Drove my friend's Ferrari 458 to 182.8 MPH in a timed mile and a half run

Greetings -

Just returned from a wonderful California vacation including a day at the Mojave Air and Space Port on September 24th. The event was sponsored by Runway Racing Top Speed Challenge. The airport runway was setup through the Ford GT Owners group, but open to anyone who wanted to run fast.

The track was professionally setup on the Mojave Air and Space Port runway with timing at 1/2, 1, and 1.5 mile markers. The Ferrari I drove belonged to the sponsor of the event, a wonderfully generous gentleman who let me enjoy as many runs as I wanted to take. My best "through the trap" time was 182.8 at the mile and a half mark, with split speeds of 146.1 at the half mile (!), 171.7 at the mile, and the final 182.8 at the last marker. The car was run in automatic mode, sport setting. The launch was standard, not using any pre-programmed setting on the car. It was a standing start from the beginning of the 1.5 mile track.

At the same event the same gentleman let me sit in the right hand seat when another friend took me for a spin in his supercharged 2006 Ford GT. I will say I enjoyed the ride, but it was a far different ride. The driver was my long time high school buddy, a fellow Ford GT owner, and we hit 227.0 (!!) at the mile and a half final marker. The car "danced" quite a bit after hitting 210+, moving nearly a full lane left/right, but fully under my friend's control. Still, it wasn't enough to prevent me from wishing I had brought Depends with me!

The trap times for the Ford GT were 183 (!?) at the half mile, 216.4 at the mile, and the 227 final speed at the mile and a half marker.

On that same day a 2017 Ford GT was also in attendance and was taken down the runway by the owner several times. Bone stock the car ran in the high 190s on his first few runs. As he gained more experience with the car and its many settings he cracked the 200 MPH barrier several times, hitting a top speed of 203.2. That was quite impressive for a bone stock car with no special prep for the track.

Finally, to remind us that we were at a working airport, with lots of military traffic, the day started and ended with a F18 taking off in the morning (just after sunrise on a perfect day), and landing late in the afternoon after returning from wherever it went. The takeoff was impressive - relatively quiet until it's right overhead. Then the pilot made a straight shot for the mountains in the distance at an altitude that seemed to be only 100 feet or so AGL. Just as he approached the mountain, he pulled the stick back and shot straight into the sky. I lost sight of him quickly, and could only imagine the G forces involved. Landing was quite a show as well - lots of desert dust kicked up as he came in hard and fast for his landing.

All in all, a perfect day. I have some pictures and I can post a link to the site on the Ford GT forum describing the event in more detail, but out of respect for this forum and Rob's rules and support over the years, I'll refrain unless Rob approves.