Editor’s Note: This story originally appeared in Volume III of B.H. Magazine. For access to future issues, subscribe here.
You might think that owning a supercar elevates you to the rarest of automotive air. But the truth is, that’s only the beginning. The truly well-heeled don’t just buy the car, they also buy private tracks to drive it.
As it turns out, these secret playgrounds for the super-rich are virtually everywhere. Even in Australia, where The Farm in Kulnura, NSW – a closed-off estate that happens to feature a 5.1-kilometre circular “driveway” (to nowhere), with some 22 Formula 1-inspired corners – has taken on near-mythical status.
Here are three private tracks around the world you’ll need a golden ticket to access.
The Magarigawa Club, Chiba (Japan)
Visiting Japan often feels like a trip to a very Blade Runner-tinged future, and it’s not just the fabulous fast trains, the flashy electronics, and the slightly alarming sense of a world so crowded with people that we’ll all have to live in tiny boxes and eat rice.
The Japanese have realised that a world so intensely populated with people, cars, and traffic is not one that’s going to be fun to drive in, particularly if you’re an enthusiast. Motor racing isn’t everyone’s cup of sake, of course, and that’s why the clever folks at Cornes Tomiura – a bespoke dealership in Tokyo that sells truly high-end vehicles – decided to build a private race track where its customers could enjoy their exotic cars properly.
Opened in July 2023, The Magarigawa Club was carved into some impressive mountains outside Tokyo at a rumoured cost of US$1 billion. It will never host motor sport events and is thus not really a race track at all – it’s not for racing, it’s just for enjoying. A Joy Track, then, as a spokesman for Cornes Tomiura explains:
“Owners of supercars will lose places to operate, given environmental issues, self-driving technology and other factors. They will be deprived of the meaning for keeping such splendid vehicles. So we, as an auto retailer, created a safe space for them to enjoy driving.”
The idea has been hugely popular with Japan’s super-rich car collectors, each of whom happily stumps out membership fees of around US$1 million a year, on top of an undisclosed buy-in fee, which gets them a beautifully appointed villa of their own overlooking the circuit, complete with a glass-fronted, two-car garage for their favourite track vehicles.
There’s beautiful clubhouses, high-end restaurants, a Bollinger bar, swimming pool and even play areas for kids, and downstairs is the most incredible pit-lane you’ve ever seen – if you can even call it that. The five-star, enclosed lounge is accessed by a door at each end so owners can drive into, and then out of, air conditioned comfort and straight back onto the circuit.
And what a circuit it is: with two very, very long straights, 22 corners, and a roller-coaster section that rises and falls some 80 metres and replicates, in part, the truly terrifying Corkscrew from the famous Laguna Seca circuit in California.
Sure, parts of it are narrow, there’s very little runoff, and it can be a tiny bit scary, but what the hell. And besides, if you do crash, as a member, you’ve surely got spare cars to jump into.
The Thermal Club, California (USA)
Home to more than eight kilometres of track across three circuits, with a total of 20 possible configurations, the Thermal Club is widely considered one of America’s best racing facilities (private or otherwise).
The driving is only part of the appeal here, with Thermal set up as a luxury retreat across a massive 426 acres, where members can live, drive, dine, and party. There are three restaurants, a vast and secure 70-car storage facility, on-site driver training, a gym, tennis courts, yoga classes, a pool that looks as though it has been airlifted from a five-star hotel… the list goes on.
Billionaire Tim Rogers has sunk in excess of US$275 million into Thermal, and he rules it with an iron fist. New prospects face an interview process, and if approved, need to pay a US$175,000 administration fee, on top of annual dues of around just under US$30,000.
They’re also encouraged to buy or build a home there, and again, Tim is the man with the rubber stamp. He, his chief architect, and his construction manager have to approve any designs to ensure they’re in keeping with his vision.
The existing villas don’t go cheap – some sell for in excess of US$5 million – though they’re still nothing compared to the cars parked around them. One member, for example, keeps his 40-strong Ferrari collection in his own private and vault-like garage.
Ascari, Ronda (Spain)
Ascari isn’t just the longest – and most exciting – racetrack in Spain. It’s also an absolute bargain, by private playground standards.
Here, 25-year memberships are €150,000, in addition to an annual fee of €10,000, all of which entitles the member to some 50 track days every year, to which they can bring three family members, along with 12 guest driver passes.
If the Thermal Club is like a docked cruise ship with a circuit in the middle, Ascari is a more pared-back affair that focuses almost entirely on the action on-track.
The 180-hectare estate is still largely forested, save for the 5.4-kilometre race track complete with professional garage facilities, hospitality suites, and dining at its centre.
Built in 2003 by billionaire racing driver and owner of Ascari Cars, Klaas Zwart (who has since sold the facility), the track was inspired by the great circuits of the world, which is why, among its 26 corners, you’ll find not-so-subtle nods to the Nurburgring’s Carousel, Spa’s Eau Rouge, and Brands Hatch’s Paddock Hill Bend.
But above all else, you’ll find privacy. And lots of it.
“The philosophy behind this circuit is to give people the opportunity to play with their supercars in a club environment,” says Zwart. “Without any public walking around, without any paparazzi.”
If you’ve enjoyed this feature article on the private tracks of the wealthy, consider a few more of our favourite stories – direct from the pages of B.H. Magazine:
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- Power & Poise: The Aston Martin Vanquish Returns To The Fore
- Pumped Up & Dangerous: The Hidden Epidemic Of Steroid Abuse
- Daikoku: A Window Into The Soul Of Japan’s Mythical Car Scene
