Great story, kudos for choosing a gearbox. Arrgh.
The Birdman, Wonderful experience and a GREATE write up. Thank You for sharing this with us, for me I felt like I was there. Rob,
Yo Birdman, You are an OK driver (you manage to beat me the only time I drove a kart)! But you are one of the best storyteller I know. What a great read. Thanks. By the way, if you liked this story by Birdman, read this one: http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=154645 Best, Peter
Oh well. Some folks appreciated the suit... Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Uh-oh ! Your already sliding down that slippery slope. Next comes " I think I'll just get that SCCA membership, you know, just for the magazine." I'm with the Carreaper; Thread of the month.
For me it went the opposite direction: I did 3 days Skip Barber first and thought to myself "Now what?". I didn't want to do their racing series, but move up. So I started looking around for rides that I can "borrow" for a day for money. That's how eventually I found the AGS guys in France. I don't care much for participating in a racing series, but I would like to know what it feels like to drive these beasts. And ever since sampling racing cars has become a bit of a passion. I've said it before and I say it again: Skip Barber (or any other racing school) should provide classes to move up. Instead they all provide basically the same beginners class and then their beginners racing series. I'm sure this is a market niche that somebody should fill. Other hobbies work like this: Be it Scuba Diving or flying airplanes, they all offer classes (and tests) to move up the ladder.
Andreas; For me the next step up was in a 40 HP Formula Vee. Its a different experiance when your wheel to wheel surrounded by people as crazy as one's-self all going for that fast lap. Skippy used to have an advanced school back in the coal burning days.
They still do. In the Formula Car series: 3 Day Racing School. Advanced 2 Day Racing School. Advanced Car Control. Lapping Lead/Follow Practice Formula 2000 Test Day http://skipbarber.com/racing_school/formula/formularacing_school.aspx
Andreas drove the same car as I did at the same facility in France! We are members of an elite club. And yes, this is a slipperly slope. Christine even asked me after I did the F1 drive if it was a slipperly slope, soon to be followed by something even more expensive. But we were smart (?) and got the "ultimate" ride out of the way first. Now I want to go backwards and take a more serious intro to racing 3 day course. I'm looking at Skip Barber and Bertil Roos. Roos seems to have more interesting cars (Formula 2000) and the price is a little more reasonable, but they are further from my house. Birdman
Duh. I missed the AGS on the side of the car. I thought this was the one in the US from somewhere around page 1!
I have done some of those American driving experiences as well: What's now the Andretti experience a couple of times, the NASCAR experience and another F1 from guys based in Las Vegas. At least they were until last year, but I think they went belly up. LOL Funny you mention this. There are several companies in Europe offering the same experience in Le Luc. I did it with a Swiss group, you probably with a different company. Doesn't matter. Anyhow, my group at the end was awarded "membership" in the Grand Prix Drivers Association or something along those lines. It sounded just like the real GPDA of the F1 guys, but is of course entirely meaningless. You're doing the right thing: If you're into racing (and spending some serious cash on a F1 drive shows you are), a 3 day racing class is a must. You will learn so much that will make you go faster if you choose to drive on a track and it will also make you appreciate the nuances in driving of the pros. Skip Barber has btw a fantastic book you should read. No doubt about it. It just wasn't for me for a variety of reasons: Safety, time, resources. I restrain myself to virtual racing, occasional go kart races and "driving experiences" such as the discussed here. I realize there is Hertz and then there is not exactly. C'est la vie.
If you can afford to travel, I highly recommend that you sign up for Skip Barber 3 day racing school at Laguna Seca. As you probably know, Laguna Seca is one of the premier race tracks in the U.S. It is also in very close proximity to one of the most beautiful places in the U.S., namely the Monterey peninsula. While you are honing your skills in a open wheeled race car, the Mrs can enjoy shopping and art galleries.
True. In fact the head instructor Rene handed me a business card for his company that does the exact same thing at the same track. he subcontracts with AGS. He sells the same program on his website and buys days from the AGS people at wholesale, then resells it. His card says www.formula-event.com Birdman
Hi Everyone, This is not a professional production (just my wife with a handycam and I added a few comments) but if you want to see some video from this F1 experience, it's on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwWoJvZWBEY It's a little over 4 minutes. Birdman
Sweet! And just like F1 you have random women hanging around! (BTW, we heard the voice over and for a second I thought we had Blue World on. )
my favorite line, "Now imagine a shop vac hooked up to your eye sockets" awesome write up. you should win free membership here for a year. thanks for posting it.
YES!! Absolutely! I agree. Can you convince Rob? Sheesh, I have never even gotten thread of the month with these long-winded stories!
birdman,what car magizine do you write for?,,if not you should send them this post and the f1 in montrel post and you will be hired on the spot,,great write ups