By Mike Satterfield
Photography by Mike Satterfield & Abigail Miles
Southern California has a new road course and this one has one major advantage, you don't have to drive to the middle of nowhere. The "Greater Los Angeles Area" has a love/hate relationship with racing and cars and as quickly as a track was built it was quickly bulldozed and turned into a shopping mall or housing development. At Auto Club Speedway (California Speedway) in Fontana, Exotics Racing has launched its new driving experience/sportscar driving school allow you to get behind the wheel of some of the most exclusive sports and supercars in the world.
Starting at about $200 you can buy five laps in a Ferrari F430, Lamborghini Superleggera, Porsche 911 Turbo, Audi R8, Nissan GTR or one of the many other cars that are in the Exotics Racing fleet. All the cars are prepped for the track and come with a complete incar camera system to record the fun.
I arrived early for my 9:30 track date and walked around the edges of the track. This is not the old infield at the NASCAR track next-door, it is a purpose built 1.2-mile track designed by top racing drivers to be both challenging and exciting for the drivers. The day started with signing in for the 30min intro class "Drivers Meeting" where the instructor gives you the basics of driving, the meanings of the different cones on the track and the rules of the track. After class, the instructor takes groups of four around the track in an SUV to help get the students acquainted with the track, braking points, acceleration points, and corner apexes.
Now it is time to get fitted for a helmet, meet your in car instructor and hit the track. I would be driving a Lamborghini Superleggera with a former Formula D driver as my instructor. The cool thing about the track is that you do get to overtake slower drivers, so you do get a little of that fender to fender feel when driving. There is nothing quite like chasing a Nissan GTR in a Lamborghini on a beautiful California Day. If you would like to get behind the wheel of your dream car visit Exotics Racing's website HERE
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