Last week, snow had made filming some driving sequences impossible. We decided that we'd shoot what we could and reschedule filming what was missing for yesterday. I had plans at 7pm, so the suggestion of a half day's work was ideal. Even with a round trip of just over 7hrs, I calculated that I'd still be able to make it back down to London for a reunion with some friends I'd not seen for over a year. My bad.
My train from London entered Birmingham late, so I missed my connection to Shrewsbury in Shropshire. I jumped in a cab. An hour and 20 minutes later and over a ton worse off, I arrived at Loton Park. I was 20 minutes late.
I would be learning to drive last year's Lotus Eater gravity racer for a challenge that will take place in Saarsburg, Germany next month. I've never been a huge fan of F1, driving games or anything like that, so I had no real ideas about racing lines, when to brake and such like. I was nervous and due to crappy weather, the downhill course was very wet. Still, it was a better alternative to snow. I needn't have worried too much as I was working with some of Fifth Gear's finest behind-the-camera crews and a team led by Mr. David Ackroyd, one of The Gadget Show's favourite constructors. Now, last year, Jason did most of the driving, but as this was my challenge, I would have to make sure my skills were up to scratch. I had four runs down the buttock-clenchingly twisty track, reaching speeds of around 60kph. By the end of my session, I felt good about my progress and much better about my racing driving. Now, we get on with making improvements to the existing Lotus Eater. It sucks that I can't give more deets or even pics (just this post could get me into hot water), but you'll love what we're doing. I can pretty much guarantee that. I'm better prepared for next month's challenge than I could hope, but it IS a biggie.
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