Malcolm Cox wrote:
> I am thinking of doing a 3 day race school.
> Accessible locally are Skip Barber at Laguna Seca and Russell at Sears
> Point.
> Does anyone have any experience(s) to talk about from either (preferably
> both) schools?
Having done both schools (Barber at Sears Point and Russell at Laguna),
there are differences and tradeoffs. I did the Russell advanced 3 day
course, but there was a beginning day Russell school alternating track use
at the time, so I think the structure is similar, as far as I could tell.
At Barber, there is no passing, and really, no continuous lapping until the
last afternoon on day three. Cars are sent out one at a time and must come
to a stop at a start finish line. One purpose is that some, but not all,
will receive suggestions over radio from one or more instructors who observe
from various parts of the course. The other purpose is to meter the low of
traffic. At Russell, they drive in traffic and drive 25 minute sessions,
receiving feedback afterward, unless summoned in earlier for some good
reason.
At Barber, the instructors observe from set locations and observe the entire
group. At Russell, approximately three students are assigned to a single
instructor. During the session the instructor drives to various parts of
the course to observe.
While it would seem that Barber would give full course coverage, you may not
get any feedback until the last afternoon, not because you couldn't benefit,
but because others were more in need of it. Russell offers the advantage of
the perceptions of one instructor as to your approach to the entire course.
Personally, I felt that this results in a more comprehensive view of things
that can be more easily applied at new tracks.
Barber is a much higher volume operation, and caters more to selling the
experience of being in a race car. My understanding is that only about one
third of those who go intend to race. They do try to teach you the proper
line, weight transfer, etc. Not much time is spent on race craft per se.
The only attention given to that subject was an hour or hour and one half or
so on the morning of the third day. I have no idea what the classroom
content is of Russell's analogous program.
Both schools sponsor a racing series, and I did participate in each of
them. My impressions of the two programs are similar to the impressions
given in the CSRG clinics of the last two years. In 1996, a Skip Barber
instructor gave the morning class, and while the instructor had a very droll
sense of humor and was quite entertaining, the consensus seemed to be that
Russell's presentation in 1997, made by Jacques Coutrere (sp) was better and
more useful. While the instructors at each school are first-rate, Russell
gave me the impression of being a more professional, serious operation, and
gave far greater emphasis on safety and safe passing than Barber.
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