The Barber three-day racing school is a sound investment and will accelerate a driver's learning curve significantly. I make a point of working with the professionals at the Skip Barber Racing School each year at Lime Rock Park and at Watkins Glen International. I still prefer Barber Racing School activities to driver education events--particularly since every driver uses the same type of car. My performance--or lack of performance--is a direct consequence of my skills in the car and is not contingent upon my car's capabilities. The Dodge R/T 2000 is an excellent race car in which a driver can hone his or her driving and racing skills.

My 911 is always much faster after I complete a Barber Racing School program.

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PCA National Instructor
BMWCCA Certified Instructor
Skip Barber Racing School Multi-year Participant

 

Can anyone compare Skip vs. Bridgestone?

 

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I'll add Bertil Roos to the list. I did the three day school and had a BLAST. Also, no deductible for completely wrecking or hurting a car. In fact, they encourage you to push to the very limits and spin if need be. I haven't done the Skippy school, but I would say Bertil Roos is a better option.

 

There is no crash liability for the Barber three-day racing school. Crash liability applies to Barber Racing School advanced activities (e.g., lapping, the advanced two-day racing school, practice, race weekends).

 

I went to the predesessor to the Bridgestone School (Spenard-David Racing School) in 1989. So much has changed through all I can really comment on is the cars. The cars are Reynard SF-86s - Formula Ford 2000s or Formula Continental in SCCA paralance. That gets you 2 liter engines and wings. But that also means 20 year old cars at this point. They were decent to drive. But they are real race cars as opposed to school cars. Cars specially built for schools are usually built a little more stout since they have no rules to meet including minimum weight. They tend to be built to withstand more abuse.

 

Tthe only disadvantage of an open wheel school is that it make you realize just how heavy and slow to respond your street car is. Most of the 3 day schools are on street type tires. If you do a day on slicks, you'll never want to go back. The Derek Daly 5 day school is the reason I own a formula car now. I realize it's the minority opinion on this site, but real race cars don't have fenders.

 

I went to racing school when I was racing karts. The F2000 felt like a pig in comparison.

 

Here's a thought: First, do a fair amount of DE's at various tracks with various instructors...maybe 10 to 15 track events (=10 to 30 track days). if you like the experience, go do a Skip Barber (or other) class. I've been instructing for some time and when I instruct a novice who just completed a "racing" school, a paradox of sorts may become apparent. The "DE" side has certain objectives, which are different from that of "racing." The DE instruction protacol, setting, and results are different from the racing venue--of course, there are overlapping concepts, but the end game is different.
In any case, I would advocate taking a car control course or clinic...this would be valuable no matter what your personal objectives are...including simply driving on the street.
Good luck and have fun...but be safe!

 

What's that, 3-4 months of DE's for you down there?

 

Gary, to give you an idea , we've had more than 22 DE/Racing track days from July through October. Of course, you do the one's you want. We have PCA, PBOC, NASA, & CHIN all offering track days at various tracks here in Florida and even at Roebling Road in Savanah, GA.
So, yep it's a few months at most!
Gary, come on down already! hehehe

 

Thanks for all the feedback. I decided to avoid racing school and go for the two-day driving school at Barber. It teaches the fundamentals to set the stage for DE and racing (if desired). They teach threshold breaking, heel-toe and do some skid pad work but focus a lot on fundamentals for street and/or track driving. I'll report back mid-November to let you all know how it went.

Thanks again for the feedback.

 

Based on the cross section of people on my 3-day Skippy course, you might as well just go straight to that. 10% hadn't driven a manual is a long while. Most never really planned to race. you might as well get pushed out of your comfort zone so driving a Porsche or whatever at track days seems a lot easier. All of the track day type skills are taught. I was just about the only person on my course that knew how to double declutch or heel toe. You pick it up pretty fast when threshold braking at 100 miles per hour.

 

That's interesting to hear. The guy I spoke with at Barber was really selling me hard on this program rather than a race program having had no prior track experience. If it doesn't work out, I'll employ a little consumer rage and get a discount on the 3-day race school.

 

You are KILLIN me!