Awkward Transitions

I’ve a newfound admiration for race drivers. Dedication, discipline, and a lot of passion aside, what really draws my veneration is their sheer testicular fortitude. Having your balls at your throat, can really cloud your judgement and confidence.

Fresh from a round of GT4, guys would talk about how they made a killer pass during braking into a hard chicane, or a Lotus they recently drifted, or a pumped up compact sedan that could take on a Pagani. They’d talk about racing technicalities: how Takuma Sato could greatly improve if he drove a slightly more conservative line. All this of course, derived from experience gained from Gran Turismo: The Real Driving Simulator. They had always remained theories, lofty dreams, leaving guys to ponder soon after if such was really possible. Pixel prowess, to steal a metaphor.

Just how accurate was Gran Turismo? Could skills gained from the game translate to real driving talent?

That was a question I had to answer. If there’s one thing Gran Turismo doesn’t prepare you for, it’s the fact that you could lose it at any moment. And unlike the game, you won’t just feel a slight shake when you hit the barriers.

All those lines and braking points crammed in at practice all go out the window once the fear of damaging the car pops in your head. It’s like looking down from a high building. You psych yourself out and lose it. That same thought tells you the car has reached its limits. Feel tells you otherwise. The wheel is still at the same angle and it’s still light enough for you to either turn a bit more or sneak in a little more power. It’s head over heart and ignoring one of them is an inevitable choice.