September 27th - 30th: AMG Advanced Training Imola (Italy)
Part of Thomas' new car was a basic training with AMG (the fast Mercedes') ... which he upgraded to the two-day advanced training on the formula 1 racetrack at Imola, Italy.
We started a day earlier, on Sunday, and spent a night in Locarno, at "Lago Maggiore" (Italian-speaking part of Switzerland) ... here a view from our hotel "Belvedere" ...
After arrival, we had a walk through Locarno ... and a little lunch ...
... as you can see here, the weather was beautiful, approx. 27 degrees in autumn ...
In the evening we had a nice dinner at the hotel ... and slept-in the next morning ...
Monday morning we drove to Imola, where the driver briefing took place the evening before it started ... here the photo on Tuesday before the training started ...
... as in the photo before, a CLK black series was Thomas' first car ... here training the first curve (Tosa) ...
Next was a slalom training, to get used to the car ... in a C63 AMG ...
... here Cynthia, number 1 fan of Ayrton Senna, at the memorial in the curve where he died ...
... as the first customer group after the international car fair in Frankfurt, they transported a brand new SLS to Imola ... Thomas had to use his knee protectors to admire this beautiful car ...
... as you can see here, Thomas will start lotto soon ;-) ... car costs around 180.000 Euros ...
Here another photo of a handling course in an SLK 55 AMG ...
On Wednesday, Susi from Scotland (race driver in the German touring car championship) was flown in and there was the opportunity to have two rounds of Imola with slightly higher speed in that car ...
... here Cynthia before starting ... and surviving ...
That's how it looks, when you put the helmet on ;-))) ... all driving on the racetrack required a helmet ...
At last, a video shot ... Thomas driving behind the instructor in the famous "Ayrton Senna" curve ...
Wednesday night, we drove all the way back home to Weinheim (860km) and safely arrived. It was a special experience to drive these cars on an interesting racetrack like Imola. Last but not least: Cynthia got 1st prize for best passenger!!!