EmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsTen seconds into the dress rehearsal for racing against Max Verstappen, the GoPro attached to the front of my kart had already been knocked clean off.Up ahead, around and behind me, 49 other amateur racers were trying to squeeze through the first corner five abreast. Behind me was Formula 1 rookie and Red Bull junior Arvid Lindblad, playing the role of Verstappen for the afternoon's dress rehearsal and carving through the congestion at an alarming rate. Somewhere in the middle of all that was me, discovering that the first objective in taking on one of the greatest racing drivers of his generation is considerably less ambitious than beating him.Objective one: Survive long enough for Verstappen to actually catch you at a meaningful moment, rather than just in a flash.- How Verstappen's karting years made an F1 champion - and prepared him for an all-new test- Max vs 100 explained: Rules, drivers, shortcuts and how Verstappen can win- Max vs 100: F1 drivers predict how Verstappen will fare racing 100 driversOn Wednesday, I will be one of 100 drivers attempting exactly that at Silverstone: Verstappen starts at the back and has 30 laps to pass 100 of us. The slightly absurd event will be broadcast live globally on ESPN on Disney+ -- with build-up at 5 p.m. BST before the race begins at 6 p.m -- meaning there is an even more modest secondary ambition: remain in the contest long enough to make it onto television.The obvious first question is how, and then, why is anyone getting the chance to do this? Both good starting points. Verstappen has taken on the challenge of racing 100 amateur karting drivers and beating them over 30 laps at a purpose-built kart track at Silverstone. The event is very on-brand for Verstappen, who recently has made a point of taking on just about every racing challenge he can think of outside of Formula 1.When asked what he is expecting from the event, Verstappen himself last week said: "Just seeing the carnage unfold in front of me."He might not have to wait long. Red Bull staged a practice run on Tuesday, with the impressive Racing Bull youngster Lindblad standing in for Verstappen against two separate fields of 50 on the shorter track. Verstappen's race will take place on a mis-match of two different circuits: 1.3km of permanent karting track on the Silverstone infield, with another 1.15km of temporary track added specifically for this event. The rules for Lindblad's dress rehearsal were the same: start at the back, and once a driver is passed, they are eliminated. Drivers were given a handy 'fast lap' -- think a shortcut -- at one stage, for the first 50 percent of the race, while Lindblad had use of the same opportunity for the second 50 percent of the race. The same rules will apply for Verstappen in Wednesday's longer, one-hour event.George Russell had jokingly suggested beforehand that the best defence might be to run four abreast and make Verstappen find a way through. By Turn 1 of the morning rehearsal, that had become five abreast without anyone appearing to have planned it. Starting 36th, Turn 1 was a warzone, and the GoPro was gone sooner than I could remember what any of the advice before had been. As it did go flying one way, there was a flash of white the other -- Lindblad, in his Racing Bulls gear, nimbly scything through the pack, inexplicably already some 10 or 15 places up, carving past karts which were spinning left, right and centre. Barely 10 seconds had passed and ESPN's dress rehearsal was over, as was a good quarter of the field's."You have to survive lap one," says David Terrien, the man who constructed the circuit for this event and will be race director. He's got a point: The 'fast lap' option only exists to drivers who make it round for one full lap, after all.Terrien, a former European and World karting champion, raced against both of Verstappen's parents, Jos Verstappen and Sophie Kumpen, when they were kids together. He was given the task of creating a racetrack that did several things all at once: first, stuck to the highest safety standards required for such an event, second, to be long enough to accommodate a field of 100 cars, and three, to provide some genuine entertainment to the watching audience at home. "Max will gain quite a few positions at the start," Terrien said, even before Lindblad's dry run had offered obvious proof that would be the case. "But a karting field spreads out very quickly and it's not as easy as you might think to make progress. This track has been built like no other, as kart races never accommodate 100 karts like this. They also don't have such a mis-match of experience levels and talent." Light offence taken, there, but a fair shot.Regardless of all that, though, surely Verstappen, one of the greatest drivers motor racing has ever seen, should make mincemeat of everyone. Right?"I'm not so sure. It's very difficult, even for a driver of Max's calibre," Terrien said. "The field will be carnage early on but even the best karters would find progress difficult on a track such as this."On Tuesday's dry run, Lindblad did not disappear into the distance. In fact, by the end of the race, he had ticked off 49 of the 50 karters he needed to catch. After roughly 15 minutes of flat-out racing, Red Bull athlete and streamer RDJavi was punching the air as he crossed the line metres ahead. Perhaps Lindblad was far too diplomatic in his pursuit of the victory. Versappen has already teased all-out war with the men and women sharing a race track with him."Oh, I'm not gonna be nice," he laughed at a question recently. "Actually, I asked Red Bull 'can I crash into them?'"Verstappen might be using his in-helmet radio to broadcast some intimidating messages to the drivers he chasing. Asked what he might say to his rivals ahead of the Spanish Grand Prix, Verstappen laughed: "You better move out of the way, otherwise I'm going to plough them into the barrier. I was very serious. Like, you better move when I'm coming..."Point taken. In me, he's not coming up against a pro. My karting experience, despite the profession in motor racing, might be limited to nine or 10 outings with friends and on stag do's. Hardly ideal preparation for a breathless race to not be overtaken by one of the best drivers Formula 1 has ever seen.The benefit from Tuesday's track time might be limited. Fans who yearn for "the good old days" of Formula 1 will be thrilled to know the grid for the Verstappen event will be set after a one-shot qualifying lap; drivers will only do one lap of the full course before racing against him. "We did not want the competitors to have too unfair an advantage on Max, given that he's starting last," Terrien tells me, apparently without irony as he refers to a four-time world champion and a man many believe to be the most naturally gifted to have driven a Formula 1 car.Verstappen's participation in the event is, in effect, a love letter to go-karting. Verstappen was a phenom in his junior career and his success fast-tracked him to Formula 1. "It was a really nice period in my life," Verstappen told ESPN recently about his karting days. His fondness is linked to the countless hours travelling with his father Jos around Europe. The pair estimate they clocked up 60,000 motorway miles a year together.Win or lose, the mere fact Verstappen even wants to put his reputation on the line against 100 amateurs continues a recent trend at this end of his career. Last year, and this year, he turned to sports car racing and the 24 Hours of Nurburgring to seek the thrill of racing he was no longer getting from Formula 1.Wednesday's race might not scratch the itch in the same way, and it certainly won't last for quite as long, but Verstappen is going to have his work cut out for him if he wants to avoid Lindblad's fate of watching another driver just stay ahead -- especially in front of a worldwide Disney+ audience.Stream Max vs 100 globally on ESPN on Disney+ on Wednesday, Sept. 16. Coverage starts at 5 p.m. BST, before the race begins at 6 p.m.
