I have had a few people ask me about the driving school I went to (I keep saying it was last month but it was the end of July) and what I thought of it.
The school I went to was hosted by the SVTOA which is a club for Ford enthusiasts. I know two of the instructors, Opal and Guillermo, who I had been talking smack with for a long time even though I had never been on the track before.
The SVTOA school was $200 for one day and hosted at Dunnville. The 2008 school hasn’t been scheduled yet but information for it will be posted at http://www.svtoaontrack.ca/background/index.html when the schedule is set. I was reading through the recap of how the day went this year and there is no mention of how a wee Corolla spent the day lapping all those expensive Mustangs.
In the classroom the instructor went over weight management and the different points in a turn and what you should be making your car do at each point. The information he provided was almost identical to what the lessons in Gran Turismo teach but it was nice being able to discuss the details of each point and get an even better understanding of what you’re doing.
On the track we had four 15 minute lapping sessions with an instructor seated beside us. My instructor just watched me take the first two laps with minimal instruction then started giving advice on how to read each turn and improve my line and make more out of my braking power.
The lapping sessions were divided into four groups based on experience. I was in group one with the other novices. Groups two and three were for progressively more experienced drivers with group four being the instructors getting to take their machines around for lapping. My instructor let me ride along with him during his lapping session and that helped me understand some of the points I had been having trouble with.
The money spent for the day was entirely worth it and I’d like to believe it shows in the lap times I was making in my Corolla. I am willing to share what I learned on the 14th when I am back at Dunnville for the lapping day.
In the spring I plan on heading up to Quebec to attend the TRAC racing school. More information about that school can be found at http://www.tracracingdepot.com/index.asp for those interested in really high performance racing.
Another school that comes highly recommended to me is http://www.carcontrolschool.com/ here in Ontario. Opal and Guillermo both teach at that school and I like them but I don’t have much to compare it to.
I’m happy to answer any questions and hope some people find this information useful.