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Joel, Clinton, and I with our helmets strapped on. Yeah, I picked a picture where my bro-in-law looked a lil goofy.
The covered car parking area is an upgrade from my last visit. People are encouraged to go outside to check out all the cars and take pictures, but please be sure not to leave any drool on the cars.After the lap in the Cayenne, it was time to drive. I met Chris, my instructor, outside where the cars were parked. After we were in the car he made certain I had the seat adjusted properly so I could hold the wheel at 9:00 and 3:00 (on a clock) and that I was comfortable. He then told me what the procedure for passing or being passed. The car being passed would put on its safety flasher to let the passing driver know he had been seen and the driver of the car would go to either the right or left side of the track to let the other car pass. Chris would take care of the flasher and advise me which side of the track to drive on. He also repeated what the drivers meeting instructor had said about keeping driver inputs (steer, throttle and brake) separated. Do one at a time. He also talked about smoothness in driving inputs.
All of these “exotic” cars have dual clutch transmissions with paddle shifting. These cars can also be driven in automatic mode as if they have an automatic transmission. The shifts are programed to keep the engine in the power peak. I chose automatic to focus on steering, braking and throttle. I was certain the car's brain could make the decisions when to shift, better than mine.
While waiting for our turns to go out, we checked out this pure race car sitting in the lobby area. It’s a full tube-frame chassis with a body on top. As you can see, the kids love it too.Before I write about individual laps I have to say that everything about driving the car (acceleration, steering and brakes) is incredibly precise and physically easy to accomplish. When these actions are blended with the amazing sound of the exhaust and the squeal of tires, the feeling of excitement and fun is unlike any other driving experience I have had.
I will add here that I have ridden motorcycles for more than 50 years. My current bike is a BMW K1300GT which has taken me all over the country and from coast to coast. This bike is no slouch for acceleration at 0 to 60 in 3 seconds and it is great fun on a mountain road. While it will go over 150 mph I have limited myself to a few runs up to (ninja edit: let’s just say fast enough to require most of the engine power) in Western states when there was no traffic and lots of flat straight road. I am relating this information because I thought my motorcycle experience would help me on the track. But taking a ride or trip is not the same as racing on a track to produce a fast lap time. That requires a mental level of intensity and well executed vehicle inputs for every second of the lap. There are times when the motorcycle is driven that way but generally not for as extended a period.
As I had never driven a car on a track, I was tentative in my early laps. If, like me, you have never driven on a track before, I suggest seven laps (or more!) instead of the minimum five. The reason is you will gain confidence in going faster each lap. The input of my instructor, who talked me around the track at each turn and straight on every lap, was essential. Proof of the confidence gained over the course of the seven laps is that my early lap times were as slow as 1:32:17 which I brought down to 1:13:32 in my final lap. In addition, on my early laps there was no sound of tires squealing in the turns. In the later laps that sound was present. Another indicator of faster laps was that on the long straight in early laps I was going a mere 75 mph and stepped that up to 110 on one of the later laps. Lest you think that my 1:13 fast lap was fast, I understand the average fast lap to be about 1:10. Additionally, the person who brought me to the track and drove the same Ferrari had a fast lap eleven seconds quicker than me.
That is the face of one very happy man after coming off the track.Don't forget to buy the video so you can re-live the ride whenever you want. The video shows one screen of your face, a diagram of the track showing the position of the car with a red dot, a wide screen of the track through the windshield, and a speedometer on the lower right. Finally, there is the sound from inside the car so the conversation between you and the instructor and of course the exhaust note can be heard. While the video is wonderful, I intend to come back to get my lap time down to the average 1:10, or maybe better. I will be in the same Ferrari 458 Italia.
