Amber! Amber! Amber! Green!!!!
It was all a blur. There was a strange weight that I felt in my guts, and my heartbeat was elevated. Thousands of eyes were glued to the car as I lined up. And my legs were shivering. It was a feeling I have never had before. But then I saw amber..amber..amber… and green. I did what I haven't practised but sure have done many times over. With the green light flashing, I released the brake pedal while the right foot was pinned to the floor. And all the feelings I had until that moment simply vanished! As soon as I was off the mark, it was just lights flashing by. Those eyes watching me were now obscured into a haze. All I saw was the quarter mile of bare tarmac laid out right in front of me. And my sole mission was to cross it in the quickest time. Welcome to the 2023 Valley Run. Not only did I make my drag race debut this year, I did it in an EV. It was the MG ZS EV. And we didn't return empty-handed!
Getting there!
This edition marked the 10th anniversary of The Valley Run organised by Elite Octane. I have witnessed and covered the event many times over the last few years. But when Venkat pointed out that there's an EV category as well, I wasn't going to let the opportunity slip so easily. There were two EV classes this year – Q1 for international/imported EVs, and Q2 for India-made EVs.
So we called up MG, and they obliged with the ZS EV done up in a gorgeous black. Our class was scheduled on Sunday, and we left our office on Saturday with 78 per cent. By the time we reached Lonavala, we had charge of just over 40 per cent and so, a little range anxiety kicked in. We ended up finding a slow AC charger and plugged it in for 5 hours.
We started the next morning with a climb of around 25-30kms to the air strip with 98 per cent charge. The journey took just 10 per cent which isn't too bad considering some sections are tight turns with high elevation change.
Time to Race
Making a debut on the Valley Run drag strip, I admit I was nervous beyond comprehension. Add to it performing under the eyes of many enthusiasts, there was no margin of error. And since the proceedings of the day were delayed owing to unexpected circumstances, our practice run was cancelled, and instead, we only had one final run to register our quarter mile time.
Despite the sundown, the enthusiasm of the crowd present there was unwavering. I saw McLarens, Mustangs, Lamborghinis, GTRs, couple of powerful BMW M5s along with some very fast (700-horsepower fast) Hondas lining up and vanishing in the horizon down the airstrip. Barely getting that timorous feeling out of my helmet-clad head, I lined up the ZS EV. And feeling the full wrath of a Mustang’s V8 which just went down the line ahead of me didn’t help either.
With instructions from the marshal, I positioned the ZS EV on the start line. The Christmas tree was right in my vision as I switched to Sport mode, turned the brake-energy regen to the lowest and switched off the AC (could still feel the chills though). Here I forgot that the windows were still down, but luckily for me, I heard one of the spectators calling out my name and could hear voices of the crowd murmuring about the EV lining up on the start line. This did help calm my nerves.
Now, as the marshal gave a go-ahead, windows rolled up, and the Christmas tree did its thing. As I saw amber-amber-amber-green, I was instructed to go full throttle when the green showed up - not before, not after. I am not sure how quick my reaction time was, but with my right foot pinned to the floor I presumed this would make the ZS EV lose traction. It might just jitter off the mark, or do some sort of drama. Or in the least, I would have to correct the steering a few times. But there was no drama whatsoever.
The ZS EV picked up its anchor and ran as smoothly as a hot knife carving its way through butter. It rolled away from the start line with no lag, no delay and in no time I was doing triple figures. All I had to do was hold on to the steering, my right leg concreted to the floored pedal and lights flashing by! I could see the car in my right lane disappear from my sight and reappear in my rearview mirrors. After crossing the finish line, having not seen the run-off area before, I went as far as I could while easing up on the braking. The time on the screen later showed 15.5 seconds.
Epilogue
Those adrenaline-filled 15 seconds of my life made me realise why petrol-heads gather at this barren airstrip, away from civilisation, under the scorching sun, with their beloved machines every year. These high octane runs down the airstrip is where you can unleash the potential of not just the car, but also yourself. You can push the limits you never knew existed and then come back to the triumph after all the hard work. It's a feeling that has no price tag on it.
Now returning from this fast weekend, I have got only one thought in my head – to get an even faster EV next year. One with colossal power, AWD, and a big range, of which there are many now.
