Skippy School
Having just got laid off (a good thing) I wanted to reward myself. Some “real” professional driving instruction seemed like the ticket. I called the Skip Barber School in Connecticut and signed up for their 3 day Formula Dodge racing school at Laguna Seca raceway. One of the best racing schools in the US at one of the best racetracks in the world; gotta be a fantastic way to spend your unemployment checks! And it was.
Day 0
Drive my SVT from my home in Brea, CA to my brother's home in Santa Cruz, where I'll be staying for the next few days. It took 6 ¼ hours to cover 380 miles. Slow traffic on highways 41 & 46 keep my average speed down to 60.8 mph. I stopped in Cholome and looked and the brass monument to James Dean. Cholome is about ½ miles west of where Donald Turnipseed made the illegal left turn in front of James Dean's Porsche Spyder.
Day 1
Foggy morning. It takes an hour to drive from my brother's house in Santa Cruz to the track and I pass two wrecks and a jackknifed truck on the way. Not a good omen!
I get to the track; find the Skip Barber school building in the paddock, and walk upstairs into the classroom. Registration is painless, I just had to give them my name and select what I wanted for lunch from the menu, I don't even have to get fitted for a helmet and driving suit because I brought my own. It looks like there are 25 students and 6 instructors – plus another half-dozen mechanics.
Introductions
We (the students) get broken up into two classes (Blue and Yellow) with three instructors per class, and then two groups within each class (1 and 2). I'm in Blue Group 2 with 5 other students. The Blue class instructors are Lonnie (the head instructor for Skip Barber at Laguna Seca), Loren, and Jeff. All three have extensive open wheel racing experience with Loren and Jeff winning Formula Vee, Super Vee, and Formula Atlantic championships over the last 3 decades. Lonnie has been a Skip Barber Formula Dodge and R/T2000 regional and national champion.
Within the Blue class students, all are basically new to racing except for me, Jeff (who already has an SCCA Regional license and races a Sports2000 on the east coast), Ron (who races a 356 Porsche in vintage events), and Lars (who races a Porsche 911 in Porsche Club of America). Jeff is in Blue Group 1 and Lars is with me in Blue Group 2. There's also a 20 year old in Blue Group 2 named Dallas who is starting Law school in two weeks. He turns out to have lots of natural talent and is fast out of the box.
We got through the normal introductions and then go over what's going to happen for the next 3 days:
Today – Classroom for two hours in the morning covering school rules, safety, basic vehicle dynamics, group rotations, and other intro stuff. Then two hours in the cars on a small autocross course. Lunch. More classroom for an hour. One hour in Dodge Neons and Dodge 15 passenger vans out on the track, and then two hours of lead/follow in the Formula Dodges on the track.
Day 2 – Classroom for one hour in the morning with more vehicle dynamic discussions. Three hours of track time in the Formula Dodges with increasing rpm and speed limits. Lunch. Classroom for another hour talking about braking. Three hours of threshold and high speed braking exercises.
Day 3 – Classroom for one hour in the morning talking about race craft. Two hours of passing and turn-in exercises. One hour of racing start exercises. Lunch. One hour of classroom talking about race craft and passing. Two hours of fast/unlimited speed/rpm lapping and passing.
In general, throughout the three days of school, Yellow Group 1 and Blue Group 1 were on the track or performing an exercise for about 40 minutes while the Group 2's were somewhere on the track observing various corners with an instructor. Then we would all head into the pits and switch. Each student shared a car with a student in the other group. I shared a black Formula Dodge (number 80) with a guy named Al, who was there with his son to “have fun.”
After the classroom session we are taken out and introduced to our cars. The Formula Dodges are single seat, open wheel, reclining seat, spec racecars. If you are taller than 6' 2” or weight more than 240 lbs, you won't fit. They weight 1,100 lbs dry (probably 1,250 wet and 1,450 with my fat butt in the seat), have basically stock Neon 2.0L 140hp engines, and Michelin XGT H4 205/55-15 street tires on 6.5” wide rims. The transmission is a 4 speed Webster dog box transaxle.
Autocross
After the car intro, Group 1 students get in the cars and Group 2 students help them buckle up. Then Group 1 goes out and does the autocross exercise and Group 2 goes back into the classroom for some more vehicle dynamics talk. The basic point of this talk is: DON'T LIFT! These cars are real racecars and are setup very neutral to slightly oversteering. If you are entering, in, or exiting any turn at speed and lift off the throttle, you WILL spin.
When the talk is done, it's my turn to get into the car. We walk out to the pits and Al is standing next our car (#80) in grid and it's covered with dirt! Seems that as part of the autocross exercise the instructors ask you to purposely spin the car and Al obliges, putting the car off track into the dirt. At least I'm not the first! Al gets a lot of friendly harassment from the instructors and the other student and then the mechanics come over and wiped the car down before I get in.
I get strapped and figure out where to put my feet. A few students wore running shoes, which turned out to be way too wide. They had to run the first day in their socks! All went to the local K-Mart or the Skip Barber store and bought narrower shoes. Luckily, I've got my blue suede racing shoes on.
A red Neon pulls up in front of our line of cars and we fire up and follow it out of the pits to turn 2. The clutch on the Formula Dodge is reasonably forgiving so I assume it's the stock clutch that came with the motor. The engine, being stock, is very tractable at low rpm and revs slower than I thought it would. I have trouble days 1 and 2 blipping the throttle correctly for downshifts (as you'll read later).
The autocross course setup in turn 2 has an offset slalom at corner entry, a false apex halfway into the corner, and then some cones directing you backwards through pit-out and a hairpin turn at the top of turn 2 entry. We are to use first gear only and go as smoothly and as fast as we can through this course, with smooth being better than fast.
Most everyone is puttering around the course being extra careful. I get through it pretty fast in first gear and think about using second. With 6 years of autocross experience I ain't gonna be beat by the newbies! That's for damn sure (the ego warning light begins flashing – I don't notice it)! Lars and Dallas go through pretty fast too. At the end of each run you stop at a “stop box” and the instructors talk with you through one of the mechanic's radios; mostly positive feedback unless you do something stupid.
For our last three runs we are told to go into the corner full throttle and lift when the mechanic (who is bravely standing at the inside apex of the corner) waves his arm. I go in fast and lift, expecting an instant, snap spin. It didn't happen. The car gradually stepped out and I caught it easily and kept going. The next run I went faster and the same thing happened. Finally, on the last run, I decide not to catch it and let the car go around. No big deal. Both feet in hard and I stayed on the asphalt after doing a 180. These things aren't as vicious on throttle lift as the instructors claimed (the false sense of security warning light begins flashing – I don't notice it).
When this exercise ends, we park the cars in the pits and walk back to the classroom for lunch and another one hour class session about vehicle dynamics. After that we are introduced to the whole Laguna Seca racetrack riding and/or driving Dodge Neons and riding around in the Dodge fifteen passenger vans. Laguna Seca is a beautiful track and is a lot of fun to drive. It's a technical track and you don't have a lot of rest time between corners. Corner entry placement is critical to turns 3, 6, 7, 8, 10, and 11. If you get those wrong (especially 11) you're slow. After the ride and drives (where you learn how fast Dodge fifteen passenger van can get around a race track) we get in the Formula Dodges and do some lead/follows behind the Neons.
Lead/Follow
We are given a soft rpm limit of 3,500 rpm and they put a “stop box” on the front straight. We stop in the box after each lap where the instructors, who are scattered around the course in different corners, provide us with feedback about corner entry and exit. Their biggest concern is entering a corner too early. Too early an apex means tire wall on the exit!
The last few laps we are allowed to run by ourselves, within the 3,500 rpm limit. The car feels very neutral but we are not going fast enough to get any slip angles out of the tires. The instructors didn't have much to say to me at the end of each lap in the stop box except to tell me to rev the car higher during the downshift blips. I'm having trouble getting the lower gears "cuz this engine takes a couple seconds to freewheel rev to 4,000 rpm. Basically, I'm just a putz when it comes to downshifting these things!
After the lapping is done, we go back to the classroom and review the day. Nobody hurt, no cars wrecked, although a couple people spun into gravel traps. I guess the first day curriculum is designed to help the instructors figure out who to watch out for. I figure I'm one of the fastest students there and am feeling good (I still haven't noticed the arrogance/ego and security/ability warning lights blinking). I drive back to my brother's home looking forward to Day 2.
Day 2
Foggy morning, but as with yesterday, the fog burns off around 11:00am and it's a beautiful, clear sunny 70-degree day!
I stop at a Ralph's on the way to get a box of Tums. I may appear all calm, cool, and collected but toward the end of Day 1 I was getting nervous and my stomach was burning. I sit down in the classroom and down a few of the Tums (berry flavored) and, in quick succession, five of my other students ask for a handful. Seems I'm not the only one with a bit of heartburn.
Downshifting
The day starts with more vehicle dynamic discussions in the classroom. After that, we have a heel-toe downshifting exercise where the mechanics take the upper bodywork off the cars and the instructors watch your footwork. This exercise has us running up the front straight and back down pit road. Again, I'm just a complete clown when it comes to downshifting from third to second. I can get the 4/3 and the 2/1 downshift fine, but I just wave the shifter around and try to blip this tractor engine to hell and gone getting to second.
Finally, Loren comes over and shows me how. With the ball and big toe of your right foot on the brake, you have to slam your right knee hard to the right and get a heel full of throttle. You also have to make a very exaggerated “H” motion to keep from hanging up on the reverse detent spring. I got out for another couple runs and the missing second gear starts making occasional appearances. I get so excited about that I miss my braking point for turn 11 onto the front straight and almost go into the dirt.
Most everyone seems to be figuring this stuff out in the Blue group, but the Yellow group folks are having troubles. One guy goes off in turn 2, doesn't brake, and then hits the tire wall. Luckily the suspension and most other components on the Formula Dodges are mounted on shear plates so the right front control arms on the guy's car break off. His is the first car to come on the wrecker.
Driving an open wheel racecar is very different from driving a sedan. You see the front tires and suspension work, you can see the tires get shiny when they are working hard, you feel the wind buffet your helmet, you feel the sun's heat, you hear everything, rocks and other track debris bounce off your helmet when someone goes off in front of you, things that stick to your tires in pit bounce off your helmet when you go back out on the track, and you're very, very aware of other cars around you.
The engine in the Formula Dodge is right behind your head and is solidly mounted to the frame. The whole car vibrates and the vibration increases directly with engine rpm. You mainly feel this vibration in the center of your body, like the engine is trying to mildly liquefy your internal organs. You also hear lots of induction noise and secondary vibration noise from things in the car resonating with the engine. The exhaust system is very quiet because of the 85db noise limit at Laguna Seca (don't want to disturb the nearby campers, shooters at the rifle range, or the owners of the multi-million dollar homes south of the track). The steering is very direct and quick on these cars with a lot of kickback from bumps. You have to let the steering and the car move around a bit at speed.
After the shifting exercise we do another exercise, but for the life of me I can't remember it now.
Lunch is pretty good each day. You pick from a selection of salads and sandwiches made by a local deli. It comes in a brown bag with chips and a homemade chocolate chip cookie. The cookies are a hit and can be traded to the mechanics for favors (car cleaned up after an off, visor cleaning, seat and pedal adjustments, extra seat pads, etc.) They also provide all the drinks you want all day.
Braking
After lunch we go back into the classroom for an hour of braking technique discussion. Jeff explains that this afternoon all the students will be convinced that the instructors are trying to kill them. We will have two threshold braking exercises; the first is the entry to turn 2 after the front straight and the second is about 100 yards after entering the front straight from turn 11.
For the first, we have to accelerate hard (5,000 rpm limit) out of the stop box near the start finish and get the car into 4th gear before the turn in point for turn 2. From there, a cone on our right will mark where the instructors want us to start braking and downshifting for the first turn 2 apex. We are also supposed to trail brake past the first apex of turn 2 (turn 2 is the Andretti hairpin and has two apexes) to get the car to point to the second apex. Once we get past the second apex, the exercise is over and we continue around the track, observing a 3,800 rpm rev limit, to the second exercise after turn 11. The second exercise has us accelerating hard in second gear from turn 11 to a cone set in the middle of the track. We are to pick either the left or the right side of the track (whichever is clear) and begin braking hard at the cone. An instructor will be standing in the middle of the track where we are expected to stop. He will run over to our car and offer feedback (we students have begun to refer to this feedback as a “whipping”
when we get the thing stopped. Brave man! All the students figure that the instructor selected for this duty must have pissed off Lonnie the previous week.
Group 1 folks get into the cars and us Group 2 students help them strap in. Al (my car buddy) is a little nervous about the turn 2 exercise so I offer some encouragement. He didn't like the comment about burning to death in a furious fireball.
We all pile into the van and head out into turn 2 to watch the carnage. The entry to turn 2 is different from most other corners. The turn in point is about 75 yards before the actual corner and the entry in line is basically a straight line from the turn in point to the first apex. Almost like a motocross pivot turn. You don't stay way outside, but you drive for what appears to be an early apex.
All the Group 2 folks are standing behind the inside wall in turn 2 watching the Group 1 folks work. Sometimes its good to be last! Most of the Blue and Yellow group folks understand what they need to do. Unfortunately, my car buddy Al doesn't. On his first run he goes to the right of the braking cone (way too far outside), gets two wheels in the marbles, and spins when he gets on the brakes. Fortunately he keeps it running and continues on. Most of the other folks start braking before the braking cone. Luckily we all get three sessions to get this right.
My first session goes fairly well, although I'm still having lots of trouble downshifting into second for the turn 2 exercise. A couple times I just coast through turn 2 in neutral, which elicits an appropriate comment from the instructors at the stop box. The braking exercise after turn 11 is easy and I practice threshold braking and controlling the car. The brake balance on my car #80 is off (lots of rear bias) so I go into the pits and the mechanics adjust it. Maybe that's why Al spun.
On my second session I think I've got the downshifts figured out so I fly into turn 2 really fast on my first run. Oh crap! The instructors moved the braking cone closer to the corner apex! Stay on the throttle and then climb on the brakes at the cone, the rear starts moving around, I'm getting the car slowed, left front wheel locks up, ease off the brake a smidge, hit the apex, and I FORGOT TO DOWNSHIFT! I spin off the track and into the dirt! Luckily, I went both feet in so the car is still running. I put it in first and try to leave the scene in an inconspicuous manner. Unfortunately, the huge dust cloud and my now tan race car kinda gives me away. I notice the false sense of security warning light blinking. It appears to have been blinking for a while.
When I come back around I head into the pits (safety rules say that 4 wheels off or a big spin requires a visit to the pits so the mechanics can check the car and the instructors can give you a little talking to). When you do something wrong the instructors first ask you, “What did you do wrong?” The absolute worst answer you can give is, “I don't know.” What they want to hear is that you are THINKING while on the track. Even if you don't know the correct terminology, always think about what you were doing with your mind, eyes, hands, and feet before, during, and after each corner/exercise.
Luckily I'm always thinking (something my wife doesn't believe) so I'm able to explain my basic ineptness in a way that elicits a positive comment. In general I've been getting good comments from the instructors and they are pushing me to got faster, brake later, get on the gas sooner, faster hands, do more, etc. They are telling a number of other students to slow down. The mechanics have told me that Lars, myself, Jeff, and Dallas are the fastest students, although they wouldn't say which of us are the fastest. I still haven't noticed the ego warning light flashing, but it's flashing faster and brighter.
My third braking session is uneventful (thank God) even though the instructors moved the braking cone in some more. I do everything correctly, even the downshifts!
We meet back in the classroom at the end of the day and the instructors tell us tomorrow is all about race craft: passing, starts, and race strategy! Looking forward (where's the Tums) to Day 3.
Day 3
Yet another foggy morning. This time it's a lot thicker and I have to drive close to the speed limit (dang!) all the way to the track.
I stop at a Ralph's again on the way and pickup a case of MGD for the mechanics. Remember, Day 3 is Race Craft day so I might need a little extra from those guys. Maybe a set of shaved Michelins, one of the newer Neon tractor motors, or just a little more exuberance when they wave the passing flag at the cars in front of me (or maybe I should just check the ego warning light).
At the track it's really foggy and cool. You can only see one corner ahead so I don't think they will run right away. I drop off the case of beer in the mechanics break room and tell Husky, the head mechanic. He is all smiles and tells me to “kick some ass” today (the ego warning light just went solid red).
Passing
In the classroom Jeff goes over the passing drill. The instructors have setup a square of cones on the right side of the track just after the Bosch bridge before turn 5. We are to come out of turn 4 as fast as we can (rpm limit is now 5,000 rpm), get into fourth, and approach the square of cones as if it's a car we are going to out brake into turn 5. We have to accelerate right up behind the cones, pull out left, start threshold braking as we pass the imaginary car, maintain our mid-track line downshifting to third, pick the correct turn-in point based on our mid-track corner entry, turn-in, and accelerate through turn 5 and up the hill to turn 6.
We will each get two sessions to practice this (about four runs each session). After that we do the race start exercises. I'll explain that one later.
Jeff announces as we are walking out to the cars that they are reversing the run order for today. All Group 2 drivers are out first. Great! I'm first out in a cold car, on cold tires, in a fog. I pop a couple more Tums.
I get in my car and Al helps me get buckled up. I don't think Al is trying for a racing license and doesn't intend racing a car competitively. He is here with his son (there are three father/son combinations at this school) and is having a great time. As I'm sitting in the car I start thinking that maybe he is going about this the right way. I've got myself all worked up about something I'm supposed to enjoy. But then, I WANT to be a racer! And racers kick ass! I notice all the other cars have started up and are being directed out. Oops, off in my own little world again. I start the car and wait for my turn.
When I get the signal I accelerate out of the pits and pit out before turn 2. Entering the track from the pits you have to stay hard left until you get past the first turn 2 apex. The idea is to give room on the right to those cars at speed on the track. As I go through turn 2 the car pushes a bunch and then the rear steps out when I apply some throttle. Cold tires and a damp track. I'll take it easy for now.
I go easy through turns 3 and 4 and accelerate to turn 5. I approach the “cone car”, move left and start braking hard as I pass it. The rear starts moving around a bit and I look at the apex. From mid-track, the turn-in point is farther into the turn than if you were all the way to the outside. I'm starting to not consciously looking at the turn-in cones, which is a good thing according to the instructors. What I'm looking for is a specific view of the turn apex and track-out. I'm beginning to recognize that view as a line through the corner that can be accomplished with the throttle as opposed to the steering wheel. I'm not talking about “dirt tracking” a corner, but more like “less steering equals more speed.”
When I see that view entering turn 5 I make my move toward the apex. Unfortunately, my hands aren't “fast” enough and I miss the apex by a couple feet. That forces me to stay steady on the throttle until I see I have enough room towards track-out to start squeezing on more power. Blew that one!
I accelerate hard up the hill, brake early for turn 6 and accelerate through the corner up the hill to turn 7. If you look at a track map, turn 7 appears as a minor right hand kink before the famous corkscrew, almost something you can ignore. I did precisely that on Days 1 and 2 and found that the car was unsettled under braking as it crested the plateau at the Corkscrew. I had to start braking much earlier for the Corkscrew as the speeds increased and often I found I broke too much before turning into turn 8.
When I got back around to the stop box on the front straight, after Jeff critiques my goofy run through the exercise. Loren got on the radio and said I was apexing turn 7 very early, which was forcing me to turn to the right a second time cresting the plateau. This was upsetting the car. I needed to apex turn 7 perfect to get the Corkscrew right. He also said I was pinching the car in on the exit of the Corkscrew (turn 8a) and that I need to let the car run out to the track-out point. Later, Loren pointed this out to me and the other Group 2 students while we were standing on the outside of turn 9.
With all that in my head, I get the go-ahead from the mechanics and start my second run. I can drive the car harder now that the tires are warmer and the track is a bit drier. I come out of turn 4, scaring myself as usual (turn 4 is a very fast right hander that you only lightly brake for) and go flying into the exercise. This time I lift a little (wimp) before moving around the “cone car”, brake, hit my turn in point, and accelerate up the hill.
Of all the corners on the track, turn 6 is my favorite, which is funny because the instructors all emphasize that it's the most dangerous one on the track and has the worst accidents. The apex of the turn has a deep bowl that transfers weight forward in the car as you go through it. It you are not on the throttle at the apex, the weight transfer off the rear will force the car into a spin. There isn't a lot of runoff room on eight side of the corner exit, so a fast off here means car damage.
Approaching turn 6, I brake early and get it all done by the 2 maker. Then I squeeze back on the throttle and am foot to the floor through the apex in third gear. The car drifts nicely to track-out and I accelerate up the hill to turn 7. Per Loren's instructions, I wait a heartbeat after I would have normally turned into 7 and then go for the apex. The car crests the plateau pointed perfectly at the run-in for the Corkscrew. Some quick braking and a downshift, and I fly down into the Corkscrew, getting that roller coaster felling in my stomach. I let the car track-out in turn 8a, up shift to third, brush the brakes, turn-in for turn 9, and accelerate down the hill. Wow! That was great! Now I know why drivers love the Corkscrew.
My next two runs in the session are just as much fun, although I still wimp a bit at the passing exercise. The Group 1 folks get in and do a double session. When I get back in I don't wimp and am going much faster around the track. I'm ignoring the 5,000 rpm limit and running the car to 5,800 in a bunch of places. The car is starting to come alive at higher rpms and is much more responsive.
When we finish the last of the passing exercises and come into the pits the instructors tell us to stay in the cars. We go out first for the race start exercises. Man, I gotta pee and I need more Tums. Al helps me with the latter, but refuses to help with the former.
Race Starts
Time for the racing start exercises!
Earlier in the morning Jeff explained what we are going to be doing from now until Lunch. Each six car group will get four practice rolling race starts behind a Neon pace car. The pace car will pick us up on the straight between turns 4 and 5. From there, we are to proceed single file behind the Neon until we get to turn 9. There, the mechanics will grid our group into three rows of two cars each.
We then follow the pace car in first gear until it pulls into the pits just before turn 11. The pole sitter (front row on the left) controls the field from there. He brings the field around turn 11 in an orderly manner and then proceeds down the front straight, still in first gear, until the green flag is waved. Then the racing starts! We can race all we want, no rpm limits, until we pass the first apex in turn 2. At that point we have to get back in a single file line and pick up the pace car again between turns 4 and 5.
For the first two starts we are not allowed to pass any of the cars gridded in front of us unless there is a missed shift or other problem. One of the big things that the instructors emphasize is that once you commit to accelerating hard, don't back off! The cars behind you are accelerating just as hard and will run into the back of your car if you lift.
Another warning from the instructors concerns the pit wall on the inside of the track. The front straight of Laguna Seca actually has a small left hand kick in it referred to as turn 1. The pit wall ends just before this turn but it actually narrows the track a couple feet at that point. The instructors referred to that area as a funnel and its right past the Mazda bridge over the front straight. Their worst ever school crash occurred right there.
We (the students) also noticed that an ambulance is sitting in the infield today. It wasn't there on Days 1 and 2.
Lonnie stands in front of Blue Group 2 strapped into our cars and goes over all of this a second time. We nod in agreement and head out of the pits. I'm pretty nervous right now and just hope to get through the starts without killing myself or someone else. Remember, these are open wheel racecars and any contact usually means a big wreck.
I'm second out behind a guy named Dave who was, coincidentally, laid of from work too! He was doing this to have fun but readily admitted that he was in over his head. Behind me are Dallas, Ron, Lars and Dennis. All are pretty good with Lars being the fastest in our group. Dave brings us around and we get behind the pace just before turn 5. As I slow behind Dave I hear a bunch of tire screeching and I look in my mirrors. Dallas is sliding up behind me with all 4 wheels locked up ad a big “deer in the headlights” look on his face. He doesn't hit my car and I wonder what he was doing. Later at lunch, he said that he had forgot that we were getting behind the pace car in that area. He thought we were driving over to turn 9. He didn't notice Dave and my arms stuck up the air until way too late.
When we get to turn 9 the mechanics are all out on the track directing us into a somewhat orderly starting grid. The front row is Dave on the pole with me outside, second row is Dallas on the inside and Ron on the outside, and the third row is Lars on the inside and Dennis on the outside (I may have this and subsequent grid orders a bit off – the memory thing again). The Neon pulls out and we follow.
This is the first time we are running wheel to wheel and we're moving around a bit in the grid getting used to the cars so close. The Neon pulls into the pits and Dave brings us around onto the front straight. I get a little ahead of him so I let off as he gasses it. We yo-yo a bit and I notice in my peripheral vision that Dave is watching my car, not the starter stand. Dave's on the pole, he doesn't have to watch anyone except the starter!
I focus on the starter and when the green flag comes up I punch it. That caught Dave flat-footed and I got a good jump on him! I ran it up to 6,000 rpm through the first three gears and got fourth just before the turn in for turn 2. I brake really late and beat everyone to the first apex! I won! I keep racing around turns 3 and 4 and then slow to pick up the Neon. I kinda notice a red mist, but I don't give it much thought.
When Jeff explained the starting exercise he said that after each start, the front row goes to the rear of the field. When we get back to turn 9, the front row cars must pull to the right and left the other cars grid, then they grid at the rear. Dave and I pull to the right in turn 9 and they grid the rest of the field. I'm now on the outside of the last row. I don't recall who was gridded in front.
The Neon pulls out and we follow. As we come around turn 11 all nice and neat the pole sitter is holding us at a slow pace so we are all bunched up. The green flag is waved and I'm hard on the throttle. This start was basically the same as the first and I beat Dave again, finishing the exercise in 5th.
We pick up the pace car and head back to turn 9. This time I'm gridded on the inside of row two and I'm thinking about using a little race craft. So far the starts have been fairly slow so I'm planning on laying back a bit from the front row and nailing the throttle before the green flag falls. The idea is to get a big run going and just get to the front row when the green flag flies. From there I should have enough momentum to get by both cars in the front row.
As we come around turn 11, I slow a bit opening a gap. Then I punch it! Just as I start worrying about when the green flag is coming, it does! I pull to the inside of Dennis, who is the pole sitter, and fly by him and Lars on the front row! I was past them by the bridge on the front straight and had a huge gap before turn 2. I won again! Let's see, I've got two firsts and one fifth. Maybe I can win the championship (the ego warning light has been in full, bright red mode all day) if I can only see through this red mist.
I catch up to the Neon and we line up again over in turn 9. Only this time, they put me back in the same spot on the second row and one of the mechanics is talking with Ron, the pole sitter. We are gridded with Ron on the pole and Dallas next to him, me on the inside of row two with Dennis on the outside, and Lars and Dave in row three.
I'm so pleased with my starting strategy that I'm going to do it again and get my third win. When the Neon pulls into the pits I slow a bit and come around on the inside of turn 11. I notice Dennis on the outside has pulled ahead. He obviously didn't pick up on my winning strategy and will be left in the dust like everyone else. As I exit turn 11 I look up and… Holy Crap! The green flag is waving and Ron and Dallas have a 30-yard lead on me… and Dennis is pulling away too! I floor it and row through the gears as fast as I can. I'm so far behind its stupid and then Lars starts pulling past me on the outside.
I drive as hard as I can to turn 2 and am grateful that I at least beat Dave, although later he said that he slowed up to let me get in front just before the turn-in for 2. Great… fifth place again and it was a gimme. There goes the championship!
When I pull into the pits and get out of my car, Loren comes up laughing and said, “You can only use your little plan once per race weekend. If you try it twice you just learned what can happen.” I guess I'm having humble pie for lunch.
The last two sessions of the school are fast lapping sessions with limited passing in designated areas. Maybe I can redeem myself then.
Lunch. All the students were pretty excited and talking about the last exercise. It seemed to really scare a couple folks and others had a blast. I sat and talked with Ron, the guy on the pole for my last, pitiful start. Ron races a Porsche 356 in local vintage events and said he was always planning to do a fast start when it was his turn on the pole. When I told him how badly he left me at the start he laughed and said it happened to him earlier in the year at a real race.
Lars came up and said that the only reason he was able to catch me was that he saw Dennis take off and felt he had to stay close before the green flag fell. Lars was as surprised as I that the race had already stated when he came around turn 11. Dallas added that he was also caught by surprise when Ron punched it exiting turn 11 (Dallas was on the outside front row with Ron). Seems that Ron pretty much fooled everyone.
Lapping
After lunch, we go into the classroom with Jeff and he explains the last afternoon of the school. We will all get two 40 minute lapping sessions with controlled passing in two areas: the front straight from turn 11 to turn 2 and from turn 4 to turn 6. All passing will be done on the left and only after the driver being passed points the passing driver by. When asked if the second passing zone includes turn 5, Jeff said no. In addition, the “stop box” that has existed on the front straight since Day 1 is gone and the rpm limit is 5,800. The point of these lapping sessions is to pull everything we've learned into a series of “perfect” laps. Speed is not the focus; perfect lines, perfect braking, perfect turn-in, perfect apexes, and perfect corner exit is what we are striving for.
Then, at the end of the class, Lonnie and Jeff joke that each Blue Group student's pass/fail criteria will be the number of Yellow group cars passed in the lapping sessions. I have my mission!
The Blue and Yellow Group 2s head out to the cars to do the first of two lapping sessions. Dallas and I start talking trash about lapping the Yellow group twice, smoking the rest of the Blue group, etc. Lonnie and Loren just roll their eyes and say something about “…rookie bench racers…” There will be twelve cars on the track (six Yellow and six Blue) and they start us off at ten second intervals. All the Yellow group folks are first and in the Blue group, I'm behind Lars and ahead of Dallas.
My immediate goal is to catch Lars and watch his line around the track. Him and Jeff (the SCCA racer) are probably the two fastest students and I figure I can learn something from both. Unfortunately, catching Lars is not an easy thing to do. He gets held up by a Yellow car on our third lap and gets pointed by right after turn 11. It takes me a couple seconds to get another point by from the same car (one Yellow car scored) and I'm about 15 yards behind Lars before turn 2.
For this lap, I get through turn 2 better than Lars and am about 10 yards behind him going into turn 3. But, Lars seems to have turn 3 figured out because he just smokes me through that corner. I loose a lot of ground and the exit speed he gained on me carries all the way through turn 4 to turn 5. By the braking zone for turn 5 Lars has a 30-yard lead! Most of the way around the track the lead remains about the same, but in turn 10 he pulls me again, so by the front straight he's at least 40 yards ahead. Damn!
The next lap we basically do the same thing, but I'm a bit too far behind to see what he's doing so well in turns 3 and 10. On lap 5 we get behind another Yellow car and pass it between turns 4 and 5 (that's two.) Coming out of the Corkscrew we get behind two more Yellow cars and Lars pulls into the pits to wait for a gap in traffic. I pass these two Yellow cars on the front straight and notice another Yellow car in the pits (that's five.)
On lap six I catch up to a Yellow and a Blue car at the corkscrew. The Yellow car pulls into the pits (that's six) and the Blue car (Dave) points me by after turn 11 (we aren't counting Blue cars passed.).
I'm really thinking about how to go faster through turns 3 and 10, but since we don't have lap or segment times I can't tell how much better I'm doing. Checking the tachometer at corner exit shows I'm picking up a couple hundred rpm but its not consistent lap after lap. I scare myself once in turn 10 and put two wheels off at the exit – too early an apex. All too soon I see the checkered flag waving at the start, so my first lapping session is over.
Laguna Seca has its own rhythm that is apparent only after you run a bunch of consecutive laps. The first few turns are classic road race track turns but turns 6 through 10 have a very unique feel that you look forward to as you're running through the other turns. The old track configuration didn't have the current turns 2, 3, and 4. The track used to make a sweeping left from the current turn 2 entry, then a straight to where turn 5 is currently, and another sweeping left that connected the where the turn 5 exit is now. This last left was the old turn 3 and it was very fast with no runoff room, similar, I'm told, to Sears Point's turn 11.
In the pits I climb out of the car and help Al get buckled in. It will be a few minutes before the next group goes out, so I grab some yellow racer tape and put six yellow hash marks on the outside of the cockpit of my car; six Yellow Group kills! Dallas sees that and also puts six kills on his car. The instructors are shaking their heads and Lars appears embarrassed to be part of our group.
I spend the time before my next session talking with Lars, Lonnie, Loren, and Jeff about the fast way through turns 3 and 10. Both turns are driven pretty much the same even though turn 3 is a 90 degree turn and turn 10 is about a 75 degree turn. The downhill approach and exit to turn 10 forces you to drive it like a 90-degree turn. Both are classic late apex turns where you have to get to the left quickly, get you're braking done early, hit the turn-in perfectly, and then drive out of the corner with the throttle.
One of the mistakes I made was that I wasn't getting over the left quickly enough after exiting turns 2 and 9 so the car was unsettled at braking. This forced me to brake a bit longer than I should, which unsettled the car at turn-in and forced me to wait a bit before squeezing on more throttle. I also had a tendency to early apex these corners. Why? I don't know (wrong answer!) For my last session I was going to focus on these two corners and get another half-dozen Yellow kills.
Soon enough, our turn comes for our last session in the cars. Al helps me get buckled in and it looks like I'm going to be first out with Lars and Dallas right behind me. I get waved onto the track and run the car to 6,000 rpm in each gear. With those two guys behind me I need to go fast from the start to keep from having to point them by! I get a good run out of turn 2 and move hard left early.
I start braking for turn 3 earlier that I ever have and then get off the brakes and back on steady throttle at turn-in. Oops! Missed the turn-in point by a few feet. No matter, I can get the car over to the apex… maybe… hopefully… please! Nope. Missed it by that much… actually about three feet.
So here I am, going faster through turn 3 than I have ever gone before, but I've missed the apex by a bunch and I know I don't have anywhere near enough track left to complete the turn. Since there isn't a magical paving company around that can give me a few extra feet of track surface, I need to do one of two things: 1) carefully reduce my speed and tighten my turning radius or, 2) plan to go off the outside of track and carefully merge back on. What do I do? I lift!
Jeff, Lonnie, and Loren were right. If you lift in these cars at speed, the back end will snap around, quickly. So quick in fact that all I can do is mash both feet hard on the brake and the clutch. As I go spinning around I see and smell lots of tire smoke and feel stuff bouncing off my helmet. The car finally comes to a stop and I'm on the track surface facing the right direction towards turn 4 with the engine running. On my left I see Lars, Dallas, and others driving by me real slow. I also see a few orange cones scattered across the track and figure those were the things bouncing off my helmet. I also notice the big red ego warning light right in my face.
I put the car in first, check over my left shoulder, and head around the track into the pits (remember, big spin means you have to talk with an instructor.) When I pull up to the mechanic with the radio he asks me why I'm there. Damn! None of the mechanics saw the spin! I could have just kept going and not got a “whipping.” The mechanic gets Lonnie on the radio and he asks me why I'm in the pits. Damn! None of the instructors saw the spin! Well, I fess up and explain what happened. Lonnie tells me to slow it down for the remaining laps and focus on getting perfect laps, not fast laps. He's right; I'm not good enough to be fast, yet. Remarkably, the red mist that has been interfering with my eyesight disappears.
I go back out and set my own rpm limit of 5,500. I get about five really good laps in and ended up pointing Dallas by once. These laps were the most fun and exciting I ran the entire school. I felt smoother through all the turns. I also took the time to look around and try to remember everything I could about this great track. And, all too soon, the session was over.
I got out and helped Al get buckled in. I also told him to go out there and enjoy his last session in the car. Don't be fast, just have fun. And I also tore all the Yellow kill hash marks off the car.
I got the usual harassment from Lars, Dallas, and the others in the Blue group but I found out I wasn't the only one to spin. Lars and Dallas both spun off in turn 11 at different times during the session. Both also settled down like I did and drove smoother for their last few laps. Everyone is excited and happy. We pile into the van and spend the last part of the session on top of the hill overlooking the entire track. It's a beautiful, clear, and windy day as we watch the Group 1 cars run laps. Someone times Jeff with their watch and he turned a 1:50 and a 1:52. When the last session is done we all pile into the van and head back to the classroom for graduation.
Now that driving is all done, did I pass and can I apply for my SCCA Regional License?
Graduation
The main reason I signed up for the Skip Barber 3 Day Racing School was to get my SCCA Regional Racing License. Later this year or early next I will either buy/build an ITS 240Z or purchase a Spec Racer Ford and start running the SoPac Divisional series. I was under the impression when I showed up three days ago that I had to complete the Skip Barber School and one day of an SCCA school to get the license. Lonnie cleared that up right away on Day 1. The Skip Barber 3 Day Racing School (if you graduate AND the instructors approve) is all you need to get your SCCA Regional license. Whoo Hoo (careful, that might be a premature Whoo Hoo…
!
Again, there are two hurdles you have to pass to get the SCCA Regional License: 1) graduate from the Skip Barber 3 Day School, and 2) get your three instructor's approval for the license application. You can pass the school but fail to get the instructors approval. That is explained to you on Day 1 and those students who are looking for the license are scrutinized to a higher degree during the three days of class.
With all of this running around in my head (actually, I'm trying to decide which color to paint my race car – red or yellow), I walk into the classroom.
Everyone is talking and pretty excited about what they've experienced over the last few days. The instructors are talking to individual students, “…good job, hope you had fun, you drove well…” some students are making last minute purchases from the Skip Barber Store (racing shoes, shirts, hats, stickers), and Lonnie and Jeff are busy up front going over a stack of paperwork.
I go over to my bag and take off my racing shoes and driving suit and change back into a “civilian.” In little while I'll just be another schmoe driving in traffic. Which reminds me… At the end of each school day, when you start back on the road in your regular car, you have to make a big adjustment back to the softer handling and braking of a street car. Every student comments on this and the instructors warn you about it. On Day 2, when driving back to my brother's home in Santa Cruz I almost ran a red light in Seaside because I waited too long to brake. The other driver at the light looked at me like I was a complete idiot. I guess he can't recognize a race driver when he sees one.
Lonnie walks to the front of the classroom and asks every one to take their seats. He goes through the usual “…thanks for coming, you all did great, a good group of students…” and then Jeff gets up and does a soft sales pitch for the other Skip Barber Schools and their racing series. I'm was initially not interested in any of the Skip Barber racing series because I had heard stories that club racers like me are just field filler for the 18 year olds climbing the CART/Formula 1 career ladder. Loren later explained that Skip Barber runs a number of different racing series at regional and national levels and that club racers do very well in the regional races. Loren also mentioned that at each of the race weekends, drivers in the various racing series get the same basic level of instruction as we have received during the school. This (and the fact that you're not wrenching on your race car during the weekend so you've got time to hang with the instructors at various turns on the track) helps Skip Barber drivers learn twice as fast and folks out on their own in SCCA, NASA, etc. So, I guess a Skip Barber racing series might be a third option for me.
Lonnie gets back in front of the class and explains the graduation/license thing. When we are handed our packet it will contain a graduation certificate (if we passed the class) and the word “No” or “See me” written on the inside flap of the envelope if we failed to get our SCCA license. If we have the graduation certificate and nothing is written on the flap, then we get our license!
He also explains that if we graduate but don't get the license, we can come back for the last day of the next 3 day school to receive one more day of additional instruction FOR FREE to help us get our license. One more day for free! Damn! I hope I've been enough (but not too much) of a clown to win that prize! If I had only known on Day 1…
Anyway, Lonnie calls our names and we each walk up to the front, shake hands with the instructors, and get our packet. I immediately check mine and I've passed the class and I can get my license! Whoo Hoo! I'm almost a real racecar driver! Dallas, Lars, Ron and most of the others in the Blue Group who went for the license also succeeded.
And, its all over.
We all get up, shake hands, exchange phone numbers, say we'll get together sometime (yeah, right), wish each other luck, and head out to our cars. To me it was worth every penny of the $2500 I spent. To others in the class, they were disappointed because the focus was on racing, not just ripping around a racetrack having fun. They would have preferred hot laps in a Viper.
As I drive to my brother's home I try to distill the experience into one image. I keep coming back to Turn 6.
Accelerating up the hill from Turn 5 foot mashed to the floor with the rpms building, the car vibrating, your helmet buffeted by the wind, flashing under the Mazda bridge, getting on the brakes hard at the 3 marker and feeling the back end moving around a bit, back off the brakes and pickup steady throttle at the 2 marker, look at the apex and track-out, turn-in at the 1 marker and get pushed to the right side of the cockpit, squeeze the throttle back on and notice the sheen of the front tires as they work, squeeze down to full throttle just past the apex even though your mind is screaming LIFT, feel the car start to drift toward track-out, look up the for the light hanging off the center of the next bridge, unwind the wheel, feel the car rumble as the right side tires hit the rumble strip at track-out, check the tach, shift up to fourth at 6,000 rpm after the car is settled straight ahead, and let the car move left as you get ready for Turn 7 and the Corkscrew.
That's what I'll remember most about the school and Laguna Seca.
Postscript
I drove home the next day and covered the same distance in 4 hours 58 minutes. A little over 76 mph average speed thanks to my Valentine 1 and the inherent speed and stealth of an SVT Contour.
