This is it. The moment I’ve been waiting all year for, counting down the days for. 300 horsepower delivered to four wheels awaits at the other side of this flight.
Destination: Snoqualmie. Purpose of visit: learn how to drive a rally car quickly.
I’m heading Stateside to get the full DirtFish experience: three full days behind the wheel of a Subaru Impreza WRX STI. Group N brakes, uprated suspension, remapped engine; the works.
Short of one-to-one private coaching, a three day course at DirtFish Rally School is as in-depth and hands-on as it gets. I’m only sharing my car with one other person and most of my time will be spent in the cockpit alongside its team of instructors – not sat on the sidelines twiddling my thumbs.
And boy do I need that seat time. My track record behind the wheel of rally-prepared machinery is questionable at best.
The first time I got behind the wheel – that time it was a smaller, front-wheel-drive car – I had texted a few drivers beforehand. What should I expect? Any advice?
The answers were broadly the same: enjoy it. But three-time Portuguese national champion Bruno Magalhães added a caveat – be clever and don’t do anything silly.
I did something silly.
At first there was an early excursion off into the grass. I’d stupidly tried to manage a downhill medium-right flat out and understeered off, failing to use the necessary dab of brake to shift the weight balance forward far enough to achieve the required turn-in for the corner.
Going to DirtFish isn’t about learning how to drive quickly. It’s about learning to drive with the maximum level of control
Then, a really silly mistake: turning in too early for a hairpin, hitting a patch of mud just after the apex and skidding off into a ditch on the exit. The tow truck had to be called into action.
Luckily for me, managing weight transfer is one of the first points covered at DirtFish. I’m told there’ll be plenty of driving in circles to learn lift-off oversteer, then a run through the slalom.
And I’ve gotten started early. A hefty layover in Toronto means I’ve had more than enough time to brush up on the essentials with the videos Nate, Eric and the rest of the team have uploaded to DirtFish’s YouTube channel over the years. I’ve got “lift, turn, brake” seared into my brain already.
Going to DirtFish isn’t about learning how to drive quickly. It’s about learning to drive with the maximum level of control – but it just happens to be at speed.
I’m definitely going to enjoy this. But this time, I also plan to listen to Bruno. I’m sure with one of the crack team of DirtFish instructors bolted into the passenger seat, I’ll be more clever this time.
Stay tuned to DirtFish all through this week as Alasdair charts his experience and what he has learned.
