by Hannah Elliott, 06.18.10, 06:00 PM EDT

Here’s some advice from a racing pro: “Think of driving like dancing with a good-looking girl: Be nice, be gentle, and she’s going to reward you. If not, she’ll kick you.”

It may sound smarmy coming from anyone else, but when Roland Linder offered that advice to drivers at a recent World Class Driving (WCD) U.S. Supercar Tour, it made perfect sense. (The fact that he’s a dashing 60-year-old Frenchman didn’t hurt, either.)

It certainly paid to take the tip to heart as I jumped into (what I like to think of as) my Ferrari F430 Spider, a $220,000, 503-horsepower Lipizzano of a car. World Class Driving hosts 125 drive events nationwide each year, and at mine, a 140-mile meander by the banks of the Delaware River, the convertible supercar was just the first of six cars slotted for the day’s drive.

It turns out the scarlet stunner was the least of my worries. Afterward came a Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano, Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren, Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder, Maybach 62 and Audi R8 V10–each of which packs more than 520 horsepower and (excepting the Maybach) can hit 60 miles per hour in 4.1 seconds or less.
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Spring came a little early this year. With weather reaching into the mid 70′s and bright sun all around, we’ve thrown open the doors. Vulcan Club member Randy wrote with a great summary of his road trip in the F430 Spider yesterday:

Guys:

Today’s drive is what this club is all about, in my opinion. A Beautiful Spring day, the open road [with very little traffic], open-air driving, and piloting the 490-hp F430 Italian piece of automotive art. Driving thru the twisties at Hawk’s Nest with the sound of that mid-engined V8 right over my shoulder, I’m thinking it just doesn’t get any better than this.

Attached are a few pictures from today’s outing. Not too bad for my little cell-phone camera, you can clearly see the twists and turns of the road at Hawk’s Nest.

Thanks again, I had an excellent adventure – can’t wait for the next one!

Regards,

Randy

Thanks Randy!