Cadence--

What you said

doesn't really exist at the major schools. The big schools have one goal in mind in their first and somewhat in their second level classes. "Teach the students enough so they have fun and don't crash the cars."

The fine tuning coaching that you seem to want doesn't appear with the schools until a ways down the road for them when you are doing the one-on-one coaching sessions that people aren't elgible for until they've taken the first two classes.

You have to understand the coach to student ratio at the schools is 3-5:1 and that often means that the ones with the most issues get the most attention. With you years of DE I have a feeling you'd hear more "That looked real nice, lets try braking later" than "What I want to see you do is move your braking point up 10 feet, left foot trail brake to the apex to get the car to rotate and then since your right foot is free you can get on the gas 10 feet sooner."

 

Doesn't PDE have a Masters program?

 

good evening cadence.

many (or at least, some) HPDE groups have 'advanced/racing/expert' type instructors in their ranks. frequently, when i am at a track event instructing (and not racing; i've found that racing and instructing during the same track event is not for me! i either race, or i instruct; not both) i will have intermediate/advanced drivers approach me and ask for additional instruction (white group, black group, or red group drivers). when time permits, i always try to make arrangments to help them.

always, there are improvements to be made. always, i can find at least tenths of a second per lap. many times, 1/2 sec to full second (or more) can be found.

it is totally a different kind of instruction, compared to green and blue students. many times, with an advanced driver, i will be working on 'breaking through' a plateau that has been established (often from years of driving). i observe, and decide on what needs work (or polishing), and we work hard on it! when that item is nailed down, we move on to the next area.... it is so different from teaching green/blues, but i must say that i truly enjoy it, too.

good luck, cadence.

todd
ReidSpeed

 

I've been a hobbiest for 40+ years, from autocross thru vintage Can Am. Have done Barber, private instruction, and advanced course at Bondurant.
I thought the Bondurant advanced was the best I had experienced, and better than I had hoped.
They have an extraordinary resource of training opportunities, from skid cars on a parking lot, to an oval configuration, to complicated road courses. The student: instructor ratio was 3:1, and it was more than enough.
There was tons of seat time, replacement cars instantly available when mine broke, and allowed nose to tail driving and passing. They were also nice enough to take the ASC fuse out of my rental lincoln, pump the tires to 50lbs. and give me some drift instruction and practice. They score each driver, and have a good basis for doing so, so in the end, you can rate yourself. I beleive we did over 125 hot laps daily for three days, and after a day of sliding around in the rain, my pectoral muscles cramped from all the counter-steering. I would give it a 9 out of 10 rating. I would have given them 10 of 10, if they would have let me use one of the drift GTO's that were scattered about. AS

 

Bondurant uses Corvettes and Mustangs

 

I was thinking of taking their school at Laguna Seca in the MX5 cup cars to get some winter track time and learn that fabulous track. Or maybe the advanced 2 day school in the formula car would be better for people with racing experience.

Anyone else want to get together and have a rennlist group at one of these schools??

 

^^the 3 day mazda thing is the same as teh 3 day "intro" (not official title but true anyway) to racing school but using the mazdas...the 2 day is much more advanced IMHO.