Prior to the Heritage Invitational Showcase and Historic Trans Am racing, media members were treated to drives around the 10/10ths Motor Club track.

The Grand opening of the new 10/10ths Clubhouse was celebrated with the Smith Heritage Invitational featuring Historic Trans Am Racing, a Pro-Am Charity Race, and a Concourse Showcase featuring nearly $1 billion worth of cars. Before any of these festivities began, three expert drivers provided media members with lap rides around the short course.

Not The Fastest McLaren, But Who Cares

The name McLaren is enough to entice anyone to step inside and take a ride in the Artura. This is technically the entry-level model from the brand, but don’t let that bring any misconceptions that anything is missing from this car. It’s a supercar at heart and a track monster, ready to take down challengers that underestimate what the Artura brings to the party.

Powertrain Specifications

Amazing Track Layout

The new 10/10ths track is designed to challenge racers and give driving enthusiasts a great place to test cars, race them, and enjoy some fun laps around the track. This 1.7-mile road course features several challenges with 19 turns, some of which are banked. It also has 112 feet of elevation change and an average width of 42 feet, with generous runoff areas to make it easy to cut corners, take them at speed, or recover when making a slight error in judgment.
The 10/10ths track is made to be used in three different ways:

10/10ths Track Configurations

• Full Circuit – 1.7 miles, 19 turns
• Short Course – 1.1 miles, 13 turns
• Inner Loop – 0.567 miles, 7 turns

During the media laps, the McLaren Artura shuttled various members around on the short course. This was also the part used during the Historic Trans Am racing later in the day. The short course challenges drivers with twists and turns, incredible elevation changes, and one fast, straight area where drivers can push their cars hard. This relatively straight area runs behind the new clubhouse, where the perfect, grass-covered viewing area allows spectators to witness the start and end of races.

The Artura top speed was out of the question

The 10/10th Motor Club Short Course is only 1.1 miles long and has 13 turns, many of which are blind or attached to an incline or decline. Even during the short, straight part of the track, this car cannot reach its 205-MPH top speed despite the instant quickness associated with the incredible engineering that goes into this car. That doesn’t stop the lap from being fun and exciting when you step inside.

Excitement From Behind The Wheel

Kyle Lombardi simply introduced himself to me as Kyle and welcomed me to the blue McLaren Artura with yellow striping. With this short introduction done, we were off. Kyle, whether telling himself during each twist, turn, elevation, and straight or letting me know what he was doing and what was coming up, talked through each movement, which was pretty entertaining. He would say things like “hard on the gas, quick on the brake, blind turn coming up, and 112-foot drop after this corner,” which made the ride more fun, entertaining, and exciting.

Kyle Spends A Lot Of Time On The Track

When automakers allow their cars to be driven around tracks, especially for promotional purposes, they want drivers who are familiar with the cars and the track. Kyle Lombardi, Hendrick Heritage Center supervisor, is the perfect choice as a media driver in just about any car. He’s spent the past several months learning the 10/10ths Motor Club track, which made him one of the few people who is a great choice for media rides in the McLaren cars brought to the track for the media event.

The Speeds Aren’t As High As The Inertia Feels

While racing around a track that is only 1.1 miles long with 13 turns and 112 feet of elevation changes, the speeds aren’t nearly as high as you might expect. The entire time, you feel like you’re being tossed about and pushed hard, which you are, but only at a speed that can be reached in the short distances between turns and through the turns.

During some of the ride in the McLaren Artura, I was watching the speedometer. It ranged from 40 to 100 MPH throughout the ride, with the highest speeds being reached during the straight-line run behind the clubhouse. This is extremely impressive, considering how much the course winds and turns through the course.

The McLaren Artura is an exciting and fun supercar, but it takes a special driver to handle this car around such a winding and twisting track such as the 10/10ths Motor Club track.