BostonDMD

Are you self-taught, with the advice of other porsche club members?

have you taken racing courses from professional institutions?

are you just " a naturally gifted pilot"?

are you a "potential professional driver" who couldn't find a team?

what is your track experience background?

For myself, I completed the Skip Barber racing programs. Now I am getting to track my own car, instead of using their their formula car, and I am enjoying it a lot more...

ltc

Porsche Driving Experience, Maseratti Masters (both at Road Atlanta.....fantastic track), Skippy School (Laguna Seca....another fantastic track), PCA DE (best value IMHO), private track days.
Any excuse, anytime, to spend quality time on the track.

My son, 13, has been racing karts for 4 years now. Looking forward to putting him in a Skip car as soon as he's tall enough and then taking him out with PCA. I'm expecting he'll quickly leave me in his rearview. He started when he was 10, I started when I was 39.

roberga

Barber x 2. Proformanceracingscholl Seattle - SCCA licence, coach every 3rd or 4th track day from a professional race school instructor. Keep drivers log and he and I have a plan for what we will work on the session goals and yearly. I find the continuing education with a professional instructor very productive. Another great tool id Data aquisition (AIM or MOTEC)Mine also is a PCA instructor, as am I. One never is done learning... Tirger Woods still have coaching.

38D

Tons of PCA DE days then moved to PCA club racing. Have hired David Murray once and he was great. But overall, I am a learn by doing person. When you race, you are gridded by time every session. You learn real quick how to go faster (else you lose).

BostonDMD

I take it from the responses that only a few had formal training, the others are natural Shumachers.......

Just be careful out there, you might hurt someone.....

roberga

doc. take a breath. Ask the same question on the GT3 or comp board. Not all the the rennlisters roam the boards. Knowing the people that track in the Seattle area more drivers then not have some type of professional instruction. Here in Seattle lapping das other then clubs are run by a professional school. Very safe very fast ad alwas instructors to hire if one wishes to do so. A great time to be had by all

DrJupeman

Do you believe your Skippy training has made you less likely to hurt someone than, say, learning through PCA's DE program?

38D

Dude, get a grip. Some of us are fairly highly trained, despite having not been to a pro school like Skippy. I hired David Murray this year at Watkins Glen and ran 1.5 seconds faster than he did in my car on the same day. I have no illusions that I am better than he is, but I'm not exactly some dangerous scab either. Track/racing takes seat time. If you choose to spend $2k per weekend at Skip Barber getting that seat time or if you spend $300 with your local PCA region really matters not early on. Sure later in your career having top notch instruction matters, but early on the basic can be taught by many people. It's like a 30 handicap getting instruction from Tiger Woods -- probably won't help them anymore than getting a lesson from me.

MrClean

My first experience with road course driving was the 4 day Grand Prix course at the Bondurant Driving school in Chandler, AZ. That was back in December 1999. At that time, they had us driving racing prepped Ford Mustang GT's and Formula Fords. It was quite a leap for me, given my total driving experience was 1 auto-cross 7 years prior. However, by the second day, I was catching on and by day four I was wondering when I would be back!

Since then, I have done a couple 3 day High Performance Drivng Schools with the Mid Ohio and many, many HPDE's with a variety of car clubs.

My advice, go to as many of the HPDE schools you can, greatest bang for the buck. After several HPDE events then, choose a high caliber driving school like Skip Barber, Mid Ohio, Bondurant or the alike. That way you can focus on what your weaknesses are with top-notch driving instructors.

That reminds me, I need to go back to Bondurant or perhaps the Porsche Driving Experience next season.

mooty

colin is right on. at first, any good instructor from cca, pca and the like will help you a lot, much more so than skippy in fact. then after that, you need seat time. i think most ppl have way too little seat time. i have seen some GT3 cups at the LS race this year... well, let's just say many of them really need another 10k track miles before setting foot in those cars.

after you get about 100 track days or so (hey i am a slow learner) then it's time to get some more one to one instruction or "formal"training, using data logger to analyze the micro effects of your inputs. i think by end of 2007, i would have about 160-170 track days, then i will invest heavily in one to one instruction. to clarify, i get instructions from the better drivers every time i am out.one session with them each day is invaluable, but i look forward to more intense instruction soon.

ltc

FTS

Give the Boston guy a break; he had Skippy, then he was forced into the Green group which he did not deserve and proved that by passing bunch of 911s and GT3s (even in the rain). So he is talented no doubt and he is giving a gentle warning and advising us that we should really consider formal training before pushing ourselves to catch him. I am totally down for that, I am just glad he is in Boston so I don't have to worry about it, and next season I will sign up for Skippy at SP, thank you

CWay27

To me "racing" is just like playing golf. Doesn't mater if you spend thousands on lessons cause in the end what you need is seat time. For my goals I find PCA instructor to be very good, even excellent and all have their methods that gives you different perspective.

In my book the most important thing to learn from schools, DE events etc. is not how to be fast but more knowing when your right or wrong. Once you can tell if you took a corner right on or too early or too late, the goals have been achieved.

Up to now the instructors I had were able to easily pinpoint my flaws coming in each corner, so why should I go spend thousands somewhere else. I'll spend that kind of money the day I'll be ready to slip on the race suit.

M758

Well,
I started autocrossing in 1998. Then Did my first DE day in Jan 1999. Got 2 sessions with my instructor and solo'ed. Did 2-3 DE's and a seasons of autocrosses about 2 years. By 2002 I was an PCA instructor and got my PCA club racing license. First Race April 2002. Since then I have some 59 races under my belt these 4.5 years. Now a National Certified PCA Instructor, NASA DE Instructor, Let my PCA Club Race License Expire, but have NASA race license.

As for being a pro... Well I probably don't have the skills to be a paid driver, but looking a some of the talent I see in club racing and how some folks cross over to lower level pro racing I'd bet I could hold my own in Grand Am cup race and possibly 24 hrs of Daytona. Certainly not at the upper ranks, but probably just fine in the 4th-5th Funded Driver catagory. I just don't have funds to do that.


BostonDMD.. you seem to have a bit of a better than everyone attitude. You went to one Skip Barber school and did well beating up on never been to the track novices in a DE. No you think you are something special in Cayman S that is faster than A GT3.

Well you will eventually learn (the easy way or the hard way) that you still have ALOT to learn. If you really went to measure your pace I'd love to drop you in 944 spec car and see how you do vs the rest of us. My guess is you would not be with in 3 seconds a lap (on 1:13 Lap) if the fast guys in equal cars.

Skip Barber is nice thing, but it takes time to really learn to drive. I figure the barber class is probaly worth 3-6 days of PCA DE time. Other than that it is nothing special. If you really want instruction at a very high level hire a Pro like David Murry and have him coach you not just for one day, but for 10 track days. Now this is real instruction.

Of course even then knowing what to do an actually doing it are very different things.

BostonDMD

A sensitive bunch I see ...

I just wanted to know what kind of experience people in the porsche forums have. Man, it's like a challenged everyones manhood.....

For what is worth, I did the skippy programs not to be the next shumacher, or a professional racer, I am too old (39) for that, I did it to gain the basics about racing, to understand why the car behaves in certain ways, but most importantly to control the vehicle, not to be controlled by it.

You guys can say whatever about skippy racing programs, but I rather learn on their cars and mostly importantly on a skid pad, then show up at a DE event in my brand new car and hope the instructor you get will actually teach you something.

Furthermore, what is a few thousands $ to complete a racing program when you compare to how much your unsurpassable GT3 is worth? The skid pad experience alone is worth the price of the course.

I feel confident on the track with my Cayman S, and I enjoy every moment and track condition, regardless of what group I am in, who I pass or get passed by, if I get the fastest lap time of the group or how fancy my car is compared to the rest of the porsches present. Period.

Oh yeah, not hitting the wall because of the skid pad experience, priceless....

Let the lynching continue....