There is a saying that I especially like, which says “Life is not measured by the number of breaths you take, but by the number of moments that take your breath away”.

One of those moments was driving a Lamborghini Murcielago LP640 and the less expensive Gallardo LP560 around Mosport International Raceway for some very spirted laps.

As a former racer, I’m still called upon from time to time as a driving instructor. For this day, it was for Lamborghini Toronto. Each year they rent Mosport for a day so that their customers can bring their cars out to the track. Not only is it a thrill to be able to drive on a track like Mosport, even at tame speeds, but it allows for a great chance to sit with a driving instructor to learn more about their cars and understand the physics behind them. Many owners were still nervous about driving their cars (they are a lot more powerful then the BMW or Mercedes Benz they also have and they handle very differently too).

The clients all get a detailed in-class session by former international pro racer David Tennyson. After which they are slowly guided around the track in their cars with instructors seated beside them. As time goes on, the speeds increase as each driver develops their skills and confidence. At no point do the instructors allow them to drive faster then the clients skill level, thus avoiding the chance of any serious incidents.

Now usually on days like this, the instructors don’t drive the cars with the exception of the first few laps of the day, just to show the clients around the track at a reasonably slow speed. The reason for this is so the clients don’t start thinking “Hey…I can do that!” and drive their cars faster than they have the skills to do.

The exception came for me though when one of the owners asked me to take his girl friend for a few hot laps in his Murcielago. Ohh..okay. If you insist. So she hops in the passenger seat as I slip behind the wheel. Before heading out on the track, I adjust her seat belt by using a twist-lock technique ensuring that she doesn’t slide around in her seat at all.

Driving this car, one of the most exotic in the world, up the back straight at 250km/hr, cornering at 200km/hr in a four-wheel drift…breathtaking!

What did my passenger think? When I asked, all she could manage to say was “That was amazing”.