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It was incredibly unnatural. With front-wheel-drive cars, you pick up specific habits when you drive quickly on tarmac, one of them is how you manage a car drifting wide in a corner. You usually reduce your throttle input as this moves weight forward, allows for better grip and consequently tightens the line of an understeering car. But here, I was being asked to do the opposite.
“Stay on the gas, stay on the gas,” my instructor screamed at me through the intercom inside the car. I had to let go of any sense of self-preservation and accelerate when the front end was running wide. Every fibre of my being was screaming at me to let go of the gas, but those screams only lasted for a split second. Soon enough the revs rose, the limited-slip diff on the front axle hooked up and clawed the front end towards where my wheels were pointing — the corner exit. Phew.
Snap Racing is an outfit that has been participating in the Indian National Rally Championship (INRC) for over 10 years now and has been mighty successful at it too. The idea of this school was to democratise rallying and give people a taste of what it is all about. The school was attended by people who have done one or two rallies and want to up their skills, and also newbies who have never been in a rally car but were keen to try their hand at it, see if they have a knack for it and potentially participate in a rally in the future. Driving a whole rally can be an expensive affair — with entry fees, car rental, service, spares, and travel adding up to a couple of lakhs per round. The rally school aims to give people seat time to experience the cars at a more affordable cost — Rs`1 lakh for two days — without the commitment of participating in a whole rally. A team comprising some of the best drivers and co-drivers in the country — Younus Ilyas, Nitin Jacob, Aniruddha Rangnekar and Shivani Parmar — were at hand over the two days, taking theory lessons, sitting beside us in the car and answering the questions that we had.
The day started off track, with theory. After all, there’s no point strapping yourself into a rally car without knowing what to expect when you turn into the first corner. Theory comprised lessons that taught us about the controls we have on the car — throttle, brakes, gears, steering. They also taught us how to leverage the tools that the car has in terms of suspension, tyres and the diff. These rally cars have very high-end suspension that can deal with the stresses of a rally, but the car needs to be driven in a certain way to make it work. Similarly, the diff is something most people aren’t used to if they’ve been driving regular road cars and it takes some getting used to. Knowing the theory simply makes putting all of it into practice much easier.
Lastly, we were taught some bit of technique like lines. A narrow rally track may not give you the same room as a racetrack, but the same rules about racing lines apply. Similarly, what you do with your eyes and how far ahead you look is also critical to reducing your sense of speed and going where you want to go.
It’s nerve-racking stepping into a rally car. You’re kitted out in your helmet and gloves while a team of technicians set your seat position and adjust the harnesses to suit your frame. Once your instructor is strapped in, you flick the kill switch on, crank the key in the ignition and fire these cars to life. They’re angry, menacing machines — with intakes and exhausts, custom ECU maps, extreme lightweighting and zero creature comforts — they have one focus and one focus only, going fast around a rally track.
The first few laps were slow — we were getting used to the track, used to the controls, used to the feeling of the car on dirt. Slowly but surely, we started to pick up the pace by getting more confident on the throttle and braking later. One of my big mistakes was making too many inputs mid-corner, constantly correcting my lines and unsettling the car. Things got a little better in the next few sessions once I had gained the confidence to stay on the gas through the corners. Once I gained an understanding of how a car would react to me doing that, it built up confidence and I could do so, corner after corner.
That change also ironed out the constant corrections I had to make and made me smoother behind the ’wheel. By the end of day 1, we were pushing hard behind the ’wheel and taking everything from long sweeping bends to tight tracks very confidently.
All confidence was shattered on day 2 when the track was reversed — we had gotten so used to the track that we were able to push, almost like muscle memory. But driving the same track in the opposite direction had us fumbling behind the wheel again. Once again, through the day the speed picked up, the techniques got better and we even attempted advanced techniques like left foot braking. The instructors were in the cars beside us the whole time, pointing out mistakes, giving us tips and making sure we were improving with every successive session. At some points, we got things right — entering at the perfect speed, dialling the right amount of steering input, getting back on to the gas and powering out of the corner — I’ve never felt better behind the wheel of a car. It’s euphoric!
Rallying isn’t a one-man sport though, you need your co-driver to tell you where to go. Nitin Jacob, co-driver to Younus in the INRC conducted a class on pace notes and co-driving. It covered the basics of co-driving, how corners should be named, how important the relationship between driver and co-driver is, and how to maintain effective communication through the rally. The basics included how to define the angle of the corner — usually denoted with a number from 1 through 6 — and the direction of the corner. But he also told us about the importance of descriptors — mentioning if a corner is uphill or downhill, whether it is a long sweeping corner, or if it tightens. All this information can help set up the corner better and be safe and fast through it. I asked him what happens if there’s a disagreement between driver and co-driver on what a specific call should be, and was met by laughs — clearly a common problem. There needs to be some compromise, said Nitin, and what is most important is that the driver and co-driver speak the same language. It doesn’t matter what a corner is objectively. As long as the co-driver’s call is understood by the driver, you’re good.
By the end of the two days, we had gotten a hang of how a rally car works, and we were armed with the knowledge of what good technique looks like. What I liked most about the Snap Racing rally school was that seat time was given a priority, because it was in the car that I really built up confidence and pushed my limits. I had never driven on dirt in anger before, but this was me pushing as fast as I would dare. The instructors ensured constant improvement through the weekend and left me with plenty to practice the next time I got into a rally car. The rally community is filled with enthusiasts who know and love their cars — it is also a great place to meet people, make new friends and maybe one day compete with them. If you’re someone who has been wondering what the world of rallying looks like, or even just want to hone your driving skills in a safe, fun environment, a rally school like this one should be on your agenda.
