Laguna Seca, Skip Barber, and me!

[MadMerv]

Before I get to the good stuff, here is a little info about how all this began.
Unknow to me, several years
ago, Shelley decided she wanted to give me a gift to do something racing related
that I had never done, or
that I would never do myself. She tells me now, that she researched all the
racing schools around the
country, talked to each of them, and decided that Skip Barber was the one, for
several reasons. First,
she didn't want a beginners school, since I already have been racing for ten
years. Second, she wanted
me to drive something "different" (in other words, not a Miata!), and third, she
wanted it to be on a track
that I have never raced on.

Skip Barber certainly was the right choice. I don't think she could have done
any better! They have
several schools, from a three-day beginner's event that starts out with the
basics, autocrossing in
Neons, then to the track with individual instructors in the same cars, then
finally up to their open-wheel
school cars that are not much more than a go-cart on steroids. The second
racing school, the one that I
just completed, is a two-day advanced class. There are also some defensive
driving courses, using pickup
trucks and SRT Neons, and high-performance driving using those same Neons and
SRT Vipers. Both of
these schools only use autocross-type courses and wet tracks. Another "plus" to
Skip barber is that
they have schools all over the country, and I could choose where I wanted to go.
That was an easy
decision since Laguna Seca was on the list.

Lucky for me, the advanced school started slow, with classroom reviews of the
basics, a braking and
down-shifting exercise, on to no-passing sessions, race starts, then full
open-track sessions. It may
sound a bit basic until you consider the car, a REAL open-wheel race car: 150HP
2-liter, 5-speed
sequential shifter, 1250#, and spoilers and wings. Compare these small
differnces to a Miata: cockpit
that you "put on" as opposed to "getting in", reclining at about one hundred and
fifty degrees, twelve inch
steering wheel with lock-to-lock less than one rotation, no fenders, no
windshield, and non-assisted
brakes. Braking requires two hundred pounds of force and hauls that puppy down
at well over 1G, and did
I mention that there is no indcation as to what gear you are in, or a
speedometer?

We had twenty students and about a dozen excellent instructors, that coached us
all thru the school. I
don't believe you will find more qualified instructors anywhere, as they are all
professional racers.
Students had a wide range of experience and ability, from a fifteen year old
from Mexico who has been
racing go-karts since he was five, to a sixty+ year old doctor that has never
raced, and everything in-
between. Having never had driven an open-wheel car before (except for at Malibu
Grand Prix!), nor been
on the track at Laguna Seca, I felt like a combination of both extremes, fifteen
and no experience!

Prior to leaving Texas, I had prepared myself, or so I thought, for Laguna Seca
by reading several hot lap
descriptions in both the Barber "school cars" and Porshes, studying pictures and
video of the track, and
memorizing the corners. None of this prepared me for the CORKSCREW!!!!!! Our
first familiarization of
the track came in a Neon, with an instuctor driving and showing us the line. No
problem, I thought, until
we topped the hill past turn seven, braked HARD, turned left, and the world
disappared beneath us.
"OH....MY...GOD!" escaped my lips as "HOLLY SH..." came from Bob's!
Seventy-three foot drop from turn-
in to eight, to track-out of ten! "...and I've got to do this" in an unfamiliar
race car with half the weight
and fifty percent more power than a Miata!

As it turned out, the corkscrew is not really so bad once you have faith that
everything is still going to be
in the same place the next time you make that long climb up from turn five to
the top, but I'm getting
ahead of myself...... We were split into two groups, with one on the track and
the other following
instructors from corner to corner. Being the second group was invaluable, as
the on-going critique of the
drivers of group one certainly made me more prepared for my sessions, but it
still took a long time to
get up to speed and feel comfortable both with the car and the track. I had
four basic problems
throughout the school. Two were due to the way you have to drive a Miata and
the rest with the car. The
steering was so quick, that I would turn in too quickly and too abruptly, my
most heard critique. I had to
be very conscious to slow my hands down. These cars accelerate from 0 to 120,
even going up hills, so
the "maintain momentum" necessary in a Miata is not nearly so important, which
changed the way I'm
used to braking. The proper way in these cars is to go in VERY fast and deep,
BRAKE as hard as possible,
then trail off of them. I tend to ease into the brakes early, in the Miata,
then max power quickly, before
the apex. The cornering speed and the power-to-weight ratio of these cars don't
like that one bit....I saw
lots of opposite lock! The great thing about these cars is that they
communicate so well, that is really
easy to catch these mistakes easily and quickly.

The car issues really surprised me. Did I mention that there was no way to tell
what gear I was in? There
are fourteen shifts in these cars at Laguna Seca, several of them two or three
gears in very quick
succession. Unlike the gated shifter of a Miata, the shifter always "centers"
after a shift with the
sequential transmission. Also the gear ratios are very tight, so it's easy to
be off one and not be able to
tell by the RPM (assuming that you can SEE the tach!) I tried to "remember"
which gear I was in, but
there was so much going on that I would forget. I finally listened to my
instructors and started counting
shifts for each corner; down three for turn two, up one for turn three, up one
for turn four, down one
for turn five.... That worked and from that point (noon on day two) I had
conquered that problem. The
other isssue with the car was heel-n-toe downshifting. The pedals were so close
together and the foot
box so small, that, under hard braking, I would also apply the throttle. Not a
blip, just continuous power.
When that didn't happen, I couldn't rotate my foot enough to get a good blip. I
never did get my feet to
work correctly.

I had expected a steep learning curve, but not as steep as it turned out to be.
I never really got
comfortable with both the car and track until noon on day two, so I was a bit
bummed 'till then. BUT, it
was all worth it for those last three sessions! I got my shifts figured out,
good deep braking points, tight
apexes, and finally started passing other cars. The instuctors were happy, I
was happy, and I was able to
run with some of the younger kids. There were never any lap times taken, but it
didn't matter. I got
braver; braking later, holding full throttle longer, rolling on the power
sooner, and being smoother. I have
no idea how fast those cars are, but being that low to the ground and having the
front tires in your face,
it felt twice as fast as a Miata!

As for the track, it is awesome: Off camber turns, on camber turns, blind
turns, first gear turns, fifth
gear turns, hills, lots of gravel traps, and 2.24 miles of smooth asphalt. I
would love to run it in a Miata
some day. See next post for a hot lap in the RT2000

[altiain]

What a gift! It sounds like you had one hell of a time out there.

Laguna Seca is one of the tracks on my "must drive before I die" list.

[Sharpie]

Living vicariously through Merv! Fun stuff, great write up.

[smartmx5]

Great wife and congratulations on Skip Barber. Thanks for the write up!

[Darron65]

Laguna Seca is one of the tracks on my "must drive before I die" list.

I've driven past it. Does that count?

Congrats Merv. We are all incredibly jealous now.

[black roadster]

What an exciting trip! I'm jealous!

[sammm]

Great write-up Merv. Sounds like you had a very good time!

[Dave04]

None of this prepared me for the CORKSCREW!!!!!!

Sounds like a fun trip....

[MadMerv]

Hey! I did pretty good, didn't I? Wish I was going with those guys

[onething]

Is Shelley looking to adopt?

[johnwag]

I'm doing the Mazdaspeed 3 day race school at Laguna, this weekend.

[Titus]

i'm doing the mazdaspeed 3 day race school at laguna, this weekend.

you suck!

[POS Racing]

you suck!

+1

[MadMerv]

I'm doing the Mazdaspeed 3 day race school at Laguna, this weekend.

I'm jealous!!!!!!!