Thom,
I took the Russell Racing school back in '93 when they were at Laguna
Seca. They have since moved to Sears Point, with Skip Barber moving to
Laguna. I would say it's worth every penny. The 2 possible downsides
I can think of is that these schools will both plop you into a formula
car, which is very different from your 912. They are also expensive. On
the upside, you will get very professional instruction, and learn a lot
about car handling. The head instructor when I took the class was Jon
Beekhus, who had just lost his Indy ride, and hadn't signed on with
ABC sports yet. The instruction was excellent. Of course, I ended up in
a vintage formula car, so the instruction was mostly very much on target.
Given that you have a 912, you might also consider just going with a
personal coach who will teach you how to drive YOUR car. Getting more
seat time in YOUR car could be more valuable than getting to know a
Formula Ford/Mazda/Russell car. There's a guy named Bob Cornish who
does coaching now at Thunder Hill, which I would consider a very safe
track to learn on. Laguna was pretty scary. Sears Point is also a very
challenging track to learn on. There are plenty of places at both you
could really screw up a car on. Thunder Hill has very few (perhaps 2)
places you could do some real damage. There's also the popular SCCA
Street School you could run the 912 in.
BTW, your '68 912 is not eligible with HMSA or CSRG, as far as I know.
I believe the cutoff for production cars in HMSA is 1965. CSRG is '67,
but you might be able to get it classified as a continuation '67 car,
if any such existed. I'm not sure how an EP-spec car would be received,
tho.
YMMV,
Simon Favre
Thom Kuby wrote:
>
> Greetings All,
> As I get closer and closer to seeing my vintage race Porsche 912 become
> reality...I'm faced with another reality: Driver Training.
>
> I'm quite serious and determined to get some initial, proper training up
> front, sometime before my car is ready for its' initial shakedown period.
>
> So, I'm soliciting your wisdom & input regarding these different driving
> schools that are out there. I was thinking of one of these "established"
> schools like Bondurant, Skip Barber, Russell, Daly, etc, etc. However, I'm
> open to any and all possibilities...except schools in Europe; my budget
> dictates I stay in the States.
>
> What I'm looking for are:
> - recommendations (based on experience please)
> - actual experience ("what did you get out of it"; did you feel it was worth
> the time and expense?)
> - any other factors that might effect a decision.(e.g. the fact I'm in an
> EP-spec 912, live on the west coast etc)
...
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