I realize after the fact, calmly catching a slide at 90 mph while my right foot stays on throttle, that something isn’t normal. Then the next bend is entered at 95 mph and the rear gets light and then drifts out a few degrees again. I correct without thinking about it, maintain pace and carry on.
Weird. There’s no sudden jump in heart rate, blood pressure seems fine, muscles stay relaxed. None of the typical pucker factor reactions when you realize you’re entering a moment of high consequence if you make a mistake. Not my usual response.
Is it the setting? Just yesterday, the afternoon included quiet gardens filled with the lovely fragrance of lavender and a beautiful cobalt blue river and waterfall. But not today. Today is Takasu, a proving ground just outside of Asahikawa, about an hour from Sapporo on the island of Hokkaido in Northern Japan that was opened in 1993. A place of work, not tranquility.
And the road, known simply as The Winding Course, is a 3.9-mile, 17-corner carnival of constant high-speed, high-lateral g driving that dips and climbs nearly 200 feet over one lap with precious little run-off or room for error, but plenty of opportunity for pucker. This road was modeled after sections of the Nordschleife, or North Loop, of the Nurburgring. Not your typical place to become calm........
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