Equally challenging was the need to relocate 14,000 palm trees.Īs impressive is the presentation of the circuits. More dirt needed to be brought in, which is costly and tricky to calculate, because it shrinks when compacted and watered into place. Rogers explains that a water aquifer 10 feet below ground level presented technical and financial challenges when landscaping the circuits. Run-off areas are generous and smooth – so you shouldn’t damage your car if you make a hash of things – and every month all three circuits run as one to give a five-mile lap. There are tight sequences, areas where you can run the kerbs, faster sweepers, technical sections that call for patience and even some elevation changes. Sure enough, after tackling two of the three tracks in a Mini Countryman John Cooper Works, I’m impressed by how exciting it feels despite the corner speeds being nowhere near those of a modern grand prix track. It’s never the car’s limits, because the cars are way better than 90% of the drivers.” Wilson says accidents will happen, so it’s better to manage the speed of the cars and make the track flow and feel faster than it actually is: “You want somebody like that to be able to play with their car, push it to their limits. So you’ve got to design it for those customers, design it so that gives the impression of speed without actual speed.” I’ve seen more McLarens here than anywhere else in the world. “The typical client here,” says Wilson, “is the GT3 Cup driver.
#Drive a race car california driver#
Additional land for a fourth track has been purchased, and Thermal’s track designer, Alan Wilson – husband of Desiré Wilson, the racing driver – is visiting when I spend the day there. BMW and Mini are permanent tenants with their West Coast Performance Centre, a driving experience venue that clinches thousands of sales for the brands every year. There are now three race tracks and 70 residential properties built. A $1200 (£920) monthly fee applies to family membership, and each individual who is part of the corporate membership must also pay $1200 a month. Both include a 70% refundable deposit should you leave the Thermal Club. Alternatively, a $200,000 (£150,000) corporate membership can be divided among four unrelated individuals, a bit like a timeshare. The former is $85,000 (£65,000) and, as the title suggests, allows the member to have as many of the family as they please present. Two types of membership are available: family or corporate. We love cars and thought there are many other people who do too.” “But we have maybe 125 of those in the Coachella Valley, and not everyone golfs. “The main reason is we belonged to several country clubs, and they’re beautiful, with a golf course around you, nice homes, and a common interest with the people near you,” says Rogers. But why risk so much on an unproven concept?
Tim says it has been profitable for the past six years and doesn’t have a dime of debt. They have now sunk £135 million of their own money into it. So they pulled out, waited for the permit and then bought out the project, buying back property that had been given away to raise funds and paying off loans with interest. Thermal Raceway wasn’t their idea they were early investors but thought the project wasn’t going in the right direction and the permit from the Riverside County authorities was taking too long to materialise.
Those owners are Tim Rogers and his wife, Twanna.
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