Anyone have experience with Simraceway Performance Driving Center? | FerrariChat

Anyone have experience with Simraceway Performance Driving Center?

Discussion in 'Tracking & Driver Education' started by FastLapp, Nov 16, 2015.

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

  1. FastLapp

    FastLapp F1 Rookie

    Mar 18, 2004
    2,962
    Rhode Island
    Full Name:
    James
    #1 FastLapp, Nov 16, 2015
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 7, 2017
    I recently completed a season in Bertil Roos’s formula car series. It was a great organization and I had some success. But I want to try something different and am looking for something which is (1) faster and (2) more feedback and instruction (3) offers an arrive-and-drive race series.

    I am interested in Simraceway Performance Driving Center, which operates out of Sonoma, but can’t seem to find out a lot about them (I think they were previously owned by Allen Berg). Their cars are very impressive (picture below), and they operate a race series.

    Does anyone have experience with them?

    Here’s their website: Simraceway Performance Driving Center – | Racing School
    Image Unavailable, Please Login
     
  2. ProCoach

    ProCoach F1 Veteran
    Owner

    Sep 15, 2004
    5,464
    VIR Raceway
    Full Name:
    Peter Krause
    Allen has his own program. No connection.

    Simraceway has been around for awhile, worth looking into.

    There's a new school based in Florida that is worth looking into, too.

    New Racing School
     
  3. Andrie

    Andrie Formula Junior

    Mar 6, 2015
    720
    Bay Area, CA
    Full Name:
    Andrie Hartanto
    What do you want to know? One of the instructor is my team mate at BimmerWorld. A few of them are my personal friends. They all very qualified and good.
     
  4. FastLapp

    FastLapp F1 Rookie

    Mar 18, 2004
    2,962
    Rhode Island
    Full Name:
    James

    Sorry - I mean Jim Russell, not Berg. Their website says Simraceway was formerly owned by Jim Russell Racing School.

    And thanks for sharing. I'll contact the "new" school and see what it is like. They are having a 2 day in a few weeks that I might be interested in.
     
  5. FastLapp

    FastLapp F1 Rookie

    Mar 18, 2004
    2,962
    Rhode Island
    Full Name:
    James
    Thanks. One question I had the quality of instruction and, based on your comment, it seems that that is high.

    In general, just wanted to get a sense of how it would compare to a Bertil Roos or Skip Barber. Also, wanted to understand the kind of people who go to this school (eg. are they 40+ year olds just doing it for fun? Are they teenagers who are pursuing a racing career? Or is it a mix of both?).
     
  6. singletrack

    singletrack F1 Veteran

    Mar 16, 2011
    5,767
    Pittsburgh, PA
    Hey James...

    Looks like decent seat time for the money - 3 races, 3 practices, and 3 qualifiers. I would not personally like that they only run at Sonoma though. Clearly more than Skippy when you add in the crash damage insurance per day, but then the car is more advanced.

    Here is another one you might check out:

    VMB Driver Development Academy with World Speed Motorsports
     
  7. ProCoach

    ProCoach F1 Veteran
    Owner

    Sep 15, 2004
    5,464
    VIR Raceway
    Full Name:
    Peter Krause
    James, there are a handful of tried and true educational programs in North America and the rest of the world. Roos, SBRS, SRW (née JRSMR), Bondurant, Berg and the New Racing School are among those. I think you'll find that there is a wide variety of ages and motivations that attend. To me, all the value is in the human capital of these schools, the accumulated knowledge and experience of the instructor corps. Good luck!
     
  8. Andrie

    Andrie Formula Junior

    Mar 6, 2015
    720
    Bay Area, CA
    Full Name:
    Andrie Hartanto

    I also have a few friends who are skippy instructors. They are good as well. Most pro instructors are really good. As you may already know, a good coach is not necessarily good player/driver. They do have to have deep understanding and experience and decent drivers. Engineering background is usually a plus.

    The participants on these school are mix crowd.
     
  9. FastLapp

    FastLapp F1 Rookie

    Mar 18, 2004
    2,962
    Rhode Island
    Full Name:
    James
    Thanks everyone. I just saw on Facebook that one of my friends from the Roos series, very fast 15 year old, did their program the past two days. They hosted a special one-off program for him and a few others where they ran in race trim (300hp), as prep for those going into the F2000 and F4 series. He said the level of instruction, coupled with the real time feedback using radios and telemetry, was very good.

    The other option I am looking into is the Bonduranta race series, though it's not clear if they'll host one this year. I spoke with them yesterday and they are undergoing a split with Dodge, potentially replacing their formula "Mazda" fleet with the new F4's. Would also seem like a good next step if they actually can put together a series in 2016.

    Thanks again!
     
  10. RedRacer

    RedRacer Formula Junior
    Owner Rossa Subscribed

    Nov 20, 2006
    791
    USA
    Full Name:
    Redracer
    Today I finished a two day F3 course at SimRaceway. Excellent instruction. Combination of people working to get their race license and people trying to have fun.
     
  11. ProCoach

    ProCoach F1 Veteran
    Owner

    Sep 15, 2004
    5,464
    VIR Raceway
    Full Name:
    Peter Krause
  12. singletrack

    singletrack F1 Veteran

    Mar 16, 2011
    5,767
    Pittsburgh, PA

Share This Page