Magic of Erin Park Lexus F-Sport Meet.
Going beyond social at F-Sport Sunday
What was initially a small get together planned by the core staff of enthusiastic folks at Erin Park Lexus of Greater Toronto area in Canada, became the mecca this June for all the friends of F-Sport program in North America. With folks from Vossen, VIP Auto Salon, Kaizen Factor, Beat-Sonic, Winmax USA, and RS-R USA, all just joining in to pump up the energy for the roots of Lexus fanaticism.
The event was so abundant of the spirit of F-Sport, that even the gods of nature sent in the fury of thunder showers just for the weekend. While completely unexpected, the gathering of Lexus and Toyota fans didn't reduce in number one bit. Embracing the wet, we had a ton of fun making use of the LFA, the new RC and RCF we had on hand as well as Vinh Pham's notorious orange racing IS300. Streaking rooster-tail of water and slipping through the water-coated racetrack in the spirit like the best of touring car racing. Even the RX350 AWD we had as shuttles became the star of the show by boating the Lexus-nuts through 30cm deep water pools that formed in the parking lot.
Mike Forsythe, Ben Chong, Clark Ishihara, joined the elite staff of Eric Park Lexus Norman Karkada, and PJ Caletti in this event, and while normally these folks are industry-critical trend-setters in offices, today was a day they magically turned back into 9 year old boys, splashing puddles without a care in the world.
I had my fair day scuttling RX350's in deepest waters, and putting APEXi and RSR's newest tuning equipment for the RC-F to the test of dynamic driving, and REALLY grasping the inner awesomeness of today's Lexus driver assist devices. Even with the RCF's safety programs all clicked off, the basic foundation of hardware made it a pleasure to dance with in the wet track too. Sure it's tricky with tons of power, but still predictable enough to teach it to Waltz and Salsa.
About 60 cars gathered from all up and down Eastern Canada for this, and shared stories, and shook hands with friends they've all known through social media for the first time too. Raffle prizes given away to them were no short of $10,000 in the form of wheels, parts, accessories and apparel. The level of core-sponsor participation was incredible fan-event in a city that normally isn't considered mecca of any automobile cults.
I think the event was a true test. A test that proved Erin Park Staff of the capability in how passionate they can be for a marque that is Lexus. And while the event was small in the grand scale of corporate that define Lexus, the enthusiasm level went deeper, wider, and more grounded than many of the larger corporate planning events.
If you are a Lexus / Toyota automobile fan, you MUST go to this event next time...
Here's some unofficial photos I snapped, and there's ton more to come from the professional light magicians that were present at the event like Ryan GB of Kaizen Factor and Ste Ho.
With Ste Ho, Mike Forsythe, VIP Auto Salon, Inc., Vossen Wheels, Erin Park Lexus, Norman Karkada, RS-R USA, Beat-Sonic, Club4AG, Erin Park Toyota, Erin Park Scion, PJ Caletti, Kaizen F, Ryan GB
