Driving faster than 100 metres per second feels like it's in slow motion for New Zealand's fastest woman.
Kapiti-born Tamara Silk has been competing in drag racing competitions since she was nine years old.
Now 28, she's officially New Zealand's fastest woman, having taken out the title last year by beating Karen Hayes' 2014 record with a time of 5.853 seconds over the quarter mile.
That equates to a speed of 109.59 meters per second.
Photo: Supplied by Tamara Silk
A drag race is an exhilaration contest from a standing start between two vehicles over a certain distance and in a straight line. The competitions are in a series of two-vehicle head to head eliminations.
Drag racing has been part of Silk's life since she was very young. Both her parents were heavily involved in the sport, and her father, Robin Silk, was a legend of the sport for many years. Robin Silk was one of the wildest drivers competing in the Wild Bunch class and he later worked in one of the Top Hot Rod shops in America as a fabricator.
“I suppose it is in the blood and that's been really important to us as a family for as long as I can remember. And since he's [Robin] since passed, it's got more important to us, I suppose, in honouring him as well.”
Reaching speeds of 245 mph (394 kmh) in her drag car is "definitely an adrenaline rush", she says.
"It's funny, I say now to people, it's almost in slow motion. When I first started, I felt like I would blink and I was at the end. But now it's yeah, it's very much in slow motion.”
Reaction off the start is key, she says.
"The cars and the classes go a similar speed, and so a lot of it is just basically taking off at that green light before the other person does.”
The explosive take-off is enabled by a steering wheel brake, she says.
“My car has what they call a trans brake, which essentially is a button on the steering wheel that I hold down, which locks up my back wheel.
“So, I can hold that down and have my foot hard on the gas pedal. So when the light turns green, I take my foot off and it goes.”
The sensation of speed is not apparent until the end, Silk says.
“You hit the finish line, and you pull the parachutes, when they come out you have this big rush, and it pulls you back.
“And I think until that moment, you don't actually experience how fast you're really going.”
Slowing down is sequential, she says.
“Once the parachutes come out, and that that slows you down at quite a fast pace, and then then you can use the brake.
“But you don't ideally want to use the brake as you hit the finish line and the chutes come out because it can make the back wheels lock up.”
The car has auto shifts for the gears, she says. And the cockpit is rudimentary.
“You have the dash, which has the speed, oil pressure and if you don't have oil pressure, it basically blinks at you very, very brightly as you're going down the track.
“I've got what they call a power glide, which is what we use to change gears.”
She's glad her father was able to witness her becoming the fastest woman.
“Looking back now, the biggest thing with my dad being gone, was the smile on his face, knowing we had successfully secured the quickest woman title. And yeah, it was a surreal, surreal moment.”
Silk's next ambition is to race overseas in Australia or the US. She now has her own daughter who may yet follow in her footsteps.
