American Express By Invitation Only has various exclusive events throughout the year that cardholders have access to. In the past, the offered Aston Martins on Ice out in the mid west. Since I learned they had car related events, I watched the offerings closely. Finally, my day came. There was a Lamborghini event at Pocono Raceway in Pennsylvania and I was in!
This event would allow me to drive the newest Lamborghini Aventador S, along with the Huracan on Pocono Raceways inner tracks. Upon arrival, the road was lined with Lamborghini banners. I spotted the bright colors of the cars in the distance. As always, I was one of the first to arrive. I made my way into the tent and took a look around.
In true Lamborghini fashion, they had a great setup for the event. This included two driving simulators, a small apparel section with items for sale, and of course food and drink.
At the initial briefing, we were advised that our group was the first group of people in North America to drive the new 2018 Aventador S besides the various media that had access in the prior week. They also explained that the instructors present were some high caliber drivers.
We were split into small groups and off we went. First up was getting in the V-12 740hp Aventador S. Wider than a London city bus, I fell into the seat which felt like it was sitting on the hot asphalt. I reached up to close the scissor door and pressed the start button. The naturally aspirated beast came alive.
We played follow the leader around the track in a group of 3-4 drivers. I could tell almost immediately that this would not be a full out experience like my time at the Porsche Experience Center or Spring Mountain Resort. We were not using even 50% of the Aventador’s capabilities. Understandably, the Aventador that I was driving costs close to $400,000, which is much more than the Porsche or Corvette I was driving at the other locations.
After we finished up in the Aventador, we switched over to the Huracan. We headed over to a timed slalom course, where an instructor took me on a run through the course. I was bounced back and forth in my seat as we navigated the cones. Now it was my turn. The objective was to go through the slalom, do a tight 180 degree turn, and come back through the course stopping in a small box at the end. I got two runs through and did the best time I could.
The last event of the day was full laps around the inner track in the 2WD Huracan. As I walked up to my ride, I noticed a flat rear tire. I pointed it out to the instructor and they quickly took the car out of commission and put me in another car. I had a couple minutes before we were ready to go, so I threw up my phone and grabbed this video.
Before we left for the day, we had one last treat. The instructors took us all for a hot lap in the Aventador S. It was a full power run through the course and was exhilarating. I decided not to record it so that I could fully focus and enjoy the moment.