Not to be outdone by anything Dubai can do, New Yorkers
can now take their corporate stress out on a specially built strip of track
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that’s been dubbed ‘the most exclusive private race track country club in the
world' and with a claim like that will
leave rivals very much in the shade. Or until Dubai construct an ‘even more
most exclusive private race track country club in the world’, like they tend to
do with skyscrapers.
With recent news that the inaugural Abu Dhabi Grand
Prix will become part of the Formula One travelling circus from 2009 though,
Dubai might already have trumped America again.
The Monticello Motor Club is just a 90 minute drive
from Manhattan – if you consider a 90 minute drive to anywhere as ‘just’ – although
only a 25 minute helicopter journey if you happen to have one at your beck and
call, is more selective than Kennel Club members sifting through prize-ensuring
lineage semen.
Restricted to 500 members only, subscription to the
globe’s most elite racing club is a mere $125K per year. Or £62,600 may sound
slightly more in reach. Not that the outlay stops there. An additional $7,500
or £3,750 must be found down the back of a hideously expensive sofa every 12
months thereafter if you want to keep up appearances.
So, what do the filthy rich get for all this
exclusivity, compared to say in Europe where by spunking a few grand every year
you get a Ferrari F430 delivered to some electric gates outside a grandiose new
build on the outskirts of Barnsley by a garage hand in his Sunday best?
A maximum of 200 days of track facilitating, access
to the club’s very own selection of classic and contemporary performance cars, use
of a private helipad, spa and storage for their own cherished vehicles when
they’re not being thrashed around the apexes and hairpins of America’s most
exclusive circuit.
Originally designed by Bruce Hawkins – no relation
to Prof. Stephen or the ex-Darkness frontman, Justin – and Brian Redman, the 4.1
mile Monticello Track boasts no fewer than 22 corners and 1.5 miles of
straights.
With not a camel or sand dune in sight, natural
hazards include grand, sweeping corners said to emulate the style of the great
European F1 tracks, whilst there are two separate pit areas and a skid pad.
A five star hotel complex, a karting facility,
off-road course and a tuning centre are all in the Monticello Motor Club’s next
phase of development, so who knows, maybe it could become the setting for a
future USA Grand Prix and wrestle favour away from Indianapolis.