I meet executive online editor Erik Johnson, my primary contact, and am given brief introductions to people with names familiar to C/D readers. To me, it?s like meeting A-list celebrities, and they give me the go-ahead to meander the premises during setup time. My own personal auto show! There are cars I?ve only seen on turntables, like the Audi R8 and the Ford Mustang Shelby GT350R, but here they?re in context next to a racetrack and their rubber-atomizing peers. The 570S is my favorite. The sleek, low, wide body is more menacing in person and the design more svelte than any photo can convey. I hope to have a ride in it?but more about that later.
After some ogling from a distance, I encroach on manufacturers? garage spaces. Acura and Porsche are on hand with an NSX, a 911 GT3 RS, and a Cayman GT4, plus their crews. Caught gaping at the NSX, I?m invited by an Acura rep to sit in it. I sink into the low seat, grab the wheel, and daydream for a minute. Just like that, I have an experience with the NSX that is bested only by a few lucky owners, automotive journalists, and Honda employees?and, you know, anybody else who has actually driven the car. I?d declare it an experience unlikely ever to happen to me again, but the day is just getting started. The sun is up, the temperature is hot, the air is moist, and the engines start roaring. By now, there is a constant movement of cars on and off the track, and every so often there?s a violent roar from the front straight directly ...