In
Second Life you can visit Motorati Island and race on the many virtual
race tracks or if you own the NASCAR Play Station game you can get the
feel of speed. I love to race these games...but I had a need for speed
that virtual reality could no longer satisfy!
Donning my helmet,
I slipped in through the window, got strapped into the five-point
harness, steeled all my courage and took the ride of my life on a
twisting turning road course with John Heinricy at top speeds of 110 MPH in the race ready performance Hot Rod Pontiac Solstice with an LS7 crate engine.
Jokingly
he turned to me before we took off and asked , " You not one of those
who is going loose your cookies on me are you?" No - Way! I had a
blast, what a rush, my adrenaline is still pumping and this was last
Tuesday! Woo Hoo!
John Heinricy has had a long and distinguished career at General Motors, serving as assistant chief engineer for the Corvette and as Director of the GM Performance Division.
He also campaigns a variety of GM products in SCCA competition, winning the annual runoffs in Corvettes, Firebirds, and Camaros. He has also won SCCA National events in Cobalts.
After
our "practice" run of three laps around the track I had a totally new
appreciation of the skill, concentration and endurance required to be a
race car driver.
Thank you John for the ride of my life! ( I even got his autograph !)
Now that John showed me around the course ..or better the blur I saw as we whizzed by, it was my turn to drive the track.
I hopped into the Pontiac Solstice
GXP Club Sport and took off down the track..reaching top speeds that
felt like 5 MPH after my run with John! I think maybe I topped out at
maybe 50 MPH and tried to push it as much as I could and stay in
control. Amateur performance for sure , but so much fun to try!
Thank
you to the GM Performance team for the opportunity. You can't see it in
the picture of me here driving, but I am grinning so wide my face
hurts. Can't wipe that grin off even today!
Join me in Second Life try out the Pontiac Solstice AskPatty.com designed by going here:
http://www.askpatty.com/page.php?ID=834
( Photo's by Jim Fets - www.fetsphto.com)
Jody DeVere
President
www.askpatty.com
