My Targa Rally experience: I tried to be a co-driver and end up hunched on the side of the road

Not quite the modified Mercedes that I was going to go around in but this Subaru SUV managed to do just as well on Sunday. Photo / Ben Hughes/Proshotz Photography

When asked if I wanted to go for a ride in a rally car as part of the Targa Rally in Hawke's Bay, I thought cool, why not, it'll be fun.

How wrong I was.

Arriving at Porters Hotel in Havelock North I was feeling quite excited.

I've always enjoyed following motorsport and watched it on TV whenever I could and consider myself to have a little bit of a lead foot.

But there were signs from the start that this wasn't my day.

The car I was supposed to go in was written off the day before.

So instead of a modified made-for-rally car I went for a ride in a Subaru SUV.

I was a tad disappointed at the time but my driver, Chris Timmerman, made sure I wouldn't be disappointed by the ride.

Here's where I digress for a bit: I probably should've taken on some of the warnings that I heard that morning.

First up, every time people asked who I was going with I would say Chris' name and they would say, "Oh madman Chris".

I probably should have taken a minute to think on that but all I thought was "cool more speed, more fun".

Second, and probably most important, on our way to the start of the stage we stopped off at a petrol station to fill up.

But also Chris got something to eat and said, "I always have to have something to eat before otherwise I get car sick".

For some reason the question didn't dawn on me till we got to the start line of stage 15, if the driver gets carsick how bad is the ride then?

But it was too late and we were off with a squeal of the tyres and the rev of the engine.

The first 20km of the 26km track were awesome.

Stage 15 of the Targa Rally Hawke's Bay 2019, although not the longest leg makes up for it in the twist and turns along the 26km stage. Photo / targa.nz

Taking tight turns at over 100km/h around corners where it had warning signs up saying 55km/h had my adrenalin pumping.

But for the last 6km it wasn't as grand and exciting as the first 20.

Now it takes quite a bit for me to get sick.

But when you're going round some back country winding roads at around 120+km/h and having to read the drivers book for warnings along the way, it's just not going to end well.

Luckily there was room to stop along the road for me to "empty the tank" but the last few kilometres to the end of the stage were hell.

I went to hell with both my head and my gut, but despite it, it was a hell of an experience.

Just not something I will do again anytime soon.