Sean F

Chris, one thing about Miata's to be careful about. I've been doing some research in this area and what I've found is that in some race series (SCCA series for example) there seems to be a considerable amount of contact. Go to specmiata.com and spend some time on the NE message boards and you'll see what I mean. They're having some tough conversations about what do about the contact. So, be careful if you decide to do SM as your first race in a rental.

Phokaioglaukos

I'm thinking of that as a step forward . I'll be slower, but it'll be more challenging. At least I have not had PSM in my car.

I've done some advanced events under those rules, and I am signed up fo Kojote at the Glen next month where point bys are optional. Of course there will be lots of faster cars (and drivers) there, too.

Professor Helmüt Tester

John Hagerman (HRE - Hagerman Race Engineering) is an SCCA "CSR", and can rent you an SRF. Dave Skinner - Dynasty Motorsports - is a privateer prep shop who can rent you an SRF. Both are local to Summit Point. Dave used to run/manage Motion Dynamics, the big CSR in the northeast...the boy knows SRF's.

Alex & Kim Ratcliffe (King Rat Motorsports) live about 3 minutes from Summit Point and will rent you a Spec Miata and do the track-side as well. Well-prepared cars...they know what they're doing. Should be your first choice if you choose to do SM. I think the "Meathead Racing" guys also have a rental fleet of SM's.

Follow thru on your paperwork. Get your SCCA license. Why ? Because it is the passport to everywhere. NASA will grant you a competition license if you have an SCCA license...as will Midwest Council and all the Canadian clubs and EMRA and the vintage race organizations and Ferrari and Porsche and BMWCCA and Grand Am and just about everyone else on the planet. It's probably the one license that is universally honored by road race sanctioning bodies.

Then...go to the Summit Point SCCA school in October. You can attend even if you are already a license-holder. Benefit: you will get a rapid and full immersion into the operations of a typical club race weekend, and will spend time on track under somewhat controlled conditions to get acclimatized to 'race' behavior. Skippy doesn't give you that. Even their race series is pretty much a 'spoon-fed' weekend (I can hear the squawking coming from the Skippy guys). DO NOT take your newly minted Skippy-issued SCCA Regional license and dive into the deep end of the pool, because they haven't adequately prepared you for what you'll encounter.

The SCCA DC Region schools at Summit are the best-executed 'race schools' in the country, IMO. They're somewhat intense...you'll be too busy to work on your car, so you'll need crew (or you'll just have the rental shop take care of it). You will get your money's worth. And, no...I'm not a DC Region SCCA member shilling for their school...I'm actually the "Chief" for one of the other SCCA schools and am smart enough to know who has their poop in a pile. If you want to race at Summit, this is the approach I recommend.

Do not make your first experience in 'racing' on your newly-minted Skippy-issued SCCA license an SCCA "MARRS" weekend at Summit in a Spec Miata. Bad idea. You're not ready.

But that's just my opinion.

Phokaioglaukos

Sean, that discussion does sound ugly.

bobt993

Chris, now that your in black group. Find some guys that run a little faster and line up with them behind you. They will crowd you a little, get used to it. Concede the pass, follow as best as you are comfortable with. These guys become your best friends on the track and they will also see your deficiencies. Danny, Emrich, and I had some great runs together. At the Glen this month, Danny and I revisited this in the Red/Black session while I had a passenger. It was great fun back and forth. A couple of instructors asked me why we were so close (thought there was an issue). I looked at them like they were crazy. " We drove like that for almost two years!"

As far as racing, if you get a slower car it will help. When I coached you at the Glen, you were doing great, but as the data Larry showed you, entry and corner speed are your "work in progress". In a race, you would have at least two cars under you in almost every corner. That would get a little rough and might have you farming. Your going to love it and adapt quickly.

Sean F

Prof, is it worth traveling for or would I be okay doing the school here in the NE?

DrJupeman

Isn't that the case in a high(er) HP car, too?

TD in DC

Of course, but while you are learning, driving a low HP car is a brutal way to "drive that point home." Again, if you are in a fast car, you can dispose with most of the drivers in the slower classes fairly easily. If you are in a slow car, you have to earn most everything you get. I respect all the fast drivers. I particularly respect the fast drivers in the slow classes. Maybe I am biased, but that is how I see it. I know how hard I worked in such a crowded field at the club races, and then I see Cris Brady's times in the same field and the same crowd and I am humbled. If you can't get it back with the right foot, you really can't lose it in the first place . . .

TD in DC

I share your opinion pretty much in its entirety. Of course, that's not worth too much, but I'm just sayin'

bobt993

Charlie, absolutely. What I have seen from solo students wanting to get faster and riding with them is difficulty in speed disparity. eg the Glen: A driver in a low hp is taught to get out of T1 flat out to the bus stop. As the driver gets better, their line improves and some more speed is found into the braking zone and they learn progressively, say 125 to 130mph at the braking zone. GT3 driver is another story, they get a little faster and easily hit 150 before the braking zone just using straight line speed, now what. It takes awhile to get their entry speed to around 75mph and after a session, they still have a hard time getting comfortable with the faster entry.

mglobe

I'm really glad to see this thread, as I'm hoping to progress further in DE, and provided things work out on the business side over the next year or two, move into some form of racing. A lot of what has been discussed covers what I've been wondering about from the learning side of things. Here is a question on a different issue.

One of the obstacles I see for me wrt racing is the issue of storing and hauling a track car. I don't have garage space for another vehicle (we've got three right now and a 2-car garage). I'd have to buy a tow vehicle and store it also. How are others who don't have space at home handling this? Where do you store your race car & trailer? What do you do for a tow vehicle? This is probably a dumb question, but do any services exist that store you car and deliver it to the track for you?

cooleyjb

Yes, the local race prep shops often do this.

mglobe

I was afraid of that. Oh crap, one more obstacle out of the way. I sure hope business goes well, cause this is going to be expensive.

AlpharettaRK

I guess I'll throw in the perspective of a guy that just made the transition to racing. I'm sure a "real" racer can jump in any car and pretty quickly get the feel for it and drive it quickly. I took the Panoz race school and felt it took most of the 3 days for me to get used to the car. There's lots of brain overload in your first race, and being in an unfamiliar car would just add to it, IMO. Get your own car (you can get a race ready 944 for <$10,000 and sell it in two years for not much less if you take care of it) (and yes, if you go PCA "I" and "F" classes are usually competitive and you learn more driving with folks in very similar cars) and drive it at some DE's and get it sorted out to your particular liking. Talk to fast guys that drive similar cars to get help with setup. When you can run lap times within 6 seconds of pole for your class you're good enough to jump in the pool. I don't think anybody is ever "ready" for his first race, you just have to go out and do it. You will learn more in your first race by watching guys in similar cars blow your doors off than you have in your last 2 years of DE. Whether PCA, SCCA or NASA prepare to be impressed at the skill level of the guys up front.
Good Luck!
Cheers
Randy

Gary R.

Absolutely Charlie, but I think you know how I meant that..