I woke up this morning thinking I would join a caravan of cars heading to Watkins Glen and just go for a casual drive and check out a bunch of sweet cars. I was wrong, dead wrong!
My father and I met up with my uncle and my cousin at a rest stop with a caravan of all ranges of sport cars. Audi's, BMW's, Porsche's, Infiniti's, VW's, Lotus' and etc. When everyone took off together I never expected it to be an 80 mile bullrun to the track! We took many mountain and country passes and traveled through five counties of twisty and hilly roads. We didn't know the route and the roads were only single lane so we had to go fast or get lost. Probably the longest, most intense drive I have ever done. Everyone was having fun, but at the same time safety was on everyone's minds and no one did anything stupid. Thank God.
My father and I did not expect this and we were smiling the whole way, the 128i handled it like a champ! It didn't lose step not for one moment. And next thing you know, we arrived at Watkins Glen. Here is a picture of all the cars in our caravan gathered at the front entrance:
I loved looking at this 911:
And this 20th GTI:
And my friends new A5:
As we pulled in to the track, we were given a sheet of rules to abide by. No passing, speed is limited to 55 and the laps are paced. This put my father's mind at ease after experiencing a thrilling drive. Dead wrong again. I was with my uncle and we chatted up a girl who worked at the event and he asked her if the speed is really limited to 55mph. She gave him a look and we both knew we would be participating in a HPDE!!! Didn't tell my dad though....
So as we get on the track I tell my dad to take a video of the first lap. He thought we would just cruise it out, his reaction is priceless and left us all with everlasting memories of today:
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I apologize for all the Greek that is being spoken, but in essence he was in for a surprise and couldn't stop telling me to slow down!!! At the third lap I saw he was getting serious so I backed off.
I was extremely impressed with the 128i performing so well. I was keeping up with my uncle and my cousin in their M3 and the brakes held up well. Handling of course was on point and filled me with confidence. The car is just a blast to drive and was probably my happiest moment so far with the Bimmer.
After we finished our three laps we pulled in the parking lot to grab some food and look at the track pictures.
Here are the 4 of us, smiling from ear to ear:
The champions:
Thank you:
