It’s a difficult feeling to describe – the trust that you’re going to be fine, yet the lack of belief that this level of speed can be correct.
With a fast left-right S-bend approaching, I’m convinced we’re going to lift. Even if it’s just a comfort one.
Not a bit of it. The foot’s flat as the Škoda nears the top of fifth gear, and we’re now barrelling down this straight with a blind brow. With no description of what’s on the other side, the toe still isn’t flinching until… bang, we’re on the brakes and pointing it at the apex.
There’s no better way to experience what the ERC’s Barum Rally Zlín is all about than strapped into the silly seat alongside a driver who’s won this championship before: Chris Ingram.
But let me tell you, it’s rather humbling when you’ve been driven faster than you’ve ever been driven in a rally car before, and the driver grins at you when popping your helmet into the boot: “That was only six or seven tenths mate.”
Check the full video below as Ingram tackles the 4.3-mile Komárov shakedown stage without any pacenotes.
