Earth Day!
Today was Earth Day. My take on the day was a little different than most people celebrating the day - I had been invited to Laguna Seca as they were having a track day for car journalists, where they got to drive various new cars from different manufacturers. I was invited because Ducati was bringing one of their semis full of bikes.
Unfortunately, it was the Hypermotard semi, so they had lots of Hypers to ride, but I was hoping I'd get to ride an 848 or a 1098. Never mind though, I did borrow a 2009 Hypermotard with a race kit on it (plus a bunch of other Ducati performance stuff) and ride off into the surrounding hills.
I took it up Carmel Valley Road for a 50 mile blast. The wildflowers were blooming, particularly the lupins!
It's a very fun bike to ride, so I had a great time, particularly as on a Wednesday morning, there was virtually no traffic on the road, so I got to travel along at a spirited pace.
By the time I got back to Laguna, it was lunchtime and they had catered a lunch for all of us. There was a presentation to the car journos about various green initiatives that are being persued, both in the automotive industry in general and auto racing in particular, so there was some Earth Day significance to it all.
I wandered around all the cars, there were some very nice ones in there, including an Audi R8. I enquired as to whether guests such as myself could get a ride in the cars and was told that yes, we could, just sign a waiver and grab a helmet. We couldn't drive them ourselves, only the official car journos and the track day instructors who were on hand could drive, but the track day instructors were there to take other folks around.
So, after a short wait, one of the instructors took me out in R8. For those of you not familiar with the car, it's a $114,000 4 wheel drive V8 powered super car that's a very close cousin of the Lamborghini Gallardo (Audi own Lambo these days).
We did three laps and it was very apparent even from the passenger seat that the car is very fast and very capable. Being whisked around the track was a lot of fun.
The photo below is taken half way down the corkscrew.
After that great experience, I then stood in line for a passenger trip in one of the "safety" cars. One of them was being driven by ALMS racer Ben Devlin and the other, a Mazda CX 7 SUV, was being driven by another Brit, Jeremy Barnes (I think I got his name right), who works for Mazda and also races at club level.
I got to be his passenger. The CX 7 is pictured below.
The inside of the car had a roll cage, racing seats and five point harnesses. Not sure exactly what upgrades the suspension had etc., but it definitely wasn't standard!
This trip around the track was the highlight of the day for me, mainly 'cos the driver knew what he was doing, knew the car and knew the track - and he really threw the car around the track - any time we weren't on a straight (and sometimes when we were), the tires were screaming for mercy, excellent fun!
After that, I got one of the regular instructors to take me around in a WRX Sti just to see how much quicker it is than my WRX. It was obviously quicker and more composed, but as an indicator of how much the driver makes the difference, we were passed by the "safety" car I'd just been in - it was interesting to see how sideways the driver had that car as he threw it into the turns. The Sti seemed tame in comparison.
It was a shame I didn't get to drive the cars, but hey, I cannot complain in the slightest given that I'm not even vaguely associated with the journalistic organization that was running the day.
It was a fantastic day of fun. My only concession to Earth Day - at least I was carpooling around the track!
Unfortunately, it was the Hypermotard semi, so they had lots of Hypers to ride, but I was hoping I'd get to ride an 848 or a 1098. Never mind though, I did borrow a 2009 Hypermotard with a race kit on it (plus a bunch of other Ducati performance stuff) and ride off into the surrounding hills.
I took it up Carmel Valley Road for a 50 mile blast. The wildflowers were blooming, particularly the lupins!
It's a very fun bike to ride, so I had a great time, particularly as on a Wednesday morning, there was virtually no traffic on the road, so I got to travel along at a spirited pace.By the time I got back to Laguna, it was lunchtime and they had catered a lunch for all of us. There was a presentation to the car journos about various green initiatives that are being persued, both in the automotive industry in general and auto racing in particular, so there was some Earth Day significance to it all.
I wandered around all the cars, there were some very nice ones in there, including an Audi R8. I enquired as to whether guests such as myself could get a ride in the cars and was told that yes, we could, just sign a waiver and grab a helmet. We couldn't drive them ourselves, only the official car journos and the track day instructors who were on hand could drive, but the track day instructors were there to take other folks around.
So, after a short wait, one of the instructors took me out in R8. For those of you not familiar with the car, it's a $114,000 4 wheel drive V8 powered super car that's a very close cousin of the Lamborghini Gallardo (Audi own Lambo these days).
We did three laps and it was very apparent even from the passenger seat that the car is very fast and very capable. Being whisked around the track was a lot of fun.The photo below is taken half way down the corkscrew.
After that great experience, I then stood in line for a passenger trip in one of the "safety" cars. One of them was being driven by ALMS racer Ben Devlin and the other, a Mazda CX 7 SUV, was being driven by another Brit, Jeremy Barnes (I think I got his name right), who works for Mazda and also races at club level.
I got to be his passenger. The CX 7 is pictured below.
The inside of the car had a roll cage, racing seats and five point harnesses. Not sure exactly what upgrades the suspension had etc., but it definitely wasn't standard!
This trip around the track was the highlight of the day for me, mainly 'cos the driver knew what he was doing, knew the car and knew the track - and he really threw the car around the track - any time we weren't on a straight (and sometimes when we were), the tires were screaming for mercy, excellent fun!
After that, I got one of the regular instructors to take me around in a WRX Sti just to see how much quicker it is than my WRX. It was obviously quicker and more composed, but as an indicator of how much the driver makes the difference, we were passed by the "safety" car I'd just been in - it was interesting to see how sideways the driver had that car as he threw it into the turns. The Sti seemed tame in comparison.
It was a shame I didn't get to drive the cars, but hey, I cannot complain in the slightest given that I'm not even vaguely associated with the journalistic organization that was running the day.
It was a fantastic day of fun. My only concession to Earth Day - at least I was carpooling around the track!
posted by Tim H at 9:04 PM
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