ROARING down the main straight of the Eastern Creek Raceway at 280 km/h may not be the way most people spend their birthdays.
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But for former Shoalhaven world champion wakeboarder Josh Sanders, it was an opportunity too good to pass up.
Sanders, who turned 32 last week, was invited by his sponsors Red Bull to a race day at the Sydney raceway.
There, he not only got to meet Red Bull Racing Australia V8 drivers Craig Lowndes and Jamie Whincup but also got to sit alongside Lowndes as he drove around the track.
“It was just incredible,” Sanders said, beaming.
“It’s not until you sit next to these guys that you appreciate how skilful they actually are.
“Everything in the car is moving, crazily at times, yet Craig’s head and eyes were so still.
“It was just like a hawk when they watch their prey.
“He was so focused yet so relaxed; he looked like he could nearly fall asleep.
“He was incredible.
“I suppose if you are going to go around a track in Australia, Craig would have to be right up there as one of your choices.
“They were saying they don’t get a lot of track days, apart from racing, so they really enjoyed the time on the track and they certainly didn’t hold back.
“But you always felt safe.”
Lowndes leads the V8 Championship over Whincup by just six points heading into the final two rounds of the Phillip Island 400 on November 23-24 and the Sydney 500 on December 6-8, while their nearest rival, Ford’s Mark Winterbottom is 88 points away.
Sanders, who is used to thrilling fans performing unbelievable moves behind a boat on a wakeboard, said he couldn’t get over the awesome power of a V8 Supercar.
“The power is just incredible,” he said.
“As we came out of the pit lane Craig gave the Commodore some power and it just sat you back in the seat and then all of a sudden you were into the first corner and the car braked so well, it was mind blowing.
“The acceleration and braking was like nothing I’ve ever experienced before.
“It definitely rates up there with anything I’ve done outside of wakeboarding.”
Sanders has a fan in Whincup, who is also a very keen wakeboarder.
“I had met Jamie a few times before at various Red Bull events and he had told me previously about being a keen wakeboarder,” he said.
“He knew what I had achieved in competition and we have spoken about going wakeboarding together.”
In fact Sanders is going to see if the Red Bull ace is available following the final round in Sydney.
“We’ll see what we can do. I’d love to bring him down here to the Shoalhaven River,” he said.”
To finish the day some of the guests were given the chance to drive around the circuit in the new model Holden Commodores and undertake a number of driving challenges.
