Rainer’s first mountain slalom race!
Rainer has to get up at 5 a.m. that morning as the technical evaluations of the cars started at 6 and the first 2 training runs at seven! Not exactly what one could call helpful considering the early morning low blood pressure of a tetra!
After the first training run on the 1620 meter short and tight-curved mountain course with 3 significant chicanes, Rainer acquired a great deal of respect for the track. Making a mistake here would mean to either land somewhere in the woods or spool down the steep slopes of the mountain.
His times after the first 2 training runs were rather poor compared to his competitors and he expressed much respect towards his fellow participants. Not exactly encouraging to blindly drive at 120 km/h into a dark left curve, then through a forest passage and then barely having enough distance to stop behind the finishing line. Especially Eggimann with his mega-350 PS MG V8 drifted fearlessly through this passage! Six big class cars too part in this race: the MG, 3 Cobras, one Cobra Daytona Coupe Big Block and Kaspar’s incredibly fast TVR.
In the drivers’ camp, one could see through Rainer’s wrinkled forehead that he was mentally trying to find the missing seconds.
11 o’clock: time for the first race. Rainer decided to try for a faster start phase, although starting in a slope was a new experience and almost impossible to drive off without any smoking tyres. He quickly realized that because of the enormous thrust of his V8 motor on this crooked narrow road, this would be like riding a cannonball. Well, he had to find a way to improve his time! 
The first chicane appeared right behind the fist blind curve, just then when his 305HP really started to produce thrust. He knew immediately that he wouldn’t make it. With full breaking power, he squeezed through the first gate but he just couldn’t come round the second one. Bang! Rainer hit the traffic cone causing it to fly high off the stretch and out sight! He desperately tried to pick up speed again to win a few seconds back and, coming towards the notorious passage with the 4 gate chicane, but again, he was too fast. This time he heard it bang twice: He no longer had a chance. Not considering the lost seconds, it might have been enough for one of the best times, but… oh well.
Rainer knew that he would have to race the last round absolutely flawless, otherwise his time would not make it to the ratings.
In a nutshell: since a tetra is almost confined to thinking only, he should use this domain as best he can and avoid any errors. And secondly, he greatly respected his colleagues, who, on this particular weekend, proved to be more daring and showed more confidence. Rainer was very annoyed about the mistakes he made which in the end, cost him the lead, and he would almost have gone back home feeling grim.
Just as he was packing up in the racers’ camp, five young men came up to Rainer and asked if he would be kind enough to switch on the Cobra motor. They kneeled respectfully behind the exhausts and listened to the deep roaring of the V8 engine as if it were music. Finally, one of the boys sighed and said that he would probably never in his life have the chance to drive a Cobra. Rainer turned around and felt the boy’s heart open when he said: “Everyone is entitled to have dreams and if you want it hard enough, they will be fulfilled. I’m the best example I know.”
„It was a good day after all“, Rainer said, „For I am sure that if he really wishes for it, he will be driving a Cobra one day. Believe in your dreams. “
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