A driver's eye view of battling the world's fastest supercars in the Pirelli World Challenge

Four years removed from racing ensures wide eyes once the lights turn green. And in the Pirelli World Challenge, that happens from a standstill, with 50 other cars on the grid all screaming at around 6,000 rpm, waiting to drop the clutch and explode into chaos.

When that happens your senses heighten, your reactions feel faster and time slows ever so slightly. In reality, of course, your brain turns to hyperdrive granting you the ability to fathom and react to things that may ordinarily seem impossible – like an Audi R8 Ultra spinning directly in front of you.

Or when your suspension lets go during a fast right-hand bend.

Or when a Camaro decides to drive into your right rear fender, just for kicks.

Yes, racing in World Challenge is about as awesome as it gets; my career was in open wheel race cars, with a handful of Daytona Prototype sports car races sprinkled in for good measure. Here, the cars we race all began life as production cars. They’re heavily modified, sure, but the engines are effectively the same, and in the case of my teammate’s Audi R8, it still has a working blinker column behind the steering wheel.

World Challenge, then, is a venue for automakers or aftermarket suppliers to prove their products in a competitive environment, making the series as a whole one of the most relevant forms of motorsport in the country.