Driving School: What did you do it in?

1985 Jim Russell Racing at Snetterton circuit then again in 1986 for the school series. All were done in OLD VanDiemen RF 78 or 80. I can't remember which. What I do remember was Damon Hill was testing one of the new RF85's and the difference between the two was unbelievable. It was right as the Swift DB1 came out and was revolutionizing FF1600. The RF85 had inboard suspension and looked like a mini F1 car. During the school we didn't run on Thursday (week long school with race on Sunday- came in 3rd) due to the track being booked for testing. We dropped by the school to pick something up on our way to Mr. Russell’s house for lunch only to see Keke Rosberg testing the Williams Honda. It was just awesome for an 18yr old. Watching him go threw the Bomb Hole and Russell bend flat out was awe inspiring. I was part of the Fast 3 that year. The two others were Tomas Erdos whom I believe went on to win the Formula Vauxhaul series a few years later. And Kelvin Burt (sp?) who went on to become a tester for Jordan F1. Oh, and Damon was blindingly fast. He'd go into turn one, Riches corner(double apex) flat out without lifting. Just brilliant.

Then when I came back in 86 I saw my first 288GTO. Didn't get a ride in it. But got a ride in a BB512 with Koning worked heads! It was a screamer. Huge plumes of blue smoke upon start up until the car warmed up. Then they'd disappear.

Oh, to be young again...

 

Late '70s @ Summit Point Raceway with BSR (Bill Scott Racing-I think that's what it was called back then...) in a 1971 TVR 2500. I ended up selling the car to my, then, instructor just before I bought the Ferrari.

 

F1 at the Larousse F1 Racing school in Le Luc France. Test track of the former AGS team. Ok, before that Skip Barber cars at Road America.

 

How was the F1 car and how many laps did you get do?!?

 

May '87 Bridgehampton, Long Island. 2.87 miles with the Ferrari Club of America. Those were the good old days when you would be on the track with such exotics as TDFs, GTOs, LMBs, Testa Rossas, SWBs, 250LMs, 275s, and BBLMs. Not like today where 90% of the cars at the events are 308s and Challenge cars.

 

A couple of years ago, I did a 3 day racing course with AutosportBasi, at St. Eustache raceway near Montreal, Canada. We drove Formula Fords, an open wheel racer that resembles a small F1 car, with a lot less HP. But they are very light and very low to the ground and very fast. A lot of fun to drive.

Two of the 3 days, it rained. An open car is loads of fun in the ran (NOT). I learned a heck of a lot about how cars react on wet surfaces. Those cars were running on wide racing slicks. Talk about hydroplaning. The slightest mistake, you spun out. Both feet in became automatic.

I've driven Lime Rock many times, and done racing schools there with the Jaguar Club and Ferrari Club, in addition to driving it solo many times. If you are really pushing it, at some point, you'll spin. Almost inevitable. Fortunately, when it's happened to me, I've avoided other cars, or more like they avoided me, and never had an injury or car damage. I've driven classic Jaguar XKE's and other vintage cars, as well as my Mondial QV. I've also done various of the road race configurations at Pocono Speedway.

Love the track. Wish I had more time to spend racing and wish I had a better car to do it in. <sigh>

 

If you do a search on AGS F1 Le Luc you probably find more information about it here on FChat as I've talked about this before.

It was simply the best "car" I ever drove, not just in power, but also handling, shifting, precision and response (and just for the record I've driven over a dozen Ferraris, other sports cars and a bunch of race cars). No surprise there really. Which kinda tells you that in F1 even the end of the field is head and shoulders above the automotive world. Ten laps to answer your 2nd question, but that was really up to how much $$$ you threw at them.

 

Thanks! I'll do that but thank you for giving a quick answer.

I've often made this argument to many of my friends whenever back field teams such as Minardi come into the discussion. Even a "slow" F1 car is amazingly fast. Just not as fast as the others.