“Rudy, you’re going to Suzuka for Pirelli Hot Laps”

“What!?”

“Yes, pack your bags!”

That pretty much sums up the conversation I had with McLaren in September. As you can imagine, I was over the moon with this news.

It’s not just the fact that I was doing Pirelli Hot Laps that makes it cool, it’s driving such an iconic track. To top this off... By the end of September, it also became clear that I was going to the Circuit of Americas (COTA). Two mega circuits, in three weeks’ time…!

This news meant that on October 2nd my journey to the other side of the world started.

I’m not going to lie, I was nervous and excited at the same time. Japan is a very different culture to what I’m used to, but it’s good to experience such thing.

After 24hrs of travel I made it to the hotel in Suzuka. I’ve never had to deal with jet lag in my life before, so that was a new challenge as well. Overall it wasn’t too bad, but the excitement made sure that I wasn’t sleeping as soundly as I usually do.

On Thursday we made our way to the track. Unlike the European races, the paddock is quite simpler. All teams have an equal ‘motorhome’ with a kitchen and marketing office behind it. So simply said, less flamboyant, but hey… I was in Suzuka!

It was a wet day, and after walking around the paddock I ran to the cars that we were taking the wheel of. A McLaren 570GT and a 720S. Wet as it was, everybody was careful when the first session started later on that day.

The track is obviously very, very cool but in the wet in a supercar it was a handful. Old-school as the track is, there are not many asphalt run-offs so it was all about keeping it on the black stuff! Luckily for us, the 2nd and the 3rd day were on a dry track and we were able to ‘feel’ Suzuka a bit more. I say feel, because there were some camber changes in the corner and there is obviously the high difference all over the track.

Prior going to Suzuka many people told me the fans would be amazing - they were right.

I have never seen people so enthusiastic over a race. The amount of effort that goes in to the clothing/helmets/hats is amazing. Pure dedication. A cool side note to this is that on the Thursday we had two Hot Lap passenger spots open in my car. To fill it we went in to the Fan Zone to find two McLaren fans to get a ride. The faces of these people were priceless. There was quite some language barrier, but they understood this quite well….!

Alongside the F1 sessions and the Pirelli Hot Laps, there was also a Historic F1 demo taking place at the circuit. The McLaren MP4-13 (driven by Mika Häkkinen himself!), multiple Ferrari’s from the V10/V8/V6 area and more. I was able to stick my head through the pitwall and hear these screaming engines in full glory. I’m not surprised many people who worked in that area have damaged ear drums…. WHAT A SOUND!

To top off the weekend there was the F1 race on Sunday. I’d never been to a Grand Prix before, so I was excited to see it up close. I was able to get to the front of the Paddock Club, which meant I was close to P1/2 on the grid with a perfect view on the start. The acceleration of 20 cars at once is an experience on its own... Very cool!

Monday morning was sadly my time to leave, and by 22:00 UK time we made it back. My trip wasn’t over yet though, because after a day off on Tuesday to get over the jet lag, I was straight back in the F1 sim on Wednesday and Thursday. By the time that was done, it was good to be home for a few days.

Four days later it was time to go to the other side of the world. The USA. After a short flight to Heathrow I flew directly to Austin.

Wednesday was a free day, so I could give the tourist mode an attempt. Walked up and down through downtown Austin and took lots of pictures. Cool city!

Thursday was the first day at the track, and just like in Suzuka it was wet weather. Very wet. Bonus of this weekend was that there wasn’t just one McLaren 720S... but two! This meant I was lucky enough to drive one this weekend. Although the 570S is cool, the 720S is next level.

During the morning, we recorded a track walk, giving inside info about certain corners for our social channels, and in the afternoon, it was time to go out on track. It was as wet as it could be, so it was all about being careful. Even though the conditions meant we couldn’t really exploit the car to its potential, the track made quite an impression. It might not have the history to it that some of the tracks do yet, but there is a specific flow that makes it special.

Friday started off with an esports panel discussion with people from Intel/Dell, Alienware and F1 talking about McLaren Shadow Project and how my life has changed this year. Later in the day I would take four of the guests on a Hot Lap around the track. Lucky for them the track was a bit drier this day. All I saw and heard were smiles and giggles and most of the time that means they had a blast!

When Saturday arrived, the weather turned around. A bit warmer, but more importantly it was dry conditions. A McLaren 720S on a dry COTA track. Dream combination! During this day, I had the pleasure of taking two big WWE wrestling stars around the track – The Miz and Maryse.

Straight after the Hot Lap session there was the super tight F1 qualifying. It’s such a cool experience when you are standing in the pitlane and hear the crowd react to times tumbling on track. All of this meant the race was going to be exciting.

Finally, on Sunday I was quite sure we would see championship party later that day… though after the start that took a different turn and we saw an exciting race. Good fights, tension until the end, and finally a victory for Kimi! I quickly made my way to the podium afterwards to see this first-hand.

Later that evening we went out in to downtown Austin with the whole team, and after some drinks it was time to call it a night, pack up, and fly home on Monday.

Three weeks, loads of new experiences but I had a blast. From now until Christmas, my main focus is back on the F1 sim work, but in F1 you never know where you may end up…!

Rudy