The car has a top speed of about 200 mph, and I had naïvely hoped to get close to that, but it took me a little more time than I thought it would to get a feel for the car and build up confidence. It was also unfortunately raining, and I was a little nervous about skidding, though I probably didn’t need to be. The instructor was encouraging me to go faster around the corners, and when I did, the car was extremely stable. I got up to a top speed of about 85 mph, and while I had hoped to do better, it really was so much fun.

Donnett took a few videos with her phone, and here’s a good shot of the exterior of the car on the straightaway.

I also got a really nice video from the company running the event that shows the view from inside the car, with all sorts of metrics superimposed. (The brakes are really squeaky, but it turns out that’s just how they are on a Lamborghini.)

I’m definitely going to do this again (hopefully while it’s sunny) and with the experience I have under my belt now, I think I’ll really be able to push some limits next time.

The one I’ve played against the most is called “Martin,” and he has a purported rating of 250, which, if you’re unaware, is pretty bad. But it’s enough to be fun for someone of my skill level. I played him a bunch tonight and was doing really well. But the last game I played… well, I don’t want to spoil it. Let’s just say it left me speechless.

I’ve put the game below with a dramatic recreation of my thought process for each move, and a little bit of analysis of some moves which chess.com and the stockfish engine pointed out to me after the game was over. Martin played white and I played black.