Off to Skip Barber (Laguna Seca) tomorrow
02-20-2002, 10:48 PM
#1
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Off to Skip Barber (Laguna Seca) tomorrow
Mid-winter in Michigan, and the track season seems very far away. Fortunately, two of my track buddies and I are flying to CA tomorrow for the three day racing school at Laguna Seca given by Skip Barber. We've all had a good deal of experience at DE events, so we're geeked about getting some good instruction on this famous track. Not to mention the thrill of driving open-wheel cars.
We've been zooming around Laguna Seca using Gran Turismo 3, so at least we have a handle on the track layout. Cool game.
Can't wait! I'll check back in when we return.
Will
We've been zooming around Laguna Seca using Gran Turismo 3, so at least we have a handle on the track layout. Cool game.
Can't wait! I'll check back in when we return.
Will
02-21-2002, 01:26 AM
#2
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[quote]Originally posted by Will:
<strong>Mid-winter in Michigan, and the track season seems very far away. Fortunately, two of my track buddies and I are flying to CA tomorrow for the three day racing school at Laguna Seca given by Skip Barber. We've all had a good deal of experience at DE events, so we're geeked about getting some good instruction on this famous track. Not to mention the thrill of driving open-wheel cars.
We've been zooming around Laguna Seca using Gran Turismo 3, so at least we have a handle on the track layout. Cool game.
Can't wait! I'll check back in when we return.
Will</strong><hr></blockquote>
Cool deal. Have fun.
I went to Spenard-David in Shannonville Ont in 89. Wouldn't trade the experience for anything.
<strong>Mid-winter in Michigan, and the track season seems very far away. Fortunately, two of my track buddies and I are flying to CA tomorrow for the three day racing school at Laguna Seca given by Skip Barber. We've all had a good deal of experience at DE events, so we're geeked about getting some good instruction on this famous track. Not to mention the thrill of driving open-wheel cars.
We've been zooming around Laguna Seca using Gran Turismo 3, so at least we have a handle on the track layout. Cool game.
Can't wait! I'll check back in when we return.
Will</strong><hr></blockquote>
Cool deal. Have fun.
I went to Spenard-David in Shannonville Ont in 89. Wouldn't trade the experience for anything.
02-21-2002, 11:41 AM
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Will
You'll have a ball and learn a lot.
I did my 3 day school at Laguna as well.
SURGEON GENERAL'S WARNING: Skippy cars are highly addictive.
(I'm now in my third year of the race series)
Also take a drive down Big Sur to the Post Ranch Inn for dinner (at sunset). Wonderful drive, wonderful view of the Pacific, wonderful food.
Mike
You'll have a ball and learn a lot.
I did my 3 day school at Laguna as well.
SURGEON GENERAL'S WARNING: Skippy cars are highly addictive.
(I'm now in my third year of the race series)
Also take a drive down Big Sur to the Post Ranch Inn for dinner (at sunset). Wonderful drive, wonderful view of the Pacific, wonderful food.
Mike
02-21-2002, 07:13 PM
#4
Will,
I'm jealous. Did the Barber 3-day school at Lime Rock Park last June. I am absolutely convinced that this is about as much as you can possibly have without getting arrested.
The "Skippy cars" are a blast! Great brakes!! And, if you break one, they just roll out another.
Enjoy.
Richard
'87 Carrera-3.6L <img src="graemlins/burnout.gif" border="0" alt="[burnout]" />
I'm jealous. Did the Barber 3-day school at Lime Rock Park last June. I am absolutely convinced that this is about as much as you can possibly have without getting arrested.
The "Skippy cars" are a blast! Great brakes!! And, if you break one, they just roll out another.
Enjoy.
Richard
'87 Carrera-3.6L <img src="graemlins/burnout.gif" border="0" alt="[burnout]" />
02-22-2002, 10:24 PM
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I was there 15 months back for the 3-day. I found the most difficult thing was the braking. Going from a street car that brakes at 08-1.0 G's, to these little things that brake at 1.4-1.5. It's scarry into turn 2 at first, then you stay flat past the turn-in cone. Great fun. Take a ride in the Vipper at the Auto-X if it's taking place at the same time.
02-26-2002, 11:49 AM
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I'm back, and it was totally awesome!
The track: Laguna Seca is off scale. I'd only been on three tracks before, Gingerman, Grattan, and Waterford Hills (all in Michigan), and I like them all, but L.S. is obviously a special track. Not only does it have a great layout and lots of interesting features, there's something in the air there. I guess it's partially a function of being at a big-time track. One reason we went to this particular school was to experience this particular track, and it was worth it. I'll treasure the photos and video of me coming through the corkscrew (when the arrive)!
The instruction and the program: Fantastic. We had a sold-out school (28 students), so we split into two groups of fourteen and had three instructors and seven cars for our sub-group. I thought that would result in too little student-instructor interaction and too little seat time, but it worked out great. I thought things were extremely well orchestrated. The instructors had loads of experience and were very, very good at teaching. They also did a good job of getting to know each of us and tailoring their feedback to our individual levels. A few guys had absolutely no experience and could hardly drive a stick, whereas others were long-time track junkies and/or karting nuts, and the instructors would zero in on what each person needed to learn. I thought the instruction was the strongest part of the school.
On the first day, I was a bit disappointed that we didn't get more time behind the wheel on the track, but by the end of the school, I was glad we did it the way we did. Each exercise is carefully designed to ramp up your skills. Learning things well lets you drive faster in the end.
The cars: Sweet! 1000 lbs, 130 hp, great brakes and suspension. Zero to 60 in 4.5 seconds, 1.2g cornering potential, great sounds, etc. I agree with 86944turbo that one of the hardest things to get used to is the braking power of these cars. Learning to threshold brake with them was tougher than I thought it would be, but ultimately led to lots of fun. My right shoulder is sore from the lateral g's induced by turn 9! The aerodynamic lift on my helmet coming down the front straight at full throttle in top gear was a great sensation.
The progress: Holding the gas pedal to the floor until the last second coming into turn 2, then braking as hard as you can while grabbing two double-clutch downshifts, then trail-braking to rotate the car to set up for the apex and exit was a total thrill to learn. Looking back to the first day, what a change!
They want you to go fast, and we did. That comes with a price for some; three guys wrecked. One carried too much speed into the corkscrew and pranged his car into a wall. Two lifted the throttle coming into turn 6 and spun to the inside into the "Rainbow Wall", named because of all the colors of paint on the wall from similar incidents. One broke his finger badly, bent the steering wheel, broke the steering rack, bent an upper A-arm, ripped a tie rod loose from its mount, and generally tore up the whole front end of the car. They just brought out more cars! I also saw 10-12 spins at various other places on the track. Having said that, most of us escaped unscathed, as is usually the case. SO MUCH can be tied to your ability to "look ahead" and not suffer tunnel vision.
I didn't have time to take many pictures, but here are two. The first shows us in the temporary pit lane (the real pit lane was under construction), while the second shows me (left) and a friend checking out the corkscrew.
This event was worth every penny (and more) of the $2500 they charge. Two thumbs up!
Will
The track: Laguna Seca is off scale. I'd only been on three tracks before, Gingerman, Grattan, and Waterford Hills (all in Michigan), and I like them all, but L.S. is obviously a special track. Not only does it have a great layout and lots of interesting features, there's something in the air there. I guess it's partially a function of being at a big-time track. One reason we went to this particular school was to experience this particular track, and it was worth it. I'll treasure the photos and video of me coming through the corkscrew (when the arrive)!
The instruction and the program: Fantastic. We had a sold-out school (28 students), so we split into two groups of fourteen and had three instructors and seven cars for our sub-group. I thought that would result in too little student-instructor interaction and too little seat time, but it worked out great. I thought things were extremely well orchestrated. The instructors had loads of experience and were very, very good at teaching. They also did a good job of getting to know each of us and tailoring their feedback to our individual levels. A few guys had absolutely no experience and could hardly drive a stick, whereas others were long-time track junkies and/or karting nuts, and the instructors would zero in on what each person needed to learn. I thought the instruction was the strongest part of the school.
On the first day, I was a bit disappointed that we didn't get more time behind the wheel on the track, but by the end of the school, I was glad we did it the way we did. Each exercise is carefully designed to ramp up your skills. Learning things well lets you drive faster in the end.
The cars: Sweet! 1000 lbs, 130 hp, great brakes and suspension. Zero to 60 in 4.5 seconds, 1.2g cornering potential, great sounds, etc. I agree with 86944turbo that one of the hardest things to get used to is the braking power of these cars. Learning to threshold brake with them was tougher than I thought it would be, but ultimately led to lots of fun. My right shoulder is sore from the lateral g's induced by turn 9! The aerodynamic lift on my helmet coming down the front straight at full throttle in top gear was a great sensation.
The progress: Holding the gas pedal to the floor until the last second coming into turn 2, then braking as hard as you can while grabbing two double-clutch downshifts, then trail-braking to rotate the car to set up for the apex and exit was a total thrill to learn. Looking back to the first day, what a change!
They want you to go fast, and we did. That comes with a price for some; three guys wrecked. One carried too much speed into the corkscrew and pranged his car into a wall. Two lifted the throttle coming into turn 6 and spun to the inside into the "Rainbow Wall", named because of all the colors of paint on the wall from similar incidents. One broke his finger badly, bent the steering wheel, broke the steering rack, bent an upper A-arm, ripped a tie rod loose from its mount, and generally tore up the whole front end of the car. They just brought out more cars! I also saw 10-12 spins at various other places on the track. Having said that, most of us escaped unscathed, as is usually the case. SO MUCH can be tied to your ability to "look ahead" and not suffer tunnel vision.
I didn't have time to take many pictures, but here are two. The first shows us in the temporary pit lane (the real pit lane was under construction), while the second shows me (left) and a friend checking out the corkscrew.
This event was worth every penny (and more) of the $2500 they charge. Two thumbs up!
Will
