333pg333

I'm going to be in the US in Sept. and am looking at taking advantage of your great facilities and teachers. I'm probably only able to allocate 2 days to this so I wonder what would give me the most benefit. I am pretty flexible as to where and when as we are in the US for almost a month. Looks like we're starting on the West Coast, shifting to the middle of the country, and then across to NYC for a week. Finishing back in Vegas for the first weekend in Oct to then fly out back home. So somewhere in there I want to get onto a track with some instruction.

There are many schools available and of course many coaches. I am reasonably experienced in our form of Club racing. By that I mean we don't do proper door to door stuff, but you can pass and be passed so it's up a level from DE stuff.

I am open to suggestions and people can PM me if that suits.

Let me know what you think.

Thanks

Patrick

Brian P

Passing and being passed sounds like DE to me.

Anyhow, what are you looking for? Do you want to experience open wheel cars or do you prefer regular production cars?

333pg333

http://www.racingschools.com/formula...g_school.shtml
This one reads well. Anyone have experience with them?

333pg333

Well some videos of DEs look a bit tame, while others look more hardcore. Guess it depends on the group.
I'm just looking for someone to teach me to be better. Not sure if it's so racecar type dependent, but I'm not about to move into open wheelers anytime soon. Just reading some of the descriptions of course curriculums shows either stuff that is a bit too basic or else you have to have done some intro course with the school before you can go up to a level that looks more my pace.
I would say that I have the basics covered in most respects. Double shuffle, heel and toe, left foot brake, trail braking etc. Without wanting to sound overly confident, I also don't want to go to a beginner's class if you know what I mean.

fryd

I did the 4-day Grand Prix Road Racing course at Bondurant. Good mix of theory and ontrack instruction. 3 days in sports cars (C6 Vettes), and 1 day in Formula (Ford) cars.

Frank 993 C4S

Highly recommend:

Porsche Sports Driving School Barber Motor Sports Park

I could also recommend Skip Barber, however if you're looking to drive Porsches, PSDS is best.

bobt993

Contact NASA region where you are going to be. They will need your track experience and likely a reference from an instructor or two. Rent a Spec Miata or similar car and do the race school which includes side by side racing in turns, practice starts, practice races/starts and a race or two depending on the region. This will give you a better idea of where you are at with skill level. Most of the racing school offer some nice fundamental teaching, but your likely to have more experience than everyone in the program so it won't give you a really good feel for running with aggressive veteran racers.

333pg333

Thanks for the comments and recommendations so far guys.
I find it a bit tricky to put myself in any one particular course. Some of them do sound a bit basic, whereas I've virtually done no wheel to wheel stuff either. Is it possible to have individual instruction with someone who gauges your abilities and also provides a car?
As attractive as the idea of driving around in brand new Porsches on one of their courses, I drive a modified 951 and I'm not sure if I need to be doing a 'test drive' in a car with electronic everything only to get back into my prosaic car by comparison. Maybe the Spec Miata....unless someone knows where I can get some tuition in a 500hp 951 hehehe.
Seriously I'm sure there's many good ones to choose from. Keep the suggestions coming.

Frank 993 C4S

Keep in mind that I track my 964 RSA where the only electronic aid is ABS and I still found the PSDS an excellent way to improve my track skills. I was worried about "having to drive" a PDK car and guess what, it was a great experience. Keep in mind that with prior track experience you can probably attend the PSDS Master Class.

If you're a hard core track junkie alread, I agree that PSDS is probably too benign for you.

Jason Judd

Patrick,

Come up to Skip Barber's school at Limerock, Ct...you'll get a car and some pretty good instruction, too. I'll meet you for dinner one of the nights!

LDadrenaline

I would get private instruction if you have a decent amount of track time. I just did a skip barber school and it was fun and I did learn a few things, but not as much as the people who had limited seat time. If you only have a few days in the country then you would likely be limited to a 1 or 2 day school, in which case you would be doing a "basic" course. Only 2 day advanced I know of is skip barber, but to qualify for that you need to already have done their 3 day racing school.

I would personally do some searching of who rents spec miatas where you want to go and then try to find a private instructor. I know a lot of grand-am guys do it for under $1000 a day.

4porsh

Less then an hour west of Las Vegas......

http://www.springmountainmotorsports.com/

Jason Judd

"I would personally do some searching of who rents spec miatas where you want to go and then try to find a private instructor. I know a lot of grand-am guys do it for under $1000 a day."
______________

That's not a bad idea either...I was trying to get him something that took into account he had no car.

LDadrenaline

yeah that's why I recommended it. That's what my father and I do, we rent a spec miata and offer private instruction. Obviously we aren't grand-am drivers but when we rent out cars we spend much more time 1 on 1 with the student than your usual instructor.

Seth Thomas

Private instruction is the best bang for the buck. The race schools out there have to appeal to a mass audience and tend to get numbed down for those masses. They are great for the purpose they serve but lack the small detail private instruction offers.

When I do coaching for my clients I try to get a daily plan on what to work on from session 1 until the very last session we spend together. This gives us goals to work towards on track as the day progresses. This also gives both of us time to prepare for the track and ideas to think about. I use data and ride alongs to get the client up to speed as soon as we possibly can. This gives the client immediate feedback inside the car and data from the session to back up how the feedback worked. There are several guys who do this. If you are interested contact me and I can put you in touch somebody close to the track you are attending.