Had the opportunity to get a ride with the man himself, Mario Andretti, in one of those two seater Indy cars at Sonoma Raceway. Wow, what an adventure! I have driven hundreds of laps there, but never had a lap like that.

If you ever get the chance, its worth it!

 

awesome! Mario is the coolest guy ever, a total badass and very kind, polite and humble.

 

Really cool .

 

Uhhh, that's it? You just rode with Mario Andretti at Sonoma in an Indy car, and "what an adventure" is as descriptive as you could muster?

Are you sure that was an Indy car? Are you sure that was Mario Andretti? Are you sure it really happened?

Sorry, can't let you get away with only that....

 

LOL, Erick!

Oh yes, I am very sure it was him and he even autographed the helmet they were giving away as part of the experience (a Bell SA2010). He took off fast on hot tires and having never driven a formula car or a car with that level of downforce, it was quite something. Much faster than any Porsche I have ever been in and I am sure he was not even trying. The Indy cars were that were practicing afterwards were going quite a bit faster.

The ride was short, just one lap, but still very memorable. Everything, acceleration, grip, braking even on the two seater, was significantly higher than any BMW or Porsche I have ever been in by far. There was no one thing that stood out, other than perhaps the noise and the sense that everything was turned up to 15 compared to my lil ol 991.

 

Hopefully the acceleration. No way to compare what I can give ride-wise in the mere (now obsolete) Radical, but at Sears being pretty off-edge it's in the 1:45 range (Thunderhill is ~1:52). Indycar is using a different configuration, remember.

Too bad those rides are limited to a lap at a time. I usually go for a warm up, then 5-6 at speed so any passenger can start to grasp what's going on relative to a production car they've stepped out of.