Diversity in Speed // NWARC Lap Day

The sky never removed its clouds, apparently gray and overcast was the soup of the day. But for the first event of the year, it could have been much worse. Track days with the Alfa Romeo club are anything but uneventful, and yesterday saw quite the turnout and a decent track condition. The wide selection of cars that showed, provided a good mix of size and horsepower. A Lamborghini appeared, lowering slowly from the innards of a double deck trailer (towed by what must have been a 1/2 million dollar motor home) and rolled itself backward and out into the pits. Slicks were on the Lamborghini for today, and I am sure they helped reel that thing in. Group A took the first session, with instructors and those with a high level of experience running hard. Group’s B and C followed suit and an all Alfa lap session rounded out the morning. We had managed to land ourselves on a corner (turn 5), and from our vantage you watch as the cars pull hard up the back straight, break slightly and push through turn 5, then hard breaking into a wide right and gas it up the hill into turn 8. One would think, a Lamborghini, trailered to the track, racing slicks tacking it to the pavement, would have been the fastest car out there. But in all honesty, I think the 1300cc Giulietta Spider was throwing her weight around and mashing pedal a bit more than the Lamborghini. But then again, they didn't have a quarter million dollars to loose. The afternoon saw a few more people show, a few more cars on the track and the conditions stay much the same. Shortly before we left, we sat in the pits and listened to a young man tell us of his ride in the Lamborrghini. 160mph down the main straight, 120mph through the back section, and she wasn’t even breaking a sweat, the kid was bug eyed and obviously impressed. So maybe the Lamborghini was a bit faster then our friend in the Alfa, but you would expect that for a quarter million. Check out the photo gallery for some pictures //