Technology

That Time They Gave Me This Ferrari At A Tech Show

Opening up a sports car to 105 mph is why I went to law school.

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If you’re looking to make an impression at a technology show, an eye-catching booth is certainly one way to do it. Clever raffle giveaways is another. But placing someone in command of nearly 500 hp of Formula 1 championship engineering is probably the best way to secure attention. It beats winning another Alexa.

At last summer’s International Legal Technology Association’s 2017 conference, CS Disco offered to put me in a Ferrari F430 F1 just to see what would happen and I rearranged my flight at the last minute to take them up on it. I mean, what could possibly go wrong with this plan?

CS Disco wants people to realize they’re as fast as they are accurate, and the symbolism wasn’t lost when they gathered a number of us together in the lobby of a Las Vegas casino and shuttled us to the outskirts of town where Exotics Racing has a custom-built 1.2 mile track and a gaggle of high-performance cars waiting to be opened up.

An article about ITLACON 2017 may seem a little delinquent at this point. After all, the event took place back in August. Well, there’s a reason for the tardiness of this particular post. I was in the midst of writing when Hurricane Harvey struck Houston, home of CS Disco, and I decided to put it off until the company and its employees had recovered from the storm. And then when I was ready to make a second go of it, the Las Vegas shootings rendered a post that basically says “woohoo Vegas!!!” more than a little gauche. So this post has just sat here until  2018 could dawn and we could finally get back to the innocent thrill of hurtling through the desert at high speed.

McLaren 570s

Before our brief safety orientation, we had an opportunity to check out the various cars in the Exotics stable and, frankly, that was impressive enough if we never ended up driving them. The McLaren 570s is ludicrously pretty up close, even if bright orange isn’t your color. I wouldn’t get a chance to drive it, which was probably for the best because having to negotiate around that twin turbo might have made for an unnecessarily complicated drive for someone trying not to spin out there.

While we milled around the McLaren and a number of Ferraris and Lamborghinis in the paddock, a professional instructor in, if I recall, a 488, squealed in and out of the area taking other visitors on a no-holds-barred ride along. While that’s probably the ultimate thrill ride, most of us came here hoping to drive ourselves — even if we’d inevitably look like children next to that car lapping every amateur on the track.

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However, before getting behind the wheel yourself, every aspiring driver takes a lap in an SUV helmed by a professional to get a little familiarity with the course. If you’ve never done anything like this before, it’s this glorified pace lap that really drives home how much of a complete waste you’re going to be behind the wheel of a supercar. When a pro is hauling 5 adults around in mom’s grocery run SUV and you’re gaining on the Lamborghini 100 yards ahead of you, only the most delusional amateurs fail to realize that they’re a few minutes away from being that Lamborghini.

My mount for the event was this Disco-branded Ferrari F430 F1, a remarkable feat of engineering with a top speed a little north of 196 mph. I… would not go that fast.

For a supercar, this was an incredibly user-friendly drive with the paddle shifters making gear changes a breeze. When you’re on the straightaway flooring it while staring down that sharp corner rushing toward you, you’re never as scared as you probably should be that you’ll be able to drop it back from 105 mph to about 60 to skirt around the bend using all the track. Or, you know, even faster if you’re really feeling on it.

Here’s a screenshot of the video they sent me of my run showing off just how awkward everyone looks with a helmet on. That black spec ahead was another driver that I managed to pass on the inside at that next corner… just to prove I wasn’t the slowest person out there.

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Five laps later, my instructor and I pulled back into the garage and packed it in for the day. On my best lap, I averaged just a shade over 65 mph, which doesn’t sound like much but considering it’s not all straightaway that’s not terrible. The best lap of our group averaged just under 76 mph and one of our group was a former racing school instructor himself so I didn’t feel too terrible that my go-karting skills from 25 years earlier only put me 10 mph off the lead.

Thanks again to CS Disco for this chance to zip around a track.

HeadshotJoe Patrice is an editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free to email any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on Twitter if you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news.

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