Hi folks, Thursday I had the drive of my life at TMS working for TDE :bounce: We were hired to do ride and drives for Lamborgini using the 2.5 mile Roval course that SCCA uses. This was a big to-do, and I dreaded the days leading up to it because we kept getting new instructions, restritions on how to dress, how to talk, and other annoying bs directives. We had to be at the track by 630 am to set up the coned section of the track. Track didn't open till 7 am and I had 45 minutes to set the cones, including a 50 mph box at the start/finish line on the front straight, and a slalom in the straight on the road course, not to mention coning off the area that leads you on to, and out of, the road course. Our meeting at 745 with the Lambo folks was late getting started, and they had to "aquaint" us with the cars, 5 Giarddos and one Mercialogo (questionable spelling on both). My boss had assigned each driver a car for the day, some of them with E Gear shifting, and some with 6 speed manuals. The Mercialogo had E Gear (paddle shifters) and listed for 360K, while the 5 Giaraddos had two with E Gear, and 3 with 6 Speed, all listing for around 167K. Much to my surprise, boss says, "Phil, that one is yours..." pointing at the Mercialogo. I damn near crapped right there! After a short walk around and explanation of the cars, the word was given to hit the track and get familiar. We had 20 minutes! What a freaking experience! I have never been in a car that has that kind of power/handling/refinement before, but found myself really getting into a comfort zone after a couple of laps. 100 mph on the flat at the south oval (turns one and two) felt like a sunday afternoon drive in the MSM. I had to look at the speedo to realize I was going that fast. On the third lap, I picked up that section to 110, and it was rock solid all the way through both turns, and the power toward the straight prior to turning into the the road course was absolutely breathtaking! A light tug on the downshift paddle would bring automatic rev matching, shifting down one gear while braking in a straight line, and shifting down another at the apex, powering down to the south carousel was a real rush, but required one upshift. Down shifting one at the apex and carrying power out of the dog-leg and onto the straight was also exillerating, and the brakes prior to the 5 cone, 75 foot slalom was a blast. Probably one of the most fun areas on the track with this car was powering out of the north carousel, second gear to the track-out cone, keeping foot planted all the way to the braking zone, and powering through the apex to re-enter the oval headed for turn 3. This car was absolutely awesome as you mash the pedeal to the floor, upshift twice, getting 4th just as you enter the high bank, staying in the first groove between the white line separating the flat, and the first black line up the track. Comming out of turn 4 heading toward start finish and shifting to 5th at 130 plus was also quite a rush, then hitting the brakes, hauling the car down from 135/140, and shifting down to second at the start finish and powering through the box shifting up two heading into turn one down on the flat again was equally awesome. Bottom line, I rode shotgun with 12 drivers, some who could drive, and some who couldn't, before getting the opportunity to take some other folks for rides at speed... I figure I had close to 185 laps before the day was over, and I had driven about 60 of them. This car had no creature comforts compared to a Corvette, but it had awesome power and handling, anywhere, anytime, any speed...breathtaking...but one would expect more than beauty, and beastly power and handling for 360K...
On another note, it's amazing how many people in this town already own this car, or a Guiardo, Ferrari F40's, and other exotics, and some own more than one! I think more than half the drivers/riders I had either owned one, had owned one in the past, or had one on order. Amazing!
Sorry for writing a book...
