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Topic:   racing school....what a kick....

tangled up in BLUE Prowler Junkie Posts: 11086 From: New Castle, Ind Registered: DEC 2000

posted 03-25-2003 01:20 PM          ....Early last year I attended the Panoz driving/racing school at Road Atlanta....it was a real blast and a very good learning experience.....this year the annual Woodhouse Chrysler racing school was put on by Bertil Roos and was held at Virginia International Speedway, near South Boston, Va....the group of potential racers was housed at Berry Hill, a plantation just north of South Boston.....it was like a trip back in time...it was a working plantation and the grounds are still pretty much in tact...quite a place to stay for any reason, maybe the most interesting place I have ever stayed.....school started each morning at approximately 8:30am...we were in class for a short time then to the track...the first few times on the track we were driving Volvo sedans at speed, learning the line, braking zones and turn ins etc etc....lots to learn on a road course like this one....since this event was using Formula cars, we were driving open cockpit cars, no windshield, no roof.....the day was spent acting in sorts as a pit crew for your team mates(3 drivers per car and instructor)helping strap them in and making sure everything was fastened properly, or driving.....we were on the track for 20 minute segments...it doesn't sound like a lot of time, but I guarantee you these 20 minute driving periods were VERY tiring...we were in the cars 3 to 4 times per day....just the act of getting strapped in was a pretty big task...the track surface was great, the surrounding scenery was beautiful and it was a sensory experience like no other....felt a little like Mario a few times during the three days we were there....passing is allowed from day one, and speeds were what ever you wanted to make of them....they wanted our foot either hard on the accelerator, or hard on the brakes, no coasting at all....sliding the cars was encouraged in the turns....speeds were well in excess of 100 mph on several parts of the track, but sliding thru the "S" turns is by far my favorite part of the school....if you are looking for something totally out of the ordinary, this is it...I have had more fun at these schools the last couple of years than just about anything I have ever done...plans for next year have yet to be announced, but if at all possible I will be there....talk of Sebring was heard several times as a possible location for 2004.....if you can, attend one of these schools before you get too old to get your walker in the car, you won't regret it at all.....

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