Fast Not Furious, The Need For Speed At Oliver’s Area 27
By Marc Smith.
Do you have a need for speed? Well your dreams have finally been answered with the opening of the luxury motorsports racetrack and club in Oliver called Area 27. Grab your favourite gearhead, buckle up, and shift into turbo. It’s time to hit the track.
Visiting Area 27 was one of my bucket list adventures while spending the summer in the Okanagan and I can now happily check this adventure off the list.
The track officially opened on August 30th, 2016 but until just recently that was all that was available. Now the brand new clubhouse is complete, along with the Academy 27 driving school and the soon to open Kartplex racing centre. It is a one stop shop for speed lovers.
Area 27 is a semi-private club that offers its members access to the clubhouse, track and the Academy 27 driving academy. The track was designed by Canadian driving legend Jacques Villeneuve and is already consider one of the top circuits in North America. A true “Drivers Track”.
If you are interested in taking your driving skills to the next level the Academy 27 driving school is for you. Starting off with a two-day course the instructors cover everything from driving theory to actually getting you on the course in your own vehicle.
You will learn from actual instructors that are currently on the Indy Car circuit many of whom have won championship titles.
I wasn’t able to take part in the full two-day course but I did get a couple of laps in with Stefan Rzadzinski the 2017 Race of Champions winner in one of the brand new Chevy Camaro’s that are part of the Area 27 car fleet.
What a rush!
If you aren’t able to hit the track yourself there is a viewing lot where you can park and watch the cars on the track. Porsche, Lamborghini’s, Maserati’s and Ferrari’s will all be flying by.For those of us without a high-performance vehicle at our disposal don’t fret, Kartplex is there for us. The 1.2 km track is also designed by Jaques Villeneuve and is designed to give kart racers a thrill.
Opening in mid-August laps around the track start at $25 each and include kart rental and all the safety gear needed. Racing against friends and family was never this fun when I was a kid. There is even a Kart Academy for children under 13 to teach them all they need to know to master the track and the karts.
I can’t wait for Kartplex to open. It’s safe to say I hope to be one of the first on the new track showing off fast not furious driving skills.
