I'm getting ready to start my first round of pro school with Skip Barber. What I would like to figure out is which school do you all think I should attend? Do you think the Formula School (open wheel) is the best way to go or should I go with the MX-5 school (closed wheel)?

My plan is to participate more in Time Trials and some possible wheel to wheel racing. I think the chances of me getting into a formula car to actually race in will be very slim, however, from what some people tell me the formula school is the one to go with because the level of instruction (proven program). I will be attending the school at Laguna Seca.
Also if everything goes well, I would like to attend the advanced portion of the school which I think includes the formula cars only.

 

If you're looking to get into a Formula car, look at F500. They're about as cheap as wheel-to-wheel racing gets.

 

I'd say the MX5 may be more useful because you have to learn to carry the speed through the corners on a not-close-to-an-evo kind of car, else your hosed, where as the formula car will cover up more mistakes because it's pretty fast already. Again it depends on the budget and what you want to do with your cash. There's always the mx-5 cup which is cheap to get into....but if your a ways off yet the Formula would be the most fun by far

 

This is absolutely incorrect.

The Formula cars will teach you about car dynamics and driving skills moreso than a "tin can" ever will. Read any reputable racing book to see why.

 

Carrol Smith recommends formula cars to learn... Specifically Formula Fords. The way I understand it, what you learn from Formula cars is transferrable to any form of Road Racing.

I'm not sure that the same can be said about starting in a road car.

 

I would follow whatever advice Skip Barber gives you after you explain your experience and goals. BTW, I'm very jealous!

 

They suggested I go with the MX-5 because it's their newest program and because I will be mostly driving closed wheeled cars. My worry is if I am able to choose either, should I really go with that program. I never driven a formula car so I can't compare which will be the best for me to learn proper car control. Each machine is different and I want to make sure I go with something that will teach me something that I can apply with any vehicle that I will never be able to learn with the other (hope that made sense ).

 

depends on the formula car....

i recommend karts for basic learning... plus, they make everything else seem slow.

i have a 125 shifter which i drove before i went to ALMS race weekends, it was amazing how much slower your perception of speed is.

cb

 

Are you talking about the Skip Barber school at Laguna Seca? As for the original question, I'd go for the formula course, but you probably can't go wrong with either one.

But as for location, if you are going to racing school in NorCal, why not go to the Jim Russell formula school at Infineon/Sears Point instead. That is just such an incredible track (Laguna ain't bad, but it pales in comparison to Infineon). Three days at Infineon/Sears would be one of the most incredible track experiences of your life (or mine).

 

Yes I am referring to the Skip Barber race school in Laguna Seca. I'm planning on attending the JR school later this year but I was waiting for Paul to get back to me and let me know a good time to attend. In the meantime I wanted to start with a school now so I can start my education process.

 

Have fun at both. You gotta lotta $$$ for racing schools, since both SB and JR will set you back at least $8K in total.

 

Yeah I've been saving up for a few years to do this so I figure this will be the year I go all out.

The other side to this is I will be writing an article about the experience. It may help others who are interested in attending a school by showing them what I went through. Basically to help them decide if it's something that is worth spending their money or time on.

 

If you can drive a formula car fast then you can drive anything with 4 wheels fast. That is because everything else will feel "slower" which they are.

My vote would be for the Jim Russell school at Infineon but the SB school ain't bad either.

 

as a product of the skip barber system (and now a skip barber instructor), i might be a little biased (just a little =P)...

since your question started with you taking a Skippy course, i would recommend the formula car school to really learn the fundamentals of driving. the formula car is much harder to manipulate and requires more precise driving. the mx5-cup car is a great school (same instructors run both programs, so the level of instruction is the same) but you will learn more from the formula program. if you were going to go race a spec miata or mx5 cup car (or something similar) i would tell you the opposite, but for what you want to do the formula car will benefit you more.

ill actually be down at MRLS this weekend coaching a MX5 school if you wanted to come check it out... the formula car school will be going on at the same time.

let me know if you have any questions - you can email me (which will probably get a quicker response) at robbiemontinola@gmail.com

thanks,
robbie montinola

 

As you are writing an article I think this would fall into the deduction category without too much effort!