It's over

We won the drag strip low ET event with a 10.03 1/4 mile time. Big deal - really ?

The I Last day. Arrived back in South Bend Indiana after a marathon day that included the Autobahn Track at Joliet. We did not do so well on the skidpad but are happy with our second place in class and 48th overall..

In capable and less worried hands our 918 Spyder could have placed much better I am sure but we are grateful to be able to having driven this car for 3500 miles in real life conditions and on some very challenging and unknown tracks. We had difficulty weather with mostly rain so we had to be extra careful as we had no track insurance. The car performed brilliantly rain or shine and we managed to keep it in pristine condition - albeit very dirty and now properly worn in. 

It was fun to share this extraordinary car with kids and folks from all stages of life and everyone was graciously thanking us for sharing it. 

Mike was as always a pleasure to drive with and my new friends John and Julio have become our new One Lap buddies with whom we surely will do more car related events.  

Maybe next year in a Ford GT ...if we can get one ?

Overcooked

Overcooked. And I don't mean the delicious Kemtucky spare ribs we had. 

Today's second run was what we waited for. Finally a dry track. The Corvette Test track is extreme technical with its many blind turns, 2 story elevation changes and famous sink hole corkscrew double turn combo - aptly named after the sinkhole incident several years ago which swallowed a dozen Corvettes displayed at the nearby Corvette museum.

Another flesh wound: This afternoon I tried to late brake into the shikane from 146mph with cold breakes on my first lap. I managed to keep it on the pavement but the runoff definitely came in handy. 

Lesson learned. Don't try braking hard with cold carbon ceramic brakes on the first lap expecting positive results. 

The art of driving in the rain

We arrived at the Kentucky Corvette test track and what started out as a cloudless day turned into another washout. 

These are the days where you learn to appreciate the German geeks endlessly perfecting traction control and ABS. 

Virginia in the mirror

So we are standing in the tent yesterday at Summit Point Motorsports and I catch a conversation about the upcoming drive through Virginia. The young man in his race suit and helmet in hand says, "DO NOT SPEED IN VIRGINIA OR YOU WILL GO TO JAIL." Turns out speeding 20 MPH over the limit is an automatic wreckless driving ticket and anything over 90 MPH is cuffs and jail...or so we were told.

We heeded his advice....mostly. There was the one straightaway that when you are in a 918 Spyder and a 911 GT3 RS, no one in their right mind could resist. We won't incriminate ourselves by saying how fast we went but it was fun.

Virginia is now in the rear view mirror. 650 miles to go. We just made a gas stop at a little Exon station tucked into the woods, switched drivers and got a stash of Slim Jims and Snickers. What else would you eat for dinner on West Virginia....

A Dry Day

While rain always adds to the excitement of racing it was a welcome relief to run dry tracks today. There is nothing like watching skilled drivers maneuver Porsche, Mc Larens, BMW's, Toyota minivans around a track all brought from the rear by a Vintage Crown Vic Police cruiser. The dry track allowed us to take the Spyder and our friend's orange 911 GT3 RS to at least 50% of their capabilities. We can only imagine, with a pucker, these cars sitting in the stable at night at some cheesy motel wondering when a real race car driver will take them around the track. 

6:11

Today is dedicated to Stefan Bellof who drove the legendary 956 Porsche Gruppe C to the world record time of 6 min 11 sec around the 21 km Nürburgrings Norfschleife. 

In honor of this increadible achievement our 918 Spyders production number is named in its honor. We have Serial Nr 611 out of 918.

This world record still stands today !!! No one has ever come close in over 30 years. 

One classy Horsepower

On the way to Massachusetts driving through Americas backcountry we encountered local Amish. 

We could not resist lining the sweet kids up infront of our car. 

Later we passed a buggy with a bunch of 12 year olds - and it seemed the driver wasn't much older...

Rain Rain Rain at Palmer

Last night we arrived late in Mass after a long foggy night ride. The morning promised better weather but Mikes first session was completel rained out and our Spyder seemed all over the place. 

The afternoon looks to be improving. My good friend Joe from NY driove up to visit me with some presents and well wishes. 

I am driving the afternoon session. The sun seems to be coming out :)) lest break some records. LOL