Hey Everyone,

I really would like to go to a Racing School in the summer, although I am not sure which one to go to. Skip Barber has a 3-Day School at Lime Rock—does anyone know if that is a good school? I would like to get my feet wet in racing, and I’m 16 years old. I don’t have my own racecar yet. I’m also in NYC, so what do you all think is the best school near or around here?

I appreciate any advice you all may have.

Thanks!

 

I'll take some info too please!

 

I did the Bertil Roos school, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. One great thing with BR is you have no deductible to pay if you ruin a car! From what I have heard, it is a better school, but I haven't done the skippy school.

If I were you, instead of paying for a school, buy a kart with that money and go racing! You will learn a lot more, have more fun, and have something tangible when the race weekend is over instead of a certificate.

 

I second that advice!

 

Or do a HPDE (high perf driver ed) with an org like NASA (nasaproracing.com) or other track day organizer, though make sure they supply instructors. You don't necessarily need a racy car, just a safe one. Much cheaper and you can do so many more days, at ~$150/day.

I was thinking of racing school and instead bought a '87 Scirocco for $2200 and as was suggested above, can enjoy the money for much longer than a 1-3 day school.

 

i second above as well... after several days of de/cart racing do a racing school and you will have a solid basis from which to operate, improve, and reference.

for the record i did skippy (after de's) and thought it was very good. i have since gone back to a few of the different programs they have and will probably even do some races from their series this year.

good luck

 

Don't most racing school have a 18 year old age limit?

Start with a kart or Autocross.

I think DE's are 18+ also.

 

I did a Russell 3 day school a couple of years ago and there was a 14 or 15 year old kid in my class. He had his father with him, maybe he was required to be there.

 

Not to sound like a NASA spokesperson, but you can drive with them if you have a drivers' license.

 

Go karting. I guarantee you will learn more for less money and get more track time than any other route.

My background includes (in order):

Autocross
Karting
Racing school
DE
SCCA school
SCCA club racing

Of all of that, karting taught me the most BY FAR. But if you're going to go karting, to really get the most out of it you need to find a series to run for points, even if it's just a local series. The racing will teach you about preparation, set-up, driving, racing, changing your style when you handling sucks, and much more. Running for point will emphasize the need for really good preparation. It will emphasize the need for testing (cheap in a kart). It will teach you how to test and evaluate your machine and the driver. You will learn when to go for it and when 4th place it plenty good enough.

Karting is invaluable experience. There is good reason the bulk of the F1 grid has karting experience.

 

When I took my 3 day skippy school, there was no charge for totaling a car. (it was their responsibility to keep you safe).

when you do the lapping (1/2 days), or the racing THEN there is a charge for overrevs, damage, and the option to buy insurance. Skippy was great!

but the karting will be much better for the bucks... however, you should be aware you do pay with your body in a kart crash.

(I'd look for a kart class that has / allows full bumpers or fenders, briggs 5hp is fine to start, cheap entry.)

so many of todays pro racers come up thru the kart ranks... mistakes are immediate! learning is fast.

 

If money isn't an issue, then you can't go wrong with Skippy. I've done the Skippy 3-day school, the 2-day advanced school and some tracking. I thought the instruction was great. There's something to be said about being instructed by accomplished current and past professional race car drivers. (One of my instructors just recently won the GT class in the Daytona 24 and another instructor just won the recent Star Mazda season opener.)

That said, Skippy as you know is not cheap. In fact, prices seem to continue to rise. (Hence, my 944 purchase.)

I concur with the recommendations of others that you get your feet wet by karting. You can experience wheel to wheel action while developing skills that will translate into anything you drive later.

As for auto-x, if you try it, keep in mind it's nothing like racing or tracking on an open track. You will undoubtedly learn and develop skills that will translate, but in my opinion the auto-x experience is completely different.

Best of luck.

 

Thanks for all the advice guys!

Skippy's 3 day Racing School is $3,999. I guess I could buy myself a pretty nice kart with that, and take it for as much track time as I can.

What do I have to do to start karting? Can I just pay the fees, etc, and start racing? And what class of kart should I start with first?

Once again, thanks for all the advice! I appreciate it.

 

I am enrolled in the Driving Concepts two-day school through NASA at Blackhawk Farms raceway in Ill, on April 15-16. After completion I will post my experience. I have 11 years motorcycle roadrace experience, one year shifterkart and one year doing DE's with PCA and in my experinces I found to enjoy the DE's with PCA. Between the relaxed atmosphere, cool cars and having a really safe foundation to learn at your own speed I feel this is a practical way to gain experience. I live fifteen minutes away from Road America at that gives me an oportunity to practice karting, track days, etc. The shifterkart is an awesome machine. Expensive, high-maintainence and brutal body torture are the karts downfalls for a practice "toy". Well, motorcycle racing will definitely teach a person how to be smooth and safe.

IF you are uncertain I suggest doing a few DE's and get framiliar with the whole track stuff...

 

I'd recommend a TAG kart. I'm pretty sure your closest track will be Cuddebackville. Check out ekartingnews.com