Perhaps the BEST B1G Forum anywhere, here at College Football Fan Site, CFB51!!!

That's all true.

But I still personally believe that someone should be taking a Mazda MX-5, one set up for track use, on the track for a few years before they try to do it with one of these supercar-capability vehicles.

The biggest issue with supercars is that their capability is so extreme that a driver will never learn how to handle what happens on the ragged edge until they're going so fast that they'll bin the damn thing the first time they cross that line.

A driver can turn in faster lap times with a Corvette at 85% than an MX-5 at 99.8%, but I'd say learning to drive that MX-5 at 99.8% is a hell of a lot more fun. And after doing that in an MX-5 for a couple years, they'll know how to drive that Corvette at 99%.

A buddy of mine always said that it's a lot more fun to drive a slow car fast than to drive a fast car slow.

Agreed.  So, if you already learned on a track with a slow car…….

we are people too lol
 

A fairly slow car can be quite entertaining to drive.  I do appreciate torque in top  gear though.

your wife is probably much closer to my normal driver than you are

Depending on the course, I doubt this.

I used to do track days on a Suzuki SV650S, a 650cc V-twin bike making about 66 hp. 

Guys riding 600cc supersport-class bikes were on better suspensions, with 100+ hp high-revving I4 engines, on bikes built for racing.

Guys riding 1000cc superbike-class bikes were the cream of the crop, with 160+ hp in some cases, on bikes also built for racing. 

I can't tell you how many times a guy on one of those bikes might blow by me at 140 mph on the front straight as I'm wringing 100-115 out as fast as my bike will let me, and then I'd catch him by turn 4-5 and pass him a few turns later. And skill-wise, I'm what I would describe as "quick", not what I'd describe as "fast". There were guys in my SV650 rider club who would flat out smoke me on the track. The legit race guys would pass me (on the same bike I rode) and be gone in 3 turns.  Hell, I remember the time a kid (and I mean like 13-year-old kid) on an Aprilia RS250 who was a junior racer left me in the dust like I was standing still.

A great driver in an MX-5 will lap faster than a "normal" driver in a Vette any day of the week. 

I think a Corvette at say COTA would beat an MX-5 handily.  There is too much power, gaining in the turns wouldn't be enough.  This presumes both had some time on the course for familiarization.

And I have a healthy respect for pro drivers, I've seen it in person.

motorscooters don't corner well a tall

hard to get them to drift properly 

I think a Corvette at say COTA would beat an MX-5 handily.  There is too much power, gaining in the turns wouldn't be enough.  This presumes both had some time on the course for familiarization.

And I have a healthy respect for pro drivers, I've seen it in person.

I suppose we'd have to clarify exactly what is meant by a "normal" driver. 

Here's a comparison between a race driver and a car magazine editor with a lot of performance driving and track time due to his job:

https://www.carmagazine.co.uk/features/car-culture/human-vs-racing-driver-how-much-faster/

In this case, same car, same track, the pro lapped 3.35 seconds faster, on a lap pace just under 1:12 (pro) to just over 1:15 (amateur). 

3.35 seconds on a racetrack in a single lap is a massive difference. We're talking "lose track of the guy in about 3 corners" difference.

That difference would probably be exceeded by the capability difference between the MX-5 and the Vette, so if the "normal" driver was a regular track junkie, you're probably right. 

But at the same time, I doubt most Corvette owners, even those who fancy themselves as quick, are going to be as fast as a magazine editor who tests out cars on a regular basis and gets to probably spend more time lapping racetracks than the Vette owner.