KEY POINTS:
After taking a couple of laps around Manfeild in the two-seater Toyota Racing Series race car, I had the opportunity to experience the same track but in a different sort of car.
This time, my pilot was to be four-time Porsche GT3 Cup champion Craig Baird in his title-winning 997 Porsche.
This was the ultimate in comparisons as, in the past, I had raced motorcycles around Manfeild, British Formula 3 driver Brendon Hartley had taken me for a spin in the TRS car and now Baird was going to do the same thing in a tin top.
Getting ready for the Porsche ride started in the same manner as the TRS ride - in that you have to sign your life away before they let you anywhere near the car.
This time around, I knew why I had to be strapped in so tight it was difficult to breathe. The g-forces under braking, during cornering and acceleration throw you around like a ball in a pinball machine.
Unlike the TRS car, this time I was sitting next to the driver but on the wrong side. The 997 is left-hand drive and it seemed odd to be sitting in the right-hand seat with nothing to hold on to.
The one consistent with all race cars is the noise, although the 997 is marginally quieter inside as the engine is in the boot. The sound is also completely different to the TRS, or a V8 even, as its cylinders are horizontally opposite.
At 415 horsepower (309 kW), the 3.6 litre flat-six engine in the Triple X Motorsport VnC Cocktails 997 GT3 is the most powerful naturally aspirated six-cylinder engine in any production car. This engine has a distinct racing heritage that dates back to the Porsche 904/6 of the mid-60s.
Baird has already completed a couple of laps to get the tyres up to temperature and, after being strapped in for real this time, we set off down pit lane and on to the track.
Another seeming norm across all racing classes is the perceived lack of suspension in race cars. The ride is rock-hard - but don't let that fool you. Hours of fine tuning are spent on a car's suspension to get it to handle correctly.
The faster we go, the more the car's ride appears to smooth out. And as Baird explained later, the last thing you want happening at race speed is the car pitching and swaying. When it does rock on the suspension, weight is transferred to either the front or rear tyres, increasing wear and reducing grip.
Baird is straight into it and we accelerate hard into turn one. Baird flattens it as he exits the corner, climbing through the gears into fourth for the right-hander before the infield where it's back to third.
Then it's flat out in fourth through the next right-hand corner before hard braking for the second-gear hairpin.
We're now about halfway round and as I adjust to being thrown from side to side I try to watch Baird's feet on the pedals - it's like watching a tap dance. They're a blur of movement but Baird's hands are smoothly and quietly pointing the car in the direction he wants to go.
As we get closer to Higgins I begin to wonder when we're going to slow down. Baird doesn't wash too much off as the corner is banked, allowing drivers to carry a fair amount of speed.
We absolutely fly down the back straight and into Dunlop in fourth gear, a quick entry in anyone's books, and turn the corner into a diamond, breaking across the face of the corner right to the top like a motocross bike would, turn it steep and on the way out almost square the corner off.
I've never been through a sweeper quite like that before. As we race down the front straight, the heavens open and the track is deluged with rain. I was a little concerned at this point as we're doing God knows what speed heading into turn one on slick tyres.
At this point, I begin to realise what separates race car drivers from us mere mortals - their complete lack of fear. Baird continued as if nothing had happened, and, as the rear of the car began to dance a little, he calmly compensated any rear movement with a bit of opposite lock on the steering wheel. We carried on for another couple of laps in the wet, travelling not much slower than in the dry.
It became abundantly clear why Baird is in such demand as a driver all round the world, as his car balance and control was something to behold.
Yet again I've had to acknowledge that although I can get a car safely from A to B, I don't know how to actually drive one.
The major difference between the open wheeler and the Porsche is that the TRS cars, due to their aerodynamics, carry a lot more speed into and through a corner than a tin top.
Baird is one of New Zealand's most successful racing drivers, domestically and internationally. Earlier this year, he won the Dubai 24 Hour race and, this week, he defended his Porsche GT3 Cup championship for the third time.
Baird's success began when he won three consecutive New Zealand Formula Atlantic championship titles (1990-1992) and then four consecutive New Zealand Touring Car championship titles (1993-1996). Since then, he has raced in the Australian Super Touring championship, as well as for the Ford team in the British Touring Car championship. He finished first at the 1997 Bathurst 1000 but his car was disqualified as Baird exceeded the allowed number of miles for a single driver.
In 2007, Baird and his 1997 co-driver, Paul Morris, reunited in the Gary Holt BMW 335i and won the revived Bathurst 12 Hour.
In 2004, he raced in the Australian V8 Supercar and Carrera Cup championships.
In 2005, he raced a V8 Supercar for WPS Racing, winning on début at Phillip Island. However, his form dipped and he was dropped at the end of the season when WPS Racing merged with Orrcon Racing and replaced by Brazilian Max Wilson.
Not all was lost with WPS Racing, when he and David Besnard were offered to drive at Sandown and Bathurst. Baird has also competed with some degree of success in the Nurburgring 24-hour race.
He was the 2006 Australian Carrera Cup series champion, runner-up in 2007 and co-owner of the VIP Petfoods team.
