Got up early and went for a long walk this time heading away from the strip to see the other side of Vegas. What a surprise, half demolished buildings that look like they have been in this state for a while. There are new buildings (completed) that look like they have been sitting there for a few years. Funniest thing was a bike frame, nothing else but the basic frame chained to a post, lucky it was chained otherwise they would have lost the lot. Walk and breakfast over off we go to La's Vegas Speedway to play with Exotics Racing. The speedway is very close to Nellis Airforce base and as we arrived we could see F/A 18's hurtling around the sky. There are quite a few cars to chose from so first step is to wander around and pick your cars. I didn't worry about sitting in them as I had pretty well decided what I wanted. I have always wanted to drive an Aston Martin Vantage S and a Lamborghini Gallardo so they were the pick. I probably should have been warned that a person over 6ft with a helmet on was going to be a bit of a squeeze sitting in the Gallardo. The helmet is thrusting into the roof, however when we got going this problem seemed to disappear, it was probably good to help keep you in the seat. The vehicles have the standard 3 point street seat belts so you have to brace on some of the corners. They have a racing car driver as the co pilot and he also has a break pedal on his side just in case you completely lose it. Mixed into this you have very slow and also very fast drivers on the track and these people drive on the wrong side of the road so it makes for an interesting day. You start off with a group drivers brief about safety, entering and exiting the track etc also with the warning if the your accompanying co pilot cannot fix your driving errors they will remove you from the track. Next comes the technical briefing, two red cones prepare to break, red cone break, green cone release break and commence turning, green on apex commence accelerating, green on exit of turn aim for it then hammer it. Sounds easy, now I need to put it into practice. They first take three at a time for a spin around the track in a Porsche Cayennne AWD to show the track and correct lines to take, I actually thought he was going fast but he reckoned it was just cruising and we would be doubling him on the straight (getting a little bit apprehensive now). I was called out and the first car was the Lamborghini Gallardo. It is a very impressive looking car, very hard to get into when you are over 6ft. Finally squeezed in, lower the seat as far as it can go and still have the helmet hitting the roof. The co pilot is seated next to you giving the instructions. A bit more apprehensive now (how will I go, can I handle this etc). I then hit the starter, a fantastic grumbling noise comes from behind you (engine in the rear). The gears on this car is either auto or flappy paddles, only go for auto if you are really not confident in playing with the paddles (this was my first time with flappy paddles but got to try it). Reversing in the Gallardo is interesting as it does not have very good vision to the rear, to select reverse press the R button on the dash. All the rear vision mirrors are setup for the co pilot so I can just concentrate on driving. When you pull out you crawl to an area just near the track and the first corner onto the straight. The co pilot checks it is safe and then gives you the go ahead. About 50m later you are around the corner and the fun starts. the co pilot then says hammer it, Holy snapping ducks*** I thought we were about to take off, this bloody thing is like a rocket and it is not the fastest car on the track. I really got that slammed back into the seat feeling. One the first lap they watch you very closely to see if you have listened to the instructions and are not attempting to kill your co pilot. First corner was relatively slow (I thought it was fast at the time). The co pilots are great, their instructions is like
co pilot - hammer it, hammer it, gear up, hammer it hammer it, break hard, gear down, don't turn yet, turn hard, get very close to the cone, now line up and accelerate, good, hammer it, break hard, gear down, turn. They do this all the way around. You totally ignore everything around you except the track in front of you. It is also great to hear comments like. Excellent cornering, great smooth drive. Got to the end of the first lap and on the straight the co pilot says you have got the hang of this now lets hammer it (I thought I was). I am glad I did 7 laps instead of 5 as it takes about 5 laps to get the hang of the car and track. It looks slow when you are watching from the sidelines but in the car it is mind blowingly fast. A good comment from the co pilot was they actually like driving fast so if they feel comfortable with you they will push you harder and harder for fun, if they don't feel safe they will keep your speed down. I suppose this is a bit of a confidence builder as the co pilot said he actually had fun. I was in a zone and wished it would never stop and I can now understand the addiction with racing. I snuck a look at the speedo just as we were coming to the end of the straight and it was over 120mph and still climbing, too much to do after that to see what I got to. One regret is for an extra $75 you get a video of all your driving including lap times, speed on every section, top speed etc. Next time I will definitely get that. Before know it the 7 laps are gone and you head to the pits. You do not go straight into the pits but pull into a tent. As it is so hot in Vegas (was 41C) when we arrived at the track, these tents are so they can spray water onto the radiators and assist to cool down the cars. Once finished you cruise back to your parking lot in the pits. Jumped out and was given the option of resting or going straight out in the Aston Martin. I was still on a high so wanted to keep it going. The new co pilot got a brief from the old co pilot and the brief to me was your fine hammer it as soon as you get out. That is fine by me. Whereas the Gallardo was quite difficult to get into and not super comfortable the Vantage was fantastic, very comfortable and the inside looked more like a luxury sports car should look and not some space ship. Jeez if I thought the Gallardo sounded good, starting the Vantage was like I had woken up some angry lion, The roar was unbelievable, again cruised to where the co pilot can see the track and then the best words you can hear from the co pilot - OK Hammer it. Off we go again, the Vantage is the second least powerful car on the lot, the least being the Porsche Cayman, you could not tell by the sound of it though, when you break and gear down there is this fantastic gurgling, popping sound, I think I am in heaven. Again the co pilot was encouraging and I overtook a Lamborghini (my head starting to swell a bit ) then I was overtaken by a Ferrari 458 Italia. I was a bit deflated, but the co pilot was quick to make a comment don't follow the Ferrari's line that driver does not know what to do, I was a bit confused as they had overtaken me and I thought I was flying. He explained that the Ferrari is a very forgiving car and is very fast on the straights but the Vantage is more fun to drive and you have to work at it (OK ego fixed lets speed up again). On one of the laps coming to the little S bend before the straight I got to overtake another Lamborghini, It was the Aventador (the fastest car there) but the driver was driving like he was cruising down Las Vegas Blvd. The overtaking is not as simple as ripping by, you have to sit behind the slower car until their co pilot guides him to the outside of the track and puts flashers on, your co pilot instructs you to overtake on the inside and puts his hand on your steering wheel as a guidance. Once past he clears you to resume hammering it, This caused me to lose a fair bit of speed when coming to the S bend (Hammering though the S bend is lots of fun) and hence looked like I was taking a Sunday drive through the bend. I made up for this by getting over 120mph before breaking for the first bend after the straight. Race over, my Adrenalin is still rushing. This is the best fun I have had in a long time, probably could have spent all day here in every car but the bank balance would not appreciate it. One of the add on options is 2 laps with a professional racing driver behind the wheel in a corvette to show you how fast it can be done. They will not let you do this until after your drives have finished ( I now understand why otherwise you may try to copy him). You strap in, and whereas you entered the track nice and easy, he is leaving the pits sideways drifting onto the track. By the time you hit the first corner you are holding on like grim death. Funnily enough there was no fear, I think it was because even though it was very fast (and I mean very fast) all of his actions were very smooth. This was an outstanding way to finish the day. I have to say thanks to my cousin Mick Lear who recommended this. I still have a smile on my dial when thinking about it. I would strongly recommend anyone who likes cars to give this a go, don't scrimp and settle for the 5 laps one car. Get at least 2 cars and 7 laps in each, pay for the video and the 2 laps with the professional racing driver. You will not be disappointed. What was my favourite car for the day? Hands down I would pick the Aston Martin, The Gallardo was nice but something was missing. The Vantage was a hoot. I think the poor co pilot got a few wooooohooooo's into his ear but I am quite sure I was not the first one. In my defence by being overtaken by the Ferrari on the start of the straight.
Aston Martin - 0 - 60mph - 4.2 sec
Ferrari 458 Italia - 0 - 60mph 2.6 sec.
Maybe I need to try a Ferrari next time. I will do this again.
Leaving the speedway we drove down to Nellis Airforce Base and parked outside the wire near the runway and watched F/A 18's do touch and go's in pairs (touch and go's ), Landing then taking off, circling around and doing it all over again, it was great to watch. Headed out for a quiet Mexican dinner then off to bed