James Achard

I am looking to start club racing in 2003 and would like any wisdom that might make this easier. This past year i have been on the track four times and starting in February I plan on attending theSebring Club Races and will be DE'ing down there too. As for the rest of the year I will be going to as many DE events as possible as well as attending Skip Barber school. My goal is to get as much seat time in this coming season then hopefully apply for my club race license next fall. I feel that the car is pretty much set ('87 Carrera) for racing stock. i just have to add a cutoff switch and rollcage. Is there anything I'm missing?? Any comments or suggestion would be greatly appreciated.

Regards, James

DERSIX

James,
I will also be at the Sebring event running in the DE part. Look me up and we can talk(black 914-6,#55). I have done alot of DE and some club racing.
Pete

E. J. - 993 Alumni

James,

Do you get your SCCA license with the Skippy class? If so, there you go. Any other license gets you a PCA license. If not, then I think you have to do a certain amount of DEs, then get signed off by the chief instructor of your region and then use a provisional PCA license. THe pca.org website has a whole club racing section including licensing.

E. J.

Rick Longano

James,

It sounds as though you are going about it in the correct way. A lot of guys just hop right in and expect to ein immediately. I can tell you from personal experience that it isn't quite that easy. One suggestion would be to read 2 or 3 books on the subject. I have read the following 3 which proved to be heplful:

GOING FASTER - Mastering The Art of Race Driving

DRIVE TO WIN by Carroll Smith, and

WINNING - A Race Driver's Handbook by George Anderson.

Also, one more thought. When I got my license, Tom DiGregorio (chief DI for the Peachstate Region) gave me a good piece of advice: Use the first 3 or 4 races as a LEARNING experience.

Good Luck !!

Rick Longano
GTC Class

Greg Fishman

James,
Everyone here made some good points and I will add that if you end up racing you will be a much better driver than you are now. I imporoved as much in one year of racing (5 races) as I did in almost three years of DE's. Competition does make you better.
Go to www.pca.org and read the rules under the Club Race section and it will give you info about car prep and licensing.
If you are driving you car almost exclusively on the track I would go ahead and get a roll bar or full cage in.
I will also be a Sebring in Feb. stop by and we can chat.
Greg

NickA

Ditto what the more experienced club racers have already written, with special emphasis on Rick's point about treating it as a learning experience. As a newbie with only the recent CMP club race under my belt, I can definitely concur that racing will put your learning curve on a much steeper upward slope. (Unfortunately, it will also hasten the departure of the greenbacks from your wallet! )

Your plan sounds like what I actually did over the past two years...it "worked" for me, so I would expect it will "work" for you as well. Good luck, and email offline/post here with any other questions.

- Nick
ncamos@bellatlantic.net

P.S. On a technical point, successful completion of the Skip Barber 3 day racing school will entitle you to obtain an SCCA regional competition license, but without any actual SCCA or other races, you will still have to go through the PCA process as a "rookie" (i.e., even with the SCCA license).

Carrera51

James:
As far as safety equipment goes, install a full cage. Rumor has it that in the coming years, PCA may require all racers to have full cages, even in the stock classes.

As far as prepartion goes, at DEs next year, get used to driving "off line." Practice entering corners from the outside and inside, since you will be doing this when you start racing. Club Racing is not DE. Get to be best friends with your car by getting as much track time as possible.

Go to www.pca.org and download the rules and look them over. Since you are running an 87 Carrera you will be in F (stock) class, unless you make modifications that would make your car (prepared) and therefore bump you to E class. I race and 84 Carrera and changed the brakes on my car prior to club racing which bumped me up to E class. If I had it to do over again, I would have replaced the stock brakes with stock brakes and kept the car in F. I still have fun though. At your first race set four goals; learn something, don't crack up your car, finish the race, have fun. That was advice that was given to me before my first race.

At some time next year, talk to your Chief Instructor and tell him/her that you are interested in club racing in 2003 and ask him/her to ride with you. You will need him/her to sign off on your application, unless you complete the "Skippy School" and are granted an SCCA license as EJ said, I think thats all you need. At your first race, you will be a "rookie candidate." You will have to attend the rookie class the night before the start of practice. The scrutineer for that event will be keeping a close eye on you and the other rookies and has the final decesion on whether or not you get to race on Sunday. You will also have to drive all the practice sessions and the practice starts so make sure you have plenty of tire and fresh brake pads. You get through practice without incident and you will get your provisional license. You will still have to complete 4 races within 2 years without incident to get a full license.

James Achard

To All,
Thank you for all the insight. Pete and Greg, I look forward to meeting you both at Sebring( My car is a Black Carrera #516). I will be getting a full cage( Any suggestions on what kind??) and I have been looking over the rules. One thing comes to mind and that is that my car has Alcon brakes on the front. This will bump me up a class but I do have the stock calipers and rotors that came with the car. Would it be a good decision to downgrade to the stock brakes and get used to the car with this setup or should I just stick with what I have and run in E class? What are the pro's and con's of running in E vs. F?

Regards, James

Carrera51

James:
Sounds like you are in the same boat I am. If youv'e already made the investment on the brakes, leave them in and run in E. I too still have my stock brakes, though the front calipers need to be rebuilt. I thought about putting the stock brakes back in, but didn't because of the time and money I invested in the big reds. Since I won't be running at the front in E or F given my limited budget and tired motor (165K miles) I just run in E and still can get into the top 20. E and F are the two biggest groups, (usually around 40 cars at the Summit Point race) so they always run together as one race group. The fast cars in E at the races I've been to are the 944 Turbo S. Either way you will still have fun.

As far as the cage goes, I got a Safety Devices cage from Stable Energies in NJ. Nice cage and great customer service. The installation is not fun. I helped with mine and it is time consuming. The design of the Safety Devices cage is nice in that it mounts to the frame rails, not the floor and is not that intrusive. You will need to weld in the mounting points, but the cage can be disasembled and removed. I have never bothered because it doesn't interfere with driving the car on the street.

Greg Fishman

If the only "prepared mod" you are going to do is the brakes you are going to have a big disadvantage in E vs F mainly due to the hp difference. I would suggest rebuilding those calipers and running some good brake cooling ducts. Those two classes are very competitive and not only must you have a top notch car but you need to be a top driver to compete in them. If you just want to go out and have fun and finish in one piece it really won't make a difference which class you are in or where you finish, just have fun. I don't think Team Penske is looking for new drivers this year!
Look forward to meeting you I will be in a black 993 #621 as pictured on my website below.
Greg

James Achard

OK, So I have the debate of Alcons or Stock brakes. I will ponder both sides of the debate and come up with a solution. Another question I have is that my car has had alot of weight removed( Recaro SPG Seats, ac compressor out, Carbon fibre carrera tail, fibreglass RSR style front bumper, B&B headers and exhaust). Will I pass the weight restriction with all this equipment and if not, what do I do? I have read the rules and to me they seem a little vague in this area.

James

Greg, Nice Car!! I was looking at 993's and then the perfect '87 Carrera came along.......

Greg Fishman

Thanks for the compliment. If you car doesn't meet weight, (my guess is it won't) You add the weight back in to the car.
Most guys use lead as it is very dense and secure it to the floor in the passenger area.
You may have to add your compresor back in to the car, unless it was a factory delete option and you may have to prove that. It doesn't have to work but may have to be in the stock location. When you are at Sebring grab on of the scruitineers and have them look at your car, there will be scales there also.
Greg

Mike in Chi

James

As EJ and Greg know, I'm a big fan of Skip Barber racing.

Three big reasons: time, cost and most importantly, instruction. You don't have to lift a finger for car prep. Just arrive and drive. No investment in the car and limited damage liability, with two races a weekend. The help you get is wonderful. Instructors at every corner, and individual feedback after every session on the track.

Your skills develop very quickly this way.
You'll get very little help in SCCA, some in PCA, but as much as you can absorb with the Skippy guys. There are also computer cars if you really want to get into analysis.

The cars are a step up from the cars you'll drive in the race school. Sequential gearboxes, small wings, and slicks. But still very managable for beginners.

I've been doing it for a few years, and since I'm far from a gifted driver, it's helped a lot.

Something to consider:

Skip usually does a Sebring full-course race the weekend after PCA's Sebring event in February.

You could do the PCA DE. Then do the three lapping/car clinic days Skip requires during the week, then have your first race weekend.

Total motorsport bliss!

I must admit, I would like to get into some PCA racing, now that I've a solid foundation, and have gotten to know a few rennlist racers thru this board. I'm considering everything from an E 951 to a 993 Cup car. But I don't want to stop Skippy either. You'll find this all very addictive.

Best of luck

Mike in Chi

Carrera51

James:
You will have to put the compressor back. AC was standard in all US Carreras. I to had removed my compressor and had to put it back because Tom Charlesworth said so. I would email Tom or Donna Amico (National Scrutineer) with any questions regarding the set up of your car Sure, if you run in E you will be giving up some HP to the 944 TSs but HP is not everything. Like I said, E and F usually have there own race group and are on the track together. You may finish a little higher in class running in F, but you will still be competing with the E cars for overall position. E and F are the most competitive classes. I was given some good advice from a long time club racer which was, if making changes to your car isn't going to put you in the top five, leave it alone and drive it the way it is. The cost of changing your brakes and rebuilding the old ones will probably equal at least one set of tires. (You'll be going through those fairly quickly)

James Achard

To All, Once again, thank you for all the thoughtful responses. I look forward to meeting some of you at Sebring. I now have a better sense of where I need to go as far as the car goes and am now focusing on the driver. I have a long winter ahead to get things sorted out so I can concentrate on driving next season. One more thing, I have a second set of wheels that I plan on using for rain tires. Any suggestions on what kind of tires I should use??

Regards, James