Tearing down the straight at over 300km/h in a green Formula One car, the blue racer in front wobbles, swerves off-course and ends up on the grass, where it loses valuable seconds. The driver - it could be Sebastian Vettel - gets back on track, but I put the pedal to the metal and overtake, seesawing the wheel trying to keep the car under control.
Approaching the bend, I try to follow the black tyre marks on the asphalt, as instructed, but make the fatal mistake of taking my eye off the track to check my speed. I cringe as I smash violently into the barrier, and curse as I see Vettel zoom past and around the corner.
Fortunately there's no injury, even though I'm not wearing a seat belt or helmet, because although the blood is pumping, the race is taking place on simulators at Sideways Driving Club in Central (and 'Vettel' is just another journalist).
The club, ironically tucked away on quiet Chancery Lane, has 13 networked simulators that comprise a replica F1 car cockpit with two pedals - accelerator and brake - and a steering wheel fitted with paddle-shift gears and rows of buttons. Operated by sophisticated software, the cars have different liveries that match those on the screen in front, so you know whom you've hit and who is trying to run you off the track.
But these big boy toys are not just glorified Xboxes, Sideways director Nick Swanson says. They are produced by Hyper Stimulator Worldwide of Australia with input from supercar drivers.
'There are no gimmicks or in-trend add-ons,' Swanson says. 'These simulators are the real deal that the drivers prefer to practise on. Twenty-four V8 supercar drivers own these simulators, as do F1 drivers [Brazilian] Rubens Barrichello and Mark Webber from Australia [who once owned simulator No 1 at Sideways]. Professional racing drivers use them for concentration, learning the tracks and trying different set-ups.