KEY POINTS:
You know you're in for a very different kind of motoring experience the instant the accelerator is pressed flat to the floor and the black Mitsubishi hunkers down, knobbly tyres biting into loose gravel.
As rally driver Kingsley Jones powers his Group A rally car into the first
corner, the broad grin on my face creates even more pressure inside the tight-fitting helmet. Laughter bursts unconsciously from my mouth as I learn firsthand how a rally car at full throttle is taken around a corner. Just a bit different to how I normally drive...
Two ninety-degree corners later with the highly-tuned 2.2-litre engine revving hard, the thought whirls through my head that I couldn't possibly do this. Couldn't possibly accelerate straight towards a stack of tractor tyres and, just seconds before what seems like certain impact, dab the brakes, change gear, flick the steering wheel and deftly line up the scrabbling, screaming machine to tackle the next short stretch of gravel-flinging madness.
Jones is piloting me around the roads surrounding the Mystery Creek Events Centre, participating in a promotional day for August's Repco Rally New Zealand. Through the headphones the 37-year-old Auckland auto electrician enthuses about the incredible effort made by the huge numbers of volunteers who make events such as this New Zealand's round of the World Rally Championship possible. In fact, Jones is being equally generous with his time and talent by taking sponsor and media guests for a high-octane ride around Mystery Creek seeing as he contests a model of car that isn't eligible to enter the high profile event and hasn't any sponsors who can directly benefit from his participation.
The uphill section is brilliant and I've got the hang of bracing my legs firmly against the steel footplate, but it's heart-in-my-mouth stuff as Jones charges back down the hill and I seriously, seriously wonder how on earth we were going to make it around the right-hander at the bottom. But we did. "That's better," comments Jones, as he strives to beat his earlier time for the 3.18 kilometre route.
"Oops!" My side of the car passes just millimetres from a large tractor tyre as the back swings wide at the last corner. "Oh well," says Jones as he pilots the Mitsubishi through the electronic timing gates. "Only one mistake really."
We pull up to the timing control and momentarily I feel like a real co-driver, passing a red card out to the marshal who writes 2:55.8 into the 'time taken' space. "Better than last time," grins Jones when he sees it.
The competitive spirit rubs off on all the guests being taken for rides. "Who did you go with?" "What was his time?" "My driver was faster!"
I'm just happy to have had the experience, whether Jones was fastest or not. It's so, so different to anything else I've ever experienced in a car before and I still can't fathom how they do it!
All due respect to Jones, but imagine hopping in the co-driver's seat with Sebastien Loeb or Mikko Hirvonen - two top WRC drivers heading for New Zealand in August. Oh my..! That's virtually beyond me to comprehend. I'm quite dazzled and delighted after approximately three minutes alongside Jones.
