http://www.lrsformula-usa.com/usa/index.htm Pricey but looks interesting. Anyone else know anything about this?
It looks like these guys are related to the crew that have been doing this in Europe for years in which case they are very professional and good but I should tell you that the food and wine near Magny Cours for supper afterwards will be better than at Las Vegas !
I have seen this and even mentioned it on here in the past. Anyway, I believe these guys have tried a similar approach in the US a few years back, but failed. Now however it looks like the thing is a lot more solid and for real. The pricing is about the same as it is in Europe (or in other words 3 times less than it is for a similar program run in Canada) but of course you save yourself a trans Atlantic crossing. The program also looks similar to the one I did in France and that was a blast. The cars here are all paddle shifters and from around the year 2000. The one that really entices me is the 2001 Prost because that was the one year Prost had Ferrari engines. And that would probably be as close as I would ever come to driving a Ferrari F1. Sadly the car here has now a Cossie, but hey, the chassis is still a "half" Ferrari. So in short this is a program I definitely want to try once I have some $$$ lined up.
I have been following all occasions around the world to drive a F1 and this one seems to be the least expensive option for us Americans. I don't think you need to work out for this though. You won't be driving it anywhere near that hard. When I was driving the 1990 AGS I was going as fast as I could for 10 laps but that hardly wore me out.
That is WAY expensive... $6k for just 12 laps in one afternoon?? I did the Skip Barber Race School at Laguna Seca that was 3 full days for $3k. However these cars look much faster.
Or you could buy a used Formula 3 car for around $50k (or less, or more, depending on age) and drive it as much as you like. ~ 550kg, 240bhp with the air restrictor.
I did the 3 days Skip Barber School as well and that teaches you the basics of racing. That's good to do and know, but can not in any way compare to driving an actual F1. You're comparing learning to fly a Cessna vs taking the controls of the Concorde. Doing the F1 experience with Skip Barber training is a good idea, you know much more and enjoy it more. I remember when I was in Skip Barber class I was already thinking and asking about better and faster cars and their answer was the advanced class, which is in essence almost the same cars again (a little more hp, some aeros for chic, sequential gearbox and slicks, but nothing earth shattering). That's why such programs are way cool, you get to play with the real stuff. Owning a race car is nice, but in the long run a lot more expensive than rent a ride every few years.
