A Chance to Drive Fast

[BY Bob]

Ever since I was a small boy I have wanted to be a race car driver. Sadly it seems opportunities to do so never really came my way and my need to be responsible drove me to another career.

I figured I would never get a chance and then I purchased an amazing car, a 2018 Alfa Romeo Guilia Quadrifoglio. The car has a 505 hp Ferrari derived engine in it. When I bought the car I thought some day I need to track that car on a race track.

Well that was over 5 years ago and finally the opportunity to track the car arrived.

This year's Alfa Romeo Owners Club convention was in Concord, NC and they were offering a chance to drive Charlotte Motor Speedway. I jumped at the chance.

So this past week, on Thursday, I had my chance. Below is the video I shot of the first 15 minutes on track. I was able to do 25 laps before I had to retire the car because a piece of the undercarriage had come loose.

Video

The #10 car in the garage waiting to head out.

Heading out

Lined up to head out.

I brought my Lucky charm, Daisy along for the ride.

I think she felt like this during the track session.

A little melted rubber on my tyres.

It was a blast and a total success as both the car (Giana) and I survived the day intact.

 

[Ponypoor]

Ever since I was a small boy I have wanted to be a race car driver. Sadly it seems opportunities to do so never really came my way and my need to be responsible drove me to another career.

I figured I would never get a chance and then I purchased an amazing car, a 2018 Alfa Romeo Guilia Quadrifoglio. The car has a 505 hp Ferrari derived engine in it. When I bought the car I thought some day I need to track that car on a race track.

Well that was over 5 years ago and finally the opportunity to track the car arrived.

This year's Alfa Romeo Owners Club convention was in Concord, NC and they were offering a chance to drive Charlotte Motor Speedway. I jumped at the chance.

So this past week, on Thursday, I had my chance. Below is the video I shot of the first 15 minutes on track. I was able to do 25 laps before I had to retire the car because a piece of the undercarriage had come loose.

Video

The #10 car in the garage waiting to head out.
View attachment 3556904

Heading out

View attachment 3556927

Lined up to head out.

View attachment 3556906

I brought my Lucky charm, Daisy along for the ride.
View attachment 3556905

I think she felt like this during the track session.

View attachment 3556911

A little melted rubber on my tyres.

View attachment 3556907

It was a blast and a total success as both the car (Giana) and I survived the day intact.

View attachment 3556908

Oh that looked like fun! Did they give you pointers or some training ? How fast did you get up to? That sure looked fun

I am so pleased you could experience your dream

 

[Ponypoor]

Giana going to need new tires after this ??

 

[Sally PB]

Well, how cool was that. I'm so glad you were able to do this!

Thanks for sharing with us.

 

[BY Bob]

Oh that looked like fun! Did they give you pointers or some training ? How fast did you get up to? That sure looked fun

I am so pleased you could experience your dream

We had 2 hours of classroom instruction before taking to the track. I also got lucky and my second time out I had a race car driver ride with me and give me pointers. I was consistently topping 110 mph (177 kph) coming out of the first high bank curve. One of the guys next to me topped 140 mph (225 kph) on the same curve but he destroyed his brakes trying to slow down and that ended his day.

 

[BY Bob]

Giana going to need new tires after this ??

Looks like there is plenty of tread left. I took her on a curvey mountain drive today and the tyres are fine. I just need to wear off the over heated rubber.

 

[NanaK]

Looks like you had a wonderful day! Congratulations.

 

[2ndTink]

That is awesome! What an amazing experience with a great car! I got to test drive an Alfa Romeo around a parking lot of a dealership a few years ago, can't remember the model, but I got to play with the settings, wow, it was fast and sounded great! They already had it reserved for someone else though, so I ended up with a Legacy XT Touring, 2.4L turbo, it's a great road trip car. Just doesn't have the sounds and feels of the Alfa Romeo, lol.

You have a super cool car, I'm glad you got a chance to see what it can do! Speed limits, limiting the fun for all

 

[azurbanclucker]

Nice to see Gulia in the environment she was built to run in. So many people don't track their Alfas. Glad you got the chance!

 

[BY Bob]

Looks like you had a wonderful day! Congratulations.

Thanks. It was a special experience.