Originally Posted by ProCoach

LV, first let me reinforce that I see little genetic or nascent talent differential between good ams and good pros. That means (nearly) every driver has potential to drive at the highest level...

Every driver bleeds red, they all put their pants on one leg at a time (except for Lally, that�s a JOKE!) and the reason why Stevan MacAleer, Trent Hindman, Corey Lewis or Andrew Davis (and folks like them) are so good and so fast is because they�ve focused on NOTHING else (there�s that discipline...) for most of their pre-teen, teen and adult lives.

Idon�t deify pros, for the simple reason that they are human, like the rest of us, and subject to the same variability, distractions and foibles as the rest of us, but their focus and discipline do allow them to transcend what they themselves even believe is possible. But that is a separate subject entirely...

In the most competitive series�, qualifying is a separate objective from racing. The goal is to optimize the car for a super short run, biased towards the lowest legal weight, least fuel load, best tires and tune it to stay there for a few laps. The goal for the driver is to summon the concentration to visualize and execute at the HIGHEST level for a very short time. If you set fastest lap in the race (barrIng anomalies like �a good tow�), then you�re doing something wrong.

So yes, I think there are many places Club and am drivers need the develop in order to get to that level, including qualifying optimization.

As an aside to both Rick and Marc�s development, the laws of physics don�t really know the difference (in the BIG picture) between cars, and when I see talented ams start developing into pro level drivers, this is one of the first explorations and skill building exercises they do (team o� neil, dirtfish and other car control development programs).

My impression is that Rick is SO comfortable in his car, that he drives to a level and that�s it. Sure, his PB incrementally improves, and a coach could certainly help optimize that, but he is now at the stage where attending a pro school could give him a fresh perspective on how to incrementally push his OWN ideas and belief system forward to become even better, rather than fine tuning the same old thing.

For Marc, well, he just thinks too much! Seriously, just drive the car and look carefully at the data to benchmark performance. His �butt calibration� is fine, for now, and accumulating experience in the new car with critical feedback, backed up by an examination of how much is left in his performance metrics and how far apart what he thinks he�s doing in the car from what he is ACTUALLY doing in the car will keep him busy for a good while (at least this coming season).

Originally Posted by MarcD147

1) how do skills transfer across car (types)?

if I budget 5k for a season of driver improvement what is the best way or combination of ways to spend that?

• right seat coach (in my car)
• coaching using data (using my car's data)
• racing school in a different car

Originally Posted by jscott82

This is the question I have. I'm just starting to build an SPC for 2018. Had budgeted a few days of coaching (3k worth) to setup the car and improve my skills.... So would the money be better spend doing 1 intro race school (3k would only get the intro class, not the advanced classes)?

Originally Posted by ProCoach

IMO, if that is the budget, private coaching would be your best investment, AFTER your car is complete and you have a few days in it...

Originally Posted by jscott82

This is the question I have. I'm just starting to build an SPC for 2018. Had budgeted a few days of coaching (3k worth) to setup the car and improve my skills.... So would the money be better spend doing 1 intro race school (3k would only get the intro class, not the advanced classes)?

Originally Posted by MarcD147

1) how do skills transfer across car (types)?

• eg I am going to race a 996 cup. how would doing a bertil roos school that uses Formula cars benefit me? would I benefit more from a school using miatas? hellcats? are there schools that use cars more similar to 996 cups?
• I remember reading that Patrick Dempsey really benefited from doing the dirtfish rally school ( but that was probably a custom program and on top of lots of other coaching/practice)

if I budget 5k for a season of driver improvement what is the best way or combination of ways to spend that?

• right seat coach (in my car)
• coaching using data (using my car's data)
• racing school in a different car

Originally Posted by toddlamb

Do it. A racing school. ANY one. You'll be amazed to learn the things you didn't even know you didn't know.

Originally Posted by jscott82

Thanks Peter... First race will be VIR in June... If only I knew someone in the area that could help in Mar/Apr... Maybe I can google it... :-)

Originally Posted by BobKid

While I�ll probably never race, I did a BMWCCA club race school last year and will always value the lessons I learned from it. It�s so easy to get in a groove in DEs where you just go out time and time again making incremental improvements, but every session of the school was focused on a different skill set. Biggest takeaways were the extra effort you can put into vision/spatial awareness, and also just how unused track surface there is out there. It didn�t really make me any faster, that�s where coaching will come into play. But if nothing else, it made me a much better DE driver and I learned some skills that might mean the difference between having an easy out in an unplanned situation versus a nasty interaction.

Originally Posted by ProCoach

Thats a good program. Standardized curriculum and exercises proven through the ages...

Originally Posted by toddlamb

Do it. A racing school. ANY one. You’ll be amazed to learn the things you didn’t even know you didn’t know.

Originally Posted by jscott82

This is the question I have. I'm just starting to build an SPC for 2018. Had budgeted a few days of coaching (3k worth) to setup the car and improve my skills.... So would the money be better spend doing 1 intro race school (3k would only get the intro class, not the advanced classes)?