It’s not every day you hit 254 km/h in a car — nor is it every day you get to race a fighter jet.
But when Precision Exotics founder/president Eric Nelson took an Abbotsford News reporter for a ride in one of his company’s cars, a 2007 Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder, that’s exactly what happened.
Scroll to our second video to watch the full race with the Blue Angel F-18 Hornet.
Nelson, formerly with the U.S. Marine Corps, has been running Precision Exotics for about four years, now, and tours the airshow circuit to show off some impressive vehicles, including the Lamborghini and a 2007 Ferrari F-430.
Because of Nelson’s beat following airshows and his military background, the Ferrari’s decals wrap the car to look like the U.S. Navy’s F/A-18 Super Hornet, while the Lamborghini is dressed up as a U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptor.
“Essentially, anyone over 18 with a valid driver’s licence can pay $129, they can rip three laps around our cone course, or for $195, for the people that really like the extreme stuff, we have our Precision extreme drive, which we do out on the active runway. It’s a one-mile shot, as fast as you can get it. We’re seeing speeds here above 250 (km/h),” Nelson said.
Both vehicles were set to race a former air force training jet at the airshow as well, but as he showed off the Lamborghini at around 9 a.m. Saturday, Nelson got to race a stronger opponent: A Blue Angel F-18 Hornet as it took off a parallel runway.
Watch our video of the whole race with the Blue Angel F-18 Hornet below.
“We just warmed the car up this morning. Just another day at the office, right?” Nelson said of the race with a laugh. “That was a little special. … You got a little treat there. As we went out, we noticed that the Blue Angel number seven was doing a media flight, as well, and we just happened to be on a parallel taxiway when he was taking off, as well.
“So we essentially did a little impromptu head-to-head with a United States Navy Blue Angel.”
And how did the car do?
So I just sat in the passenger seat of this guy at the @AbbyAirshow. We raced a Blue Angel F-18 taking off. Only went about 270 km/h, nbd (That was better than coffee.) pic.twitter.com/DRFtDj8RhZ
— Dustin Godfrey (@dustinrgodfrey) August 11, 2018
“Not good. Italy did not come on top in this game, here. So, America wins again. These cars are quick, but when you start putting 32,000 pounds of after-burn thrust behind you, you’re going to beat a car just about 10 out of 10 times. We did OK for about the first 13 inches, and then he pulled out in front and it was game over.”
Precision Exotics will be at the Abbotsford airshow with the opportunity for car aficionados to get behind the wheel of one of Nelson’s velocious vehicles.
More information on the airshow, a schedule of events and a look at what else is on offer at the show, visit the Abbotsford International Airshow website.
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Dustin Godfrey | Reporter
@dustinrgodfrey
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