Frank A. wrote the following about his World Class Driving US Tour 2008 experience

World Class Driving : Xtreme 200MPH

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Having completed two of the regular WCD events, I decided it was time to drive these exotic cars the way they were meant to be driven.

On January 9, 2009, I participated in a World Class Driving Xtreme event. It took place at an airfield near Miami. The airfield has an 11,000 ft runway. The object of this event was to either break the 200MPH barrier, or get as close to 200 as possible.

This event lasted all day. It started out at the Miami Airport Hilton. Since we had to all meet at the Hilton at 7:30 am Friday, I decided to stay there.

There were vans available to take everyone to the airstrip located about forty minutes from the hotel. Some people chose to drive their cars instead. I didn't, and at the end of the day, was glad I chose not to, because I was tired.

Upon arriving at the airstrip, we were served a most welcomed catered breakfast. After checking in, we were all given a pair of Piloti driving shoes, which I found to be very comfortable.

Following that, there was a driver meeting that included the introduction of the instructors. There were six of them.

Didier Theys and Roland Linder were both there.

In addition, Vanina Ickx, the daughter of Belgian Formula One driver Jacky Ickx was there. She is racing a prototype in the European LeMans Series, which is related to the ALMS (American LeMans Series). She told me that the car she's driving pulls enough g's to cause tunnel vision, similar to what a fighter pilot experiences. She's hoping to get a ride in a Formula One car.

Next, there was Jan Heylen. He is a veteran of many race series and expects to get a ride in the Indy Racing League.

Finally, there was Guy and Gregory Trigaux, both of them veterans in multiple race series. Guy is also an aerobatic pilot.

There were six supercars available, the Audi R8, the Ferrari F430, the Mercedes McLaren SLR, the Lamborghini LP560, the Lamborghini Superleggera, and the Ferrari 599GTB.

"There was a lot of media coverage for this event."

Greg Anderson of Car and Driver was there. He took part and will be writing a review which will run in the April issue of the magazine. In addition, Greg will be writing a Robb Report Gallery feature, which will include photos.

Tanner Foust, the host of 'Supercars Exposed', and producer John Alexander also were participants. The episode covering the WCD Xtreme experience will be one of the first to be aired starting in March of 2009.

Steve Cole Smith of Autoweek will also be writing a review. It will appear in three to four weeks, along with photos. Steve will also be writing a review for the Orlando Sun Sentinel, the Los Angeles Times, the Chicago Tribune, and eight other major newspapers across the country.

Finally, correspondent Jason Harper will be writing a national news feature on his experience for both Bloomberg News and Bloomberg News Magazine. The stories will run in three to four weeks and April respectively.

We were broken up into three groups. There would be three different sessions.

The first session consisted of running laps on a small road course that had been set up. The purpose of this session was to become familiar with braking, cornering, and accelerating out of a corner. This was not a high speed course. We drove the Ferrari F430 and the Audi R8.

The second session dealt with high speed cornering. The reason for this was because it would be necessary to build up speed coming out of the corner leading onto the runway. It would be the only way to have any chance of reaching 200MPH by the time you reached the point where you had to slow down. The other cars were used for this session.

After everyone had completed the first two sessions, lunch was served. This gave us a chance to relax and assimilate the information we had just received.

After lunch it was down to the nitty gritty. We started doing practice runs down the runway to become familiar with the cars at higher speeds.

In between sessions we were all given a ride in a Koenigsegg CCX. This car was provided to WCD by Universal Autosports. We weren't allowed to drive it. It's an incredible car that can hold it's own with the Bugatti Veyron.

I remember thinking that I could never attempt a 200MPH run in that car

Riding as a passenger, I reached 216 mph. If the runway had been long enough, this car could reach close to 250 mph. The other cars were slow by comparison.

There were three cars in the group capable of reaching 200MPH, the Mercedes McLaren SLR, the Lamborghini LP 560, and the Ferrari 599 GTB.

There were two sets of cones set up on the runway. The first set indicated the point at which we had to lift off the throttle and break. After slowing down to 160 mph, we would downshift at the second set of cones.
Finally, we would turn right and head back up a feeder road. The trip back took a lot longer at ordinary highway speed.

The first car I drove was the Lamborghini. I made a couple of runs and managed to hit 190 mph. Not bad for the first time driving at that sort of speed.

Next, I drove the Ferrari. I got out of the corner leading onto the runway really well. Unfortunately, I upshifted a little early, managing to reach only 199 mph because I lost some rpms. This would end up being my top speed for the day.

I finished up with the McLaren. I had already driven this car twice during the regular WCD events. It is a really twitchy car with extremely sensitive steering. I remember thinking that I could never attempt a 200MPH run in that car. In spite of this, I managed to reach 198 mph. The faster you go in the McLaren the more sensitive the steering becomes.

After everyone was done driving, we were served dinner and awarded plaques showing our highest speed, both driving and riding as a passenger in the Koenigsegg CCX.

It was an absolutely incredible experience and I think I will do it again, possibly in April.

If you're interested in either the regular WCD experience (The US Tour) or the Xtreme experience, be sure to Book online or contact World Class Driving today!