A couple weeks ago, we got the call from our old friend Max Preston, the co-owner of karting team New Speed Motorsports that propelled Daniel to back-to-back TRAK Championships in 2020 and 2021. For some extra track time, Max has been working as the resident race car driver at GTA Exotics, co-driving newbies around the DDT in supercars. Nice work if you can get it!
Max invited us out to the final Track Day event of the 2023 season. It would give us a day to catch up with one another, while driving ,fast cars. Max even commented that if Daniel liked what he saw at GTA, there might be a place for him next year. Cool!
Despite being October, the weather was perfect. Sunny, light blue skies, and not a hint of a rain cloud on the horizon. We arrived super-early compared to most of the drivers, partly because we’re so used to those crack of dawn driver’s meetings in F1200.
After showing us around the facility (strangely, Daniel had never even seen the DDT before) and introducing us to the big boss, we hung out on the pit wall while Max got to work safely navigating drivers around the track. We even did an exploratory lap as passengers in a full-size Chevy Express van piloted by K1 Speed alumni, Dawson Campbell.
Shortly after 9:00 am, it was time to drive!
Daniel is an experienced racer now, with hundreds of laps on the CTMP Grand Prix circuit, plus Cayuga, Shannonville and Calabogie. But since these would be his first laps at the Driver Development Track, the decision to start off in a slower car; a V8 powered Mustang GT.
Daniel’s daily driver is a Bugeye WRX, so it’s no slouch in the power department, But this red convertible has a 5.0 engine with 200 more ponies, so let’s just say it was a step up. Compared to the Ferrari he’d soon drive, the Ford was the perfect combination of speed and sloppy.
OK…play time was over! Max showed off ‘his’ Ferrari 458 Challenge car. This recently retired race car from the Ferrari Challenge series has a full roll cage, racing seats and serious aerodynamics. Max explained that part of his job is to give ‘thrill rides‘ to customers who don’t want to actually get behind the wheel of such an intimidating vehicle. Wow…what an amazing job!
by 11:00 am, the event was in full swing. Many, many drivers had arrived, ready for a ride in their dream cars. There’s a broad cross section of the population. Old timers looking to recapture youth, youngsters who just wanna go fast, and dads with their young kids in tow, who looked like they got a trip to GTA Exotics as a gift. It was easy to spot the race car drivers, though.
Max snagged the yellow 458 Challenge ‘EVO’ model, with some upgrades over the black and red Ferrari that most folks would never even notice. Daniel climbed into the deep bucket seat and fastened up the six-point harness. Totally different than the bare-bones open wheel car he’s driven for the past two seasons, the Ferrari is a serious machine.
Daniel commented on the flight switches he had to toggle to get the car to fire up. That was new to him. Despite the interior being stripped out, the car felt expensive. Aluminum, carbon-fiber and Alcantara as far as the eye could see.
There just isn’t enough time on a day like this to get the most out of a Ferrari. The first few corners are just sensory overload, as the immense power (and sound) alert the driver. You can brake so much later, and take corners with so much more speed than other cars, that you quickly find yourself on the rear bumper of mere McLarens…radioing ahead for a ‘pass-by’. Once the slow moving vehicles were cleared, and Demaras had a lap under his belt, he got a couple of good ‘push’ laps.
Unless the racing gods smile on Demaras Racing and bestow upon us a wealthy benefactor, it’s unlikely Daniel will get to race in the Ferrari Challenge series next year. But for a few brief laps, he was living the dream.
~ by Chris #16 Demaras ~
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