Anyone have opinions on which of the commercial racing schools offer the best value?

My wife is getting me a three day school for Christmas and I'd like to steer her in the right direction.

I've looked at the Panoz and Skip Barber programs as both are offered nearby. At this point the Barber program looks better: $500 cheaper and no car liability.

Any thoughts or opinions?

 

I like the Skippy program, but there are two things you should be aware of (I assume you are going for the 3 day racing school).
1) If you have done some DE's or no experience, it is great. If you have previous road race experience (head-to-head) you may find the pace a bit slow.
2) There is almost no open lapping. Until the last couple of sessions, you stop after each lap for feedback. Difficult to get a rhythym and no way to evaluate lap times. Also, passing is very limited. Last session or two they open up.

Great school, but if you intend to road race, I would ALSO do an SCCA school, or equivalent where you get more head-to-head experience.

 

Curtis,

I would almost pick a track you want to run and see what schools are available there. A lot of the methods etc... are similar from school to school.

If I were in your shoes, I would want to run Laguna Seca or Road America. If you have to stay local, make sure you do the full course at Sebring, the short courses can be a little boring since there is absoutly no elevation changes.

E. J.

 

Another option is the Porsche Driving Experience at Road Atlanta. They assign you a 996 for 2 days and drivers such as Doc Bundy and Hurley Haywood provide instruction face-to-face. Lots of fun and good basics for a Porsche driver.

 

If you go for Road America, be aware that Skippy almost never uses the full course, though the short version does include the Kink.

 

I'm leaning toward the Barber program at Sebring, although they offer it at Daytona, also.

Any feedback on the relative merits of the cars driven? Barber uses Dodge open wheel cars, Panoz uses a GT.

 

I would definately do the full Sebring course before the Daytona track.

 

I did the Skip 3 day course back in 1993 at Sebring and we never came close to doing the full course. I had hoped to get some exposure to the full course before my first club race but missed by a long way.

So, if you are expecting to run a full course there (or any other tracks), check with them to make certain what you are going to "get".

I agree with Mark...if you have 8-10 DE events with some good classroom instruction, then it is a little slow and repetitive. Not necessarily a bad thing, but you should realize what you are going to be doing out there.

Have fun no matter which one you choose!

Morgan

 

Curtis,

I have done several professional schools including many Skip Barber's and have progressed through the driver's ed ranks to Club Racing. I think the best thing I ever did was start with a program in Nevada run by Ruppert Bragg-Smith. He uses new Corvettes and teaches the basics in a very thorough manner. We spent an entire morning working on heel and toe! Over a three day period we logged at least 250 miles on their cars. Skippy is a good program but I think that a true beginner would benefit much more from the Bragg-Smith School. If your wife has previous experience then try Skippy, otherwise I would strongly recommend Bragg-Smith. Plus you can have gambling fun while she learns to drive

 

FWIW, I did the Skip Barber 3-day racing school in February of this year at Sebring. Lots of fun, lots of track time, solid instructors, good value for money paid. We used only the pit (main?) straight of the Sebring course, then looped around to the right (instead of with the 12-hour course to the left) at the end of the straight and ran around behind the grandstand, following the cones laid out on the concrete. I would do it again if I could fit it into my schedule. If you do decide to take the Skippy school, mentally/actually practice heel-and-toe double (de-) clutching before you go down there. This technique is necessary with the non-synchromesh gearboxes on the Formula Dodge cars that they use in the school, and it can be a REAL distraction if you have never done it before. Also, reading (and re-reading) the Going Faster book before attending would be a good thing, if possible.

Email me directly if you would like some more color....GOOD LUCK AND HAVE FUN!

- Nick
ncamos@bellatlantic.net

 

I've done the Skippy world 3 day Intro to racing at Laguna Seca, the Jim Russell 3 day Advanced at Sears, and Panoz at Road Atlanta.

For my money, the Russell school provided the best feedback, most track time, passing, and 8 (yes 8) practice starts (though they don't do that in the beginning course) They do allow full track runs without the stop box that Skippy uses.