Intermediate throttle on the (virtual) race track
05/13/2022
Feel like Ayrton Senna for once. Who wouldn't want that? Everyone from the Zwischengas team wanted to do the same as the Brazilian. And so we used our upcoming 600th newsletter for a small "anniversary celebration" at the Züriring-Motodrom just outside Zurich. Of course, no rich and bona fide collector had provided eight McLaren MP4/4s with over 600 hp for us to play with - not for the simple reason that only six of Senna's 1988 company cars were built.
No, we had to make do with a digital version of the McLaren. But even that was challenging enough from a driver's perspective. Because in the Züriring Motodrom there is not just a Playstation with eight controllers, but eight racing car cockpits with steering wheel, paddle shifters, pedals and a bucket seat that simulates the forces in the cockpit on a special frame. So we were able to do our laps digitally with the turbo monster without the threat of millions in accident damage. Quite literally, because the spontaneous application of the supercharger caused one or two pirouettes at the exit of the bend at the beginning. Headphones provided the right acoustics.
And because the engine response alone was not enough of a challenge, we chose the Ardennes rollercoaster at Spa-Francorchamps as the test track. And of course, the simulator soon awakened the racing driver in all of us. What started out as fun ended up as a wheel-to-wheel battle over several laps with several lead changes. Incidentally, none of the participants managed to beat Senna's best lap time at the 1988 Belgian Grand Prix, which was no surprise to anyone. Nevertheless, we all felt like world champions.
When, after further drives in the Porsche 917 and Lotus 72, we made our way back home in our real, far less racing cars, our accelerator feet had to get used to civilization again for the first few metres. Fortunately, nobody spun out.
