brakes and they got to learn some basic tracking skills. At the commencement of the afternoon lapping session, I was invited to go for a few laps. I thought, “Pfft, how difficult can it be?” I have always stayed in control while driving the buggy around the golf course under treacherous conditions. How different can driving an Audi R8 V10 be?

As soon as I pressed on the accelerator, I realized that I was in for a potentially fatal experience. Ala Superman, the car went off like speeding bullet. As I approached the bends, I stepped on the brakes like a granny when I should be hitting it like Sean Fister on 10 cans of Red Bull. I oversteered when I shouldn’t, and understeered when I should. If not for the excellent track-grabbing technologies of the car, it would have surely gone into the gravel or even the concrete barriers. My passenger, who was one of the participants, was hanging on for his dear life during those four laps. He didn’t say a word to me after we got off the car. I guess I could understand why.

My legs and hands were shaking as I walked towards the paddock and most probably, my face was as pale as the proverbial sheet of paper. Like a strict headmaster, the driving instructor told me not to take the wheel anymore as I was simply not ready for it. That instance, in addition to having the living daylights scared out of me, I felt really bad and embarrassed.

Looking at it from a positive angle, I guess driving a supercar around the track is just like playing golf. Both disciplines are technically demanding and you require a significant amount of skill and practice in order to do well. If somebody who hasn’t held golf clubs before hit the fairways, he will most probably be reprimanded by the marshals and get asked to leave the golf course, much like what I experienced at Sepang.

Still, leaving tyre marks around the tarmac and burning copious amounts of fuel is not my kind of thing. I’ll be more than happy staying behind the wheel of my 1.5 litre Toyota Corolla, braking like a granny, and heading to the golf club for an ever-satisfying round of golf.

Fore!

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