brendo

my wife read that oprah's recommending bondurant for a holiday gift for husbands...so i plan to capitalize on her thoughful gift

I've been to PSDS 2x and had a bunch of individual instruction here in seattle and portland.

what's the best? i'm totally open to going back to barber and i'm sure i'll be able to recruit some rennlisters to join me. if i don't go back there, what are recommendations? no, i don't want to go to maranello and come back with a bunch of gold chains.

my intention is to help fix the nut behind the wheel. i'm an good driver, not great (i can hold my own in a DE), not racing until both kids are in school, not buying a cup car any time soon, but will probably start with some arrive and drive stuff.

i'm open to any or all suggestions, short of putting VR on retainer. thanks!

C.J. Ichiban

Skip Barber at laguna seca has amazing instructors and is the best for arrive and drive, can also do road atlanta, road america, etc. very affordable.

jim russell at infineon has the best car, the best single track, and a few amazing instructors. the car is straight up terrifying (2.5-3.0 G's depending on how big your ***** are) and if you go off track at all you will be buying carbon fiber bits.

bondurant is good for "learning" street cars (CTS, Corvette, etc) but to be honest their tracks are so mickey mouse compared to laguna, road atlanta, infineon, etc


jim russell and bondurant both have Karting programs which are WAY cheaper than cars and probably better for learning overall if you're smaller than 180 lbs...

I would recommend doing the formula car stuff instead of the sports car stuff- if you're going to get instruction it might as well be in something that will make your next DE seem really easy.


I've done a 3 day skip, 2 day advanced skip, and then some skip races.

I've done a 2 day russell, 3 day russell, 3 day advanced russell

and one bondurant weekend, no schools.


arrive and drive per weekend

skip barber ~3k (best variety of tracks and schedule, can choose to race double groups for more $ and more seat time)
bondurant ~4k (tiny fields, super fun car, track is so short it's like an autocross)
russell ~12k(smallish fields of 6-10 drivers, feels like you're in an F1 car)


I've done race weekends with skippy and bondurant and keep coming back to skippy because the competition is so intense and our fields of cars are between 10 and 22. meaning- no matter how fast or slow you are, you can race against someone.

next year I will do some russell races, only problem is that they're about the same price as doing a Koni-challenge weekend!!



I would say that I've gotten the most out of the russell schools (because they use Data in your car!) and the skippy racing (timing doesn't lie!) , the skippy schools cost about the same as a skippy race weekend and to be honest, racing really makes you better because it puts more pressure on you to improve. if you go to either russell or skippy, just make sure you engage the instructors to get the most out of them- they really want to help.

C.J. Ichiban

PM me if you want more details as my first dip into the school pool was sept 08. I've done all this since then and some SCCA/NASA racing on the side, hope I can help.

333pg333

Not sure if this is applicable but there's a lot to be said for 1 on 1 private instruction too. Just a matter of lining it up. Plenty of good people in here to recommend. I can happily recommend VRaptor as one of them.
Sounds like CJ has got some great experience in the school dept!

Circuit Motorsports

I can give you a list of a few VERY good coaches that are in Seattle so the costs would be much lower as their expenses are much cheaper. Just had dinner with one in Orlando last night and he lives about 5 mintues from Pacific.

If you're looking at a school I'd lean towards an open wheel car wtih Skip Barber or Bertil Roos. While the Russell cars are cool, they aren't the best learning tool for the reasons CJ said. They're too capable and the cars that Skip and Bertil have has a much lower threshold.

roberga

Don Kitch and Ted Anthony are great coaches. Jim Russel is a great school as well.

Chaos

Not Mid Ohio

SundayDriver

I am curious why you don't like the Mid Ohio school. I have done their competition school many times (but it has been some years) and think it was head and shoulders better than any other commercial school out there. But the hitch is that you bring your own race car so it is much different than the other race schools.

johntorg

For a low cost option, try David Murry group coaching at select PCA events. He takes 5 students at a time and gives feedback and suggestions after each session, I improved my personal best at Roebling by almost a second and gained consistency. Cost was $250 per day.

brendo

all - thanks for the input

right now, since my wife is looking to treat me, i'm looking for a destination school and won't be taking my car. i value having the personal coaching a lot but that's not exactly what i'm looking for right now.

gordon - i've spent a ton of time with don kitch and ted jr. specifically. those guys are great. (i think you and i met down there)

john - pls go to the steamer in beaufort and fill up a bucket with empty shells for me

cj - pm sent...

thanks for all the input so far

986

I am curious why also... I went to their 2 days advanced school (without the first car control / AX day) and really enjoyed it. I used the school car (TSX) and feel what I learned is equally applicable to my own track car. Excellent instructors and much more open track time than other schools.

johntorg

Steamers it is. Give us some feedback after you attend school

roberga

what car do you have? Do you have a data recorder? That would be a big help. Go to Jim Russell and take the family. It is in wine country so all can have a fun time. The cars are great as well as the track.

Veloce Raptor

My opinions, in order of preference:

1) Put VR on retainer (my expenses are el cheapo)
2) Russell
3) Skippy for open wheel/Bondurant for closed wheel

Patrick, THANKS!!!!






Professional Racing and Driving Coach

jsh

Seems to me that there is alot to be said for driving your own car on your home track with a private instructor (such as VR). That said, I'm inexperienced, old and slow, so what do I know.