US List of Private Motorsport Clubs
We were contacted by the NY Times last week to provide a few details about Bergrennenring for a supplemental article that accompanied a story on the development of the Monticello, NY club currently being developed. The supplementary article (entitled “Keeping Track of the Tracks”) demonstrates how popular the private motorsport club model is becoming and that there is hope that every state will have at least 1 road course property for sports car enthusiasts to enjoy.
Read more at: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/17/automobiles/18TRACKSweb.html?ref=automobiles
Motorsports and Track Clubs - The Concept is Growing In Popularity
As I sit here this fine Sunday watching Indy Car Racing on NETWORK television live fromáWatkins Glen, NY, I am also reading a very telling article in the Wall Street Journal. Also located in New York a new touring courseáis being built for the discrimating driver.
Called the “Drive and Race Club”,”the facility is being built at a time when well-heeled baby boomers have been buying expensive, high-performance automobiles capable of race-car speeds.”
Click here see the the full article –> A Not-So-Crash Course
This has been our underlying premise all along for the building of The Bergrennenring in the Texas Hill Country. We are bringing a Motorsports Resort to the area so that passions can be fulfilled and there is a destination component that will bring in others to enjoy the area.
Here are some highlights from the article –
- Located in Monticello, NY (Catskill Mts)
- 80 miles NW of NYC.
- Expected cost $50MM
- Scheduled to open in 2008
- Initiation fees of $100,000
- Annual dues of $7,500
- Cap of ~750 members (100 already signed up)
- 225 acres of rolling hills
The B-Ring will deliver an equivalent experience. Interestingly, we will do so charging less for initiation and dues because we can realize cost savings based on location - Central Texas is more conducive for land and construction costs. Also, by working with local government, we will realize tax benefits and infrastructure improvements that will translate into lower operating costs. Ultimately this will benefit the members.
We will be interested in any comments about this, either by registering here and posting directly or sending us an e-mail to info@bergrennenring.com.
Dream Drives - An Article from United Airlines Magazine
So, some people are skeptical about the rise of motorsports in the US.á I contend the rise began long ago.á Now, it is continuing and the peak is not yet reached.á On a flight this week, I ran across an article contained in this post.á Great article and great affirmation of the need for a motorsports destination.á It is a bit long, so I have posted highlights here and provided the URL in case one wants to bookmark it and read later….enjoy.
http://www.hemispheresmagazine.com/may07/cars.html
Dream Drives
Ferrari and Lamborghini are legendary automotive names that caress the tongue like the finest cuisine on an Italian menu. Four-wheeled fantasies, the best of Italian style and engineering, the cars are blazingly fast, frighteningly expensive, utterly impractical-and hardly common. áMost appreciate their cars’ performance ability, even if they can’t use it all legally.
Let’s be honest. Many people are thoroughly intimidated by cars that cost more than $200,000, accelerate to 60 mph in four seconds or less, and are capable of truly obscene speeds that top out well north of 190 mph.á
Joining members of the Lamborghini Club at the Hotel Healdsburg in California’s Sonoma wine country, I note that all but one car, a vintage Diablo, are new models. All three of “our” cars could exceed posted speed limits in first gear, or just after a shift to second, with four gears to go.
Most of the male club members are the open silk shirt- and gold chain-wearing types you might spot in South Beach or Palm Springs. The women are Pucci-ed, Gucci-ed, Missoni-ed, and Armani-ed to the nines. Lamborghini S.p.A.’s striking CEO, Stefan Winkelmann, a convincingly romantic German (who has spent his life in Italy), encouraged us to drive with brio. You just know he’ll set the best example.
A few simple rules about driving exotic cars: (1) Forget what the car is worth. It’s a car; it can be repaired. (2) Don’t baby it; don’t abuse it; just drive it. (3) Repeat No. 1.
Thankfully, the LP640 sticks to curves like Super Glue. I blast merrily through linked turns, gently kissing the Brembo brakes, then get on the throttle firmly, when the planets align, and flat hammer it. There’s no fishtailing; despite nearly 600 horses, the all-wheel-drive grips like a demented leech. I just point and shoot; the LP640 does all the hard work.
Let’s move now to the next fantasy come true. You wouldn’t think of taking a really long drive in a Ferrari. “Prancing Horses” are strictly high-strung thoroughbreds, good for short sprints, not long hauls-right?
And besides, they might break.
To disabuse you of this notion, Ferrari organized a 75-day “World Tour in 1997.” And in 2005, 51 journalists drove a pair of Ferrari 612 Scaglietti2+2s some 15,000 miles across China, from Beijing to Shanghai.
Fast-forward 55 years. Beginning this past August, in a pair of new 599 GTB Fiorano berlinettas, 51 journalists took turns driving 20,000 miles in 15 stages through 16 countries, from Belo Horizonte, on Brazil’s east coast, across South America into Argentina, Chile, and Peru. They wove through Central America up to Baja. Then they hurtled across the U.S., stopping at Miami and Savannah, Georgia, dashing to DC, beating the winter to Toronto, and finishing in New York City. The journey took 84 days.
We have to ensure that both 599s complete their journey rubber side down, but the temptation to sprint a bit is hard to resist. I drive with Ferrari’s director of communications, Davide Kluzer. In the other 599 is Zheng Menghui, AKA “Tony,” a TV producer from Beijing. Tony hits triple-digit speeds a few times until Davide points out via telephone that if he is stopped, he will go to jail-”and we can do nothing, nothing at all, to help you.”
Fortunately, Ferrari and Lamborghini offer racing programs, so you can put your car on a track and experience its full potential. You needn’t ever risk license or limb on the open road.
Could you drive any of these exotics all the time, assuming you have the means? The answer is a resounding “yes.” But if you have to ask, “Are they worth it?” you can’t afford them. The price of Ferrari and Lamborghini ownership can’t be measured the way you’d calculate your cost per mile for a sedan. Very simply, they’re the best of their kind in the world. For a few, works of art like these are worth much more than their price tags.