Mega thrash with two Ferraris.
Discussion
Hi guys.
Firstly, I'd promised myself I'd take 6 months off PH as I was slipping into argumentative habits, I've only made 3 months of that so apologies for turning up like a bad penny but this was too good not to relate.
I'm currently on one of my European trips, staying at Grenoble. The town itself appears to be a complete s
thole so I got up early and headed Alpward, I picked a local mountain on the map and decided if nothing else I could fly the drone when I'm up there.
About 10 minutes after starting to climb I spotted a couple of Ferraris about 10 cars ahead, I thought it might be fun to catch them up. It was pretty twisty so I had to do a bit of batst driving to make up the ground but when I was about 2 cars back they spotted me and waved and then pulled off at the next parking layby.
Out jump 4 guys, all French, all in their 50's I would guess.
They were all very friendly - lots of elbow bumping and bonjours - and it turns out they are off to Monaco to pick up one of the guys new 720S. One of the cars is a Pista, I'm not good with modern Ferraris so I don't actually know what the other one was (I'll put a pic up later) but they are both fully loaded, beautiful examples.
The guy buying the Mac owns the red ferrari and is actually a pilot and a racing driver! These are very wealthy, very track savvy guys, immaculately groomed and well used to popping down to Monaco to buy cars.
They ask me if I want to join them on their trip which is amazingly decent of them as we've just met 10 minutes ago, I explain I'd love to but I'm leaving for Chamonix in the morning and have a whole trip planned out.
They then say why don't I just follow them for a couple of hours down Route Napoleon (much to my shame I didn't even realise I was on it), so I say sure but I may turn off at some point before I end up too far away.
The Pilot explains that they have radar and they know the route well.
So I'm thinking that this could be interesting. We have two Ferraris driven by expert drivers who know the route backwards and are virtually immune from getting pulled, and me with no clue where I am and being a notoriously crap driver!
We set off.
I can honestly say that the next 45 minutes is the scariest and most exhilarating three quarters of an hour of my entire life. I genuinely think I'm fortunate to be sitting here still breathing to tell the tale.
If you object to breaking speed limits please stop reading now!
They immediately start to pass everything, they know what they're doing and will overtake on ridiculously short sections between bends, I quickly realise I'm going to have the drive off my life just to keep them in sight. I start absolutely hammering the car, I've had plenty of fast cars and have pushed them all but nothing like this, I'm completely in the zone and everything is happening at times ten.
Now I'm not going to pretend that it was in anyway sensible but I'm aware all the time that I don't want to take out some poor bd who's just going down the shops so I'm only driving half suicidally when other cars are present, but I'm having to drive full "Oh my god I'm going to die" when trying to hang on to them.
The guy in front in the red car is on another planet, he just disappears, he's at fking light speed! The guy in the Pista is absolutely caning it and the only thing that's keeping me with him is complete trust in his knowledge of the road. We are hurtling into bends with sheer thousand feet drops at 5 times the rate I would ever chance but I'm watching his line and just praying he hasn't forgotten anything.
A couple of times I lose him as he hurtles past a line of cars and I just can't make it, I'm suffering a bit from being on the wrong side of the car and not having his visibility, on a couple of occasions I just go for it anyway but realise that probably won't end well.
I always manage to catch him again when he comes up against more traffic but I'm pushing so hard to make up the time I know I'm near my limit. Although my limit appears to be way further out than I thought it was!
I had new tyres fitted just before the trip and on a few occasions they saved me, there were times when I thought I would be going over the lip rather than around the bend but somehow everything held.
(I hope to god my other half never reads this!)
A couple of times hot hatches we passed linked on behind for the fun, they did well, one guy stayed with me for about 5 minutes but in the end couldn't live with blasting past 4 cars at once between bends.
The car was absolutely superb. As I've said on here before I prefer the 570S to the 720S and 650S I had a couple of years ago, the 570 just suits my driving better. You have to be always on it, keeping it over 4k and working the paddles and brakes all the time. The paddle rocker thingy really came into its own, it feels like a bit of a gimmick but I was using it constantly to get the sweetest spot for changes.
I absolutely adore this little car and while the 720 is certainly quicker I think I can drive the 570 quicker, it's just something to do with the set up, I don't have the knowledge to explain it properly.
Eventually we came around a fast bend behind a huge earth moving lorry, he shot around without lifting off but I just couldn't see due to my driving position so I sat in behind. I got stuck there for a few minutes and then once round I guessed they were probably long gone.
After another few minutes I came across them at the side of the road, the lead guy had to stop because he's ceramics were cooking, they stank!
I had to take a few deep breaths before getting out of the car but they seemed completely at ease and relaxed. They showed me some excellent routes for next time I'm down this way and we chatted to some of the people who'd pulled over to gawp and take pictures.
I've had a lot of fun on these trips but this was something else, not sure if it was fun while I was doing it but I've got a much better understanding of what it's like to push yourself over the line.
A big thank you to those guys although I'm sure they'll never see this.
As I always say, get yourself to the Alps, we won't be able to do this stuff forever!
Firstly, I'd promised myself I'd take 6 months off PH as I was slipping into argumentative habits, I've only made 3 months of that so apologies for turning up like a bad penny but this was too good not to relate.
I'm currently on one of my European trips, staying at Grenoble. The town itself appears to be a complete s
thole so I got up early and headed Alpward, I picked a local mountain on the map and decided if nothing else I could fly the drone when I'm up there.About 10 minutes after starting to climb I spotted a couple of Ferraris about 10 cars ahead, I thought it might be fun to catch them up. It was pretty twisty so I had to do a bit of bats
t driving to make up the ground but when I was about 2 cars back they spotted me and waved and then pulled off at the next parking layby.Out jump 4 guys, all French, all in their 50's I would guess.
They were all very friendly - lots of elbow bumping and bonjours - and it turns out they are off to Monaco to pick up one of the guys new 720S. One of the cars is a Pista, I'm not good with modern Ferraris so I don't actually know what the other one was (I'll put a pic up later) but they are both fully loaded, beautiful examples.
The guy buying the Mac owns the red ferrari and is actually a pilot and a racing driver! These are very wealthy, very track savvy guys, immaculately groomed and well used to popping down to Monaco to buy cars.
They ask me if I want to join them on their trip which is amazingly decent of them as we've just met 10 minutes ago, I explain I'd love to but I'm leaving for Chamonix in the morning and have a whole trip planned out.
They then say why don't I just follow them for a couple of hours down Route Napoleon (much to my shame I didn't even realise I was on it), so I say sure but I may turn off at some point before I end up too far away.
The Pilot explains that they have radar and they know the route well.
So I'm thinking that this could be interesting. We have two Ferraris driven by expert drivers who know the route backwards and are virtually immune from getting pulled, and me with no clue where I am and being a notoriously crap driver!
We set off.
I can honestly say that the next 45 minutes is the scariest and most exhilarating three quarters of an hour of my entire life. I genuinely think I'm fortunate to be sitting here still breathing to tell the tale.
If you object to breaking speed limits please stop reading now!
They immediately start to pass everything, they know what they're doing and will overtake on ridiculously short sections between bends, I quickly realise I'm going to have the drive off my life just to keep them in sight. I start absolutely hammering the car, I've had plenty of fast cars and have pushed them all but nothing like this, I'm completely in the zone and everything is happening at times ten.
Now I'm not going to pretend that it was in anyway sensible but I'm aware all the time that I don't want to take out some poor b
d who's just going down the shops so I'm only driving half suicidally when other cars are present, but I'm having to drive full "Oh my god I'm going to die" when trying to hang on to them.The guy in front in the red car is on another planet, he just disappears, he's at f
king light speed! The guy in the Pista is absolutely caning it and the only thing that's keeping me with him is complete trust in his knowledge of the road. We are hurtling into bends with sheer thousand feet drops at 5 times the rate I would ever chance but I'm watching his line and just praying he hasn't forgotten anything.A couple of times I lose him as he hurtles past a line of cars and I just can't make it, I'm suffering a bit from being on the wrong side of the car and not having his visibility, on a couple of occasions I just go for it anyway but realise that probably won't end well.
I always manage to catch him again when he comes up against more traffic but I'm pushing so hard to make up the time I know I'm near my limit. Although my limit appears to be way further out than I thought it was!
I had new tyres fitted just before the trip and on a few occasions they saved me, there were times when I thought I would be going over the lip rather than around the bend but somehow everything held.
(I hope to god my other half never reads this!)
A couple of times hot hatches we passed linked on behind for the fun, they did well, one guy stayed with me for about 5 minutes but in the end couldn't live with blasting past 4 cars at once between bends.
The car was absolutely superb. As I've said on here before I prefer the 570S to the 720S and 650S I had a couple of years ago, the 570 just suits my driving better. You have to be always on it, keeping it over 4k and working the paddles and brakes all the time. The paddle rocker thingy really came into its own, it feels like a bit of a gimmick but I was using it constantly to get the sweetest spot for changes.
I absolutely adore this little car and while the 720 is certainly quicker I think I can drive the 570 quicker, it's just something to do with the set up, I don't have the knowledge to explain it properly.
Eventually we came around a fast bend behind a huge earth moving lorry, he shot around without lifting off but I just couldn't see due to my driving position so I sat in behind. I got stuck there for a few minutes and then once round I guessed they were probably long gone.
After another few minutes I came across them at the side of the road, the lead guy had to stop because he's ceramics were cooking, they stank!
I had to take a few deep breaths before getting out of the car but they seemed completely at ease and relaxed. They showed me some excellent routes for next time I'm down this way and we chatted to some of the people who'd pulled over to gawp and take pictures.
I've had a lot of fun on these trips but this was something else, not sure if it was fun while I was doing it but I've got a much better understanding of what it's like to push yourself over the line.
A big thank you to those guys although I'm sure they'll never see this.
As I always say, get yourself to the Alps, we won't be able to do this stuff forever!
Edited by br d on Thursday 13th August 17:29
Edited by br d on Thursday 13th August 17:30
Yodafone said:
You kept up well as both Ferrari's had way more power then you!!!
Amazing story thanks for sharing.
On Alpine roads it's not really a deal breaker, all Macs are quick anyway, without wanting to open a can of worms Macs are "next ferrari model up" quick if you see what I mean. Amazing story thanks for sharing.
But on these roads I'd imagine anything above 500 hp wont make much difference, with a decent driver in my car he probably could have kept up with the F12 (thanks von!).
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