Coimbatore and back

It was a nice and easy weekend coming up for everyone. To me it looked like a target looming large. I had some plans regarding the 2011 Indian National Rally season and needed to get some quality time in my rally car. Clocking some rally miles go a long way in fine tuning ones car control  at rally pace. This is exactly what I wanted to accomplish over the weekend.

I set out in my trusted Honda VTEC which now had a brillinat turbo under the hood engineered by ace tuner Leelakrishnan from Red rooster racing. I was looking forward to the 350km drive from Bangalore to Coimbatore in the turbo city. Started from my place in Bangalore at 9.00am and hit NH7 and blitzed through super smooth tarmac towards textile city. Made good time hitting dizzying speeds but kept a check on adrenalin getting the better of me.

Had my share of ego boosts and lows too. A stock toyota corolla came at lighting speed and vanished into the horizon and made me eat humble pie. With my ego jilted, I slowed down considerably and debated on topics such as skill, risk taking ability and a whole lot of topics meant for losers.

Managed to reach coimbatore by 2.00pm and headed straight for Kumar's garage to check out the rally car. The last rally of 2010 had been a tarmac event and the car had to be set up correctly for dirt practice. Met all the mechs at Kumar's and had fun talking to them. We don't usually meet off season and it was only because I went for practice that I was getting to see them in January. Had a quick lunch and got ready to take the car to the test track near kethanur.


Reached the place by 4.00pm and did a recce of the track along with the track creator nagaraj. Brilliant surface and very technical was how the track felt. I test drove the car for over two and a half hours trying out various things with the car. It was an absolute blast and I had a great feeling by the end of the day. Went back to Kumar's and met a lot of folks there who had turned up for small time tuning for the Kari drag meet scheduled for the next day. After hanging around for an hour at Kumar's workshop, me and Kumar went to our regular Biriyani place and had super tasty Biriyani's and natti kozhi chicken fry. Was fabulous food and the right way to bring the day to an end. Dropped kumar at the workshop and took off for Bangalore theerafter. Time was already 10.30pm and I was in for a hong haul that day. Drove steady with minimal breaks and I was at my Bangalore home by 3.00am. A very useful saturday it was...