By Lachlan Onions
LAST Friday, I experienced an opportunity I will never forget – being taken for a ride of the Legend of the Lakes hill climb course alongside one of the best drivers around.
I made my way to the bottom of the course in the morning full of anticipation and mid-way through the first run of the day, I found out I was going to sit alongside Damien Brand in his Subaru WRX STI.
As the final drivers lined up to begin their first attempt at the drive along the volcano, I strapped into the passenger seat, put my helmet on and was ready for an ultimate ride.
From the moment Brand put his foot to the floor for the first time, I had a smile which could not be wiped from my face.
Brand reached whirlwind speeds as we went through the esses and approached the bus-stop chicane.
There were multiple times when I thought a crash was imminent as we traversed the Valley Lakes precinct.
However, despite the fact the car was flying at what seemed like insane speeds, we made it through to the top where Brand made sure I had the full experience and slid the car sideways out of the chicane and into the final corner.
I moved down to Mount Gambier from Queensland in March, so this was my first ever time at the annual event and having driven through the Valley Lakes myself, I could not believe what the drivers were capable of.
I was made aware of this event about six months ago and the thought of racing up a volcano at speeds upwards of 180km/h blew my mind.
When I made my way down in the morning it seemed impossible for cars to fully send it up the hill and even when I was in the passenger seat, it was still hard to believe that drivers managed to avoid crashing at such a high velocity.
At the end of the ride, I was still smiling from ear to ear and I was shocked when Brand told me the run was sedate by his standards as it was his first run of the weekend.
Considering it felt like the car was pushed to its absolute limits, I cannot imagine what it would have been like when he completed the course in under 54 seconds on Saturday to claim third place overall.
Having worked at The Border Watch as a cadet sports journalist for close to eight months now, riding with Brand for the hill climb is easily the highlight for me to date.
