2. A Mysterious Newcomer

Both cars rocket down the steep slope, with the S13 just a nose behind the 300ZX. Because of the new flywheel that the driver complained about not much earlier, he was much faster on the downhill than on the hill climb. The drivers meander through the sharp winding road, and then come up to a 90-degree corner before the longest pure straightaway on the course. Inside the 300ZX, Pete shifts down to second gear and slams the breaks, shifting his heavy load to his front wheels. However, he was too eager on the brakes.

"Shit! My front tires!" shouted Pete, while his steering wheel was violently shaking, resisting the tires grip. Instantly, he noticed the nose of his Z32 glide right, towards the outside lane.

"The downhill always opens up a driver's weaknesses," the S13 driver explains to himself from inside his cockpit. He takes the initiative and skillfully performed surgery on the road, cutting the corner like a scalpel. Pete's eyes open with awe as he sees the downhill master armed with a new modification. His irises reflect the taillights of the S13 as it pulls ahead with fluid speed.

"Holy shit, he's fast! He's passing me in the first corner! I need to catch up before he loses me!" Pete yells as he realizes that he's got to use his big horsepower advantage on the straightaway. He sinks the petal to the floor and pushes his body into the back of his bucket seat while the car lifts and rockets forward. About three quarters down the straight, he's closing on both 90 miles an hour and a very sharp corner ahead. He noticed a glimmer of headlights in his rear view mirror. He then slams the brake petal to the floor, feeling the machine gun pulsation of his Antilock Braking System. His friend's S13 is drifting incredibly fast around the tight hairpin in front of him and tries with all his might to mimic the same speed with his much larger Z32. Suddenly, his eyes are blinded by the high beams of the car closing in incredibly fast behind him.

"Who the hell is that?" He shouts ponderously while squinting to make out two pairs of circular headlights. "An old Volkswagen? An old Bimmer? What the hell could be so fast?" He then realizes that he's closing I on the hairpin at mach speed!

"Shit! I missed my turn in point!" He desperately turns in his steering wheel, which fights him for the entire corner. In a desperate attempt to turn sharper, he stabs the accelerator to break his rear tires loose. Again, his nose starts gliding to the outside of the curve, only this time, he rotating towards the inside. Then his jaw dropped as the car chasing him like a ghost is perfectly drifting in front of him, on the inside lane, almost taking his front bumper with it.

"Rear wheel drive. It's gotta be a Bimmer! That guy's as fast as Lex!" proclaims Pete as the mysterious phantom car takes on the middle position. Then, he experiences a maneuver not even his friend, Lex, has accomplished in his S13. Still banking right on the sharp corner, the car counter steers and snaps left and rotates counter clockwise into a counter drift in the next left corner. Pete tries to keep up to witness this incredible maneuver but struggles to keep on the road as his attention is on the two cars ahead.

"Who the hell does this guy think he is? Does he think he can just sneak up on me and pass me like that? This is our mountain, not yours! Come on, Lex! Don't let that sneaky Eurotrash pass you! Outrun this jerk for the honor of Forest Angle R!"

At the front of the pack, Lex is smiling, as he knows that his last modification made a vast difference on the downhill. Not only is his engine much more responsive, but he could accurately place his RPMs while he's drifting around the corner. He then looks up to see how far behind Pete is and to his surprise, there are unfamiliar headlights in his rear view.

"What's this?" he ponders as the two pairs of round headlights become incredibly bright in just a few seconds.

"He's right on my ass! That's definitely not Pete's Z32! Sheesh, this guy's fast! Too bad he's behind me, cause I'd like to see the technique he used to catch up to me this quickly! Maybe Pete can tell me later. Don't loose your cool, bro. I won't let him pass"

As Lex navigates through the meandering bi-section, he ponders over the new chaser, while subconsciously preparing for the next sharp right hairpin curve. He takes the left lane, which is the outside position; because he knows that he needs to grip through the first hairpin to have enough momentum to drift around the next switchback. As he brakes, he starts steering in, floating the steering wheel to a perfectly controlled oversteer. He then cuts to the apex of the corner like a skilled surgeon, yet again. He notices something disturbing. The guardrail reflectors are searingly bright beside him, yet he sees no headlights behind him.

"Is he drifting through the corner? Doesn't he know this course? There's a sudden switch back right in front of me. By the time he straightens out, he's gonna be into the next corner's outer guardrail!" Lex then takes his right foot on the accelerator, taps the brake, and then switches back to the accelerator, controlling its depth variably. He starts drifting toward his left, only to see the strange, short, blue, and slightly trapezoidal shaped nose of the mysterious car peek in on his inside left!

"What the? How the hell did he switch directions so quickly! The only way he could fit in there is if he's still drifting! Incredible!" wowed Lex while he's at his car's cornering limit. The mystery car is rushing in so quickly; Lex has to lift his foot off the accelerator to avoid the other car from colliding!

"Holy shit! I've never seen anyone corner that fast! What kind of car is that? What kind of driver is that?" The strange car passes Lex's S13 cleanly on the inside and snaps into the opposite direction again.

"He's still drifting? The next hairpin is still three hundred feet away!" The car makes a large parabolic drift and tightened up it's line right past the apex of the corner, while the S13 takes a more technical approach and cut in later while griping. As Lex clears the corner at what he considers a fast and safe speed, he sees that the car ahead is still drifting and snaps back around for the fourth and final switchback hairpin. Mind boggled, the only thing Lex can do is drop his jaw as he witnesses the truest, fastest and most suicidal line through the pass' dangerous unyielding technical section. Soon, the car disappears around the bend as Lex decides to let him go and finish the course ahead of him. He realized that a true competitor outmaneuvered him on his home turf. He takes his foot off the accelerator and presses the caution light switch, signaling to Pete behind him that he had given up.

©2005, Marc Gabriel Palardy, All Rights Reserved