Exotic-car driver satisfies the need for speed
Wannabe racers hit the track in quest to feed need for speed
Christian Fittipaldi takes customers on the rides of their lives at 120 mph around hairpin turns in a Ferrari or a Porsche.
Christian Fittipaldi’s voice oozes enthusiasm as he glances over from the driver’s seat of his Porsche race car.
“Are you ready to go fast?” he asks, his hands gripping the steering wheel.
It’s a rhetorical question. Of course you’re ready. That’s why you plunked down several hundred dollars to strap yourself into a five-point safety harness in the passenger seat.
This is just another day at the office of Fittipaldi Exotic Driving. Fittipaldi, who has competed in more than 200 professional races — from Formula One to NASCAR and even two wins at the 24 Hours of Daytona — still exudes excitement at the starting line.
“It will be fun,” he says, just before zooming off for a two-lap trip around the race course at MSR Houston, a 17-turn, 2.38-mile track in Angleton. He hugs corners and flashes through straightaways, leaving the 100 mph mark in the dust.
He hits 110. Skims 120.
And he’s right. It’s fun. The kind of fun you’d experience riding a roller coaster if you didn’t have to bother with those pesky vertical drops. The kind of fun that leaves your stomach swaying for 20 minutes even
after you’ve planted your feet back on steady ground.
“This is a bucket-list item for a lot of people,” said Bill Scott, co-owner of Fittipaldi Exotic Driving, which opened at Houston MSR in January. “You’re driving dream cars, and it’s very aspirational. Most people are never going to buy a Ferrari or a Lamborghini because, quite frankly, they’re impractical for daily drivers for the most part.”
Fittipaldi’s fleet includes a Lamborghini LP570-4 Superleggera, a Lamborghini Balboni Edition LP550-2, two Porsche 911 Carerra S, a Ferrari 430 Scuderia and a Nissan GT-R Black Edition.
“I don’t see going out to get groceries with a Ferrari or a Lamborghini,” Fittipaldi said. “The price tag on a toy like that is very high.”
The racing experience isn’t exactly affordable either. Riding in the Porsche with a professional race-car driver costs $99, plus a $39 fee for the mandatory waiver. Driving one of the other cars six times around the track ranges from $269 to $419 (plus waiver), depending on which car you choose.
“So it’s not a cheap thing to do,” Scott said. “But there are plenty of people here who can do that comfortably.”
That’s one of the reasons the company chose to open in the Houston area — as well as in Austin and Fort Worth. In addition, these areas are home to 52 Fortune 500 markets, and it is unlikely that the 12-month season will be interrupted by snow.
“This is such a rich area for business, and that’s really what we’re looking for,” Scott said.
On a Friday morning earlier this month, Jenny Dodson joined her co-workers from Mass Mutual Retirement Services for an organized outing. The Houston native was nervous before hopping behind the wheel of a Porsche 911 Carerra S, but Scott says it’s normal for clients to take a couple of minutes to get the hang of it.
“It took two laps for me to get confident,” Dodson said. “I think with all the guys, it was one lap because they kept pass-
ing me. And then I got really pissed off, and I didn’t want them passing me anymore, so I said, ‘OK. Let’s get it into gear.’”
By the time she was through, her adrenaline was pumping.
“I was shaking when I got out of the car.”