It was 1 September 2016, when things weren’t what they seemed.
I was waiting in an open virtual lobby of Project Cars when I encountered a player with no name and no rating. This seemed odd, but he was just like everyone else, or so I thought.
A little time went past as we waited for more people to join the lobby. I typed “Hi, HRU,” in the chat, hoping I might get a response. There was none. I often found that no one would talk, so this was not out of the ordinary.
A few of my friends had joined and we were ready to go. Qualifying went well and I managed to place third. I noticed that our mystery driver did not even turn a lap; his car was missing from the pit box. I just thought he had quit or failed to load.
The race was ready to start, and all 20 cars had gridded up. The race started as it normally did and I was thrilled to get a great start up to second place.
Ten laps into the 15-lap race, a blue and white car appeared in my rear view mirror. I knew immediately that it was the mysterious unknown driver from the lobby. We fought hard over the next few laps around Cadwell Park and only had two laps left when I made a mistake and let him pass me for second. I followed him for the next lap, tight on his bumper, looking for a weakness, but to no avail.
The last lap loomed. At turn three, I managed to get alongside him. At turns four and five, we were still side by side. With three turns left, the lead car had blown its engine. I was now fighting for the lead.
We pushed on, fighting, until we hit the home stretch side by side. I thought I would out-drag him, and then all of a sudden we collided. We were sent into a horrific crash. Both cars were totaled. I couldn’t fathom what had happened to cause the crash. I saved the replay to look at it later.
Back in the virtual lobby, I apologised to the mystery driver. I told him I didn't know what happened. He replied, “It’s ok my friend, it’s been 14 years, but it’s ok my friend, you still remember me? My spirit lives on.” Then he left the lobby.
I thought, Ok… a bit strange, but so many people are. I shrugged it off. I loved the battle we had sliding the Cobras around Cadwell Park.
Fast forward to September 1st, 2017. A friend of mine suggests we do some more cobra racing. On the online lobby there’s one for Cadwell Park, so we join only to find another driver with no name and no ratings. A bit random, I thought.
This time, the mystery driver and I matched lap times perfectly, getting first and second place, qualifying with the time of 1.09.0212. The race started and we had an amazing back and forth battle for the whole race. On the last lap, we were side by side, coming onto the pit straight on, when suddenly, we touched. Again, we had a horrific crash and totaled both cars.
I thought I was having déjà vu. This all seemed like it had happened before.
I saved the replay and went back to the lobby. Once again I apologised for making contact and got the all too familiar reply, which made the hairs on my neck stand up and made me feel cold and sick all at the same time. “It’s ok my friend, it’s been 15 years, but it’s ok my friend, you still remember me? My spirit lives on.” Then, like the last time, he left the lobby.
Feeling a bit unnerved, I started to look at my replays. But there was no mystery driver in them. He did not appear in the replays. There was no trace of him at all. I started panicking, thinking I had been hacked or someone was playing a sick joke.
A week later, a friend told me about a race that happened at Cadwell Park in 2002. Two drivers who were battling for the lead had touched and crashed on the pit straight on the last lap, and both had died.
So I went and took a look for myself. I googled “cobra crash cadwell park 2002” and sure enough, there It was, a picture of a jet black Cobra, with the date of accident listed as 01/09/2002.
I freaked out a bit as I read:
"The pair were vying for the lead along the home straight when they skidded off the track at high speed,” Inspector Simon Heads, of Lincolnshire Police, said. “The accident happened at about 1200 BST on Sunday during an event featuring single-seater AC Cobra cars." *
Then I looked back at my lap time. With a chill I realized it spelled out the day and time of these two deaths: 1 /09/02 (the first of September, 2002), at 12 p.m.
To the motor sport brethren we lost in these Cobras:
No, you have not been forgotten. I still remember you.
Stephen Lewis is a stream team contact consultant, a Twitch/TV Streamer support agent, and a gaming consultant from Rownhams, Hampshire, United Kingdom. You can find him on LinkedIn.
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This blog post was curated and/or edited by The Ardent Reader, Esther Hofknecht Curtis, BSOL, MSM-HCA. The views expressed in this blog post are those of the guest blogger. Visit www.parrotcontent.com for more information.
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