During my most recent trip to Vegas, some friends and I went to SpeedVegas for a morning of motorsports. We started the day driving exotic cars - one friend in a Lamborghini Gallardo, another in a McLaren 570 GT4, and myself in a Porsche 911 (992) GT3. It was their first time doing any kind of on-track performance car driving and my first time driving a 911.
After walking around the paddock for a bit, soaking in the view of all these amazing cars, we did a driver briefing in which they discussed the track layout, cones marking the braking zones and apexes, and rules for passing and getting passed on track. Even though the track is only 1.3 miles, we'd be on track at the same time as other drivers, with the instructors watching and assisting to make sure passes happen safely. I was a little worried about traffic being a problem, but there was only one time when I was in a corner with two other cars that it was much of an issue.
After the briefing, we headed on track for a couple ride-along "discovery laps" in a Porsche Cayenne. Having done instructor ride-alongs back in my Skip Barber Racing School days, I knew what I was in for. I tried to warn my friends that this would be the scariest part of their day, and it definitely lived up to it. After an initial slow lap to discuss the track layout, the second lap at full speed in an SUV with tires squealing the whole way around was not for the faint of heart.
As soon as the discovery laps were over, we threw on helmets and were in our respective cars almost immediately. Other than feeling like I was sitting very low to the ground, the Porsche felt much more like a normal car compared to the Lamborghinis and Ferraris I had driven in previous exotic car outings. I pulled up to the end of the pit lane and then jumped onto the gas to join the track. The car certainly felt fast right away, but with so few laps and with a track full of already-warmed-up drivers, it felt like I didn't really have much time to waste warming up myself.
My immediate impression of the track was just how many quick direction switches there were. There was hardly anywhere on the track where you get to brake into a turn, hit the apex, and roll onto the gas all the way to track out under full throttle. One of the longer turns on the track (turn 3?) tightens up more and more as you go through it, which ends up feeling like you're scrubbing speed the whole way around until finally getting to a super late apex. From there, the track is basically just a ton of back-to-back-to-back S-curves. Some of them felt like I was just keeping the car stable while getting through the apex and on to the next turn, not really able to get on the throttle much because the next direction change and compromise corner would be coming up right behind it.
The final S-curve is straight enough that you can essentially just straight-line and get on the gas, but almost as soon as you're on the gas, you're back on the brakes again leading into the final hairpin. I never really felt like I nailed this turn. They have green cones set up to show you where to hit turn-in points and apex points, but I kept finding myself so far to the outside so deep into the turn that once I got down to the apex I was going way too slow. Since that turn leads onto the main straight, that turn should have been the best spot for really getting on the gas and pushing all the way to track out under power, but I just couldn't get my line right through that turn the whole day.
After six or seven laps, we did a cooldown lap to give the brakes and car (and me) a chance to take it easy for a lap before getting back into it. I'm sure it's no coincidence that my fastest lap of the day, a 59.363 second lap, came immediately after the cool-down lap. A couple laps later and I was back into the pits and the driving was done. My instructor seemed pretty pleased with my driving and the fact that I broke under a one minute lap. I was happy that the day went smoothly and that I didn't have any scary moments in a 500HP car I had never driven before.
Although certainly my first thoughts jumping out of the car were how fun it was, if I'm being totally honest it wasn't my favorite track day (that honor probably goes to my day with SCDA at NJMP in the Spec Miata). I never really got to the point that I felt like I was putting the corners together nicely, nailing the racing line, and pushing the limit for what the car could do. Maybe I was paying too much attention to their green cones instead of trusting my own instincts for finding the line and adjusting each lap to go faster. Maybe the track layout isn't conducive to feeling out the limits of a car's handling - in some ways it felt more driving autocross than driving on a racetrack. I suspect the track is specifically designed to avoid spins and off-track excursions when these cars are given to a bunch of novice drivers. In fact, other than noticing the immediate power you get from a naturally-aspirated 500HP engine, I didn't really have a ton of impression of what driving the Porsche really felt like. I sort of just didn't notice the car, which is kind of disappointing since those exotic cars is where all the expense is for this kind of event. Maybe though, it's as simple as not getting enough track time to get comfortable with the car or the track.
Even as expensive motorsports go, the dollars per minute on track here was pretty pricy. My NJMP track day was twice as much money, but I got almost 90 minutes on track for that money compared to only about ten at SpeedVegas. The draw, of course, is getting a chance to drive supercars at the limit on a racetrack. What I'm still not sure about is whether the track layout is just fundamentally underwhelming for such great cars, or if more seat time there would make the difference to where I'm enjoying feeling out the limit of performance in a Ferrari or McLaren or Porsche on that track. I guess there's only one way to find out - to go back and do some more laps next time I'm in Vegas!
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