New member: kross
 

- How you got into racing.
A friend had me run his kart in a "celebrity" (mechanics) street race circa 1995 and I was hooked. I ended up buying a kart and running a few races as I had time (I graduated shortly after and became quite busy with my career). I started running iRacing four years ago, and that escalated into a serious Simcraft Apex 3 motion simulator. Recently, my wife and I went to AMG Academy basic at LRP and I had a blast (also learned a bit too). With a renewed interest, I'm looking to do more.

- How you found this website.
Google. Looking for info on personal equipment (helmet, hans, suit, etc) and the 3 day formula school.

- What vehicles you play with at home and on the track.
2012 SLS AMG roadster (lots of fun), 2013 G63

- Your future plans in respect to racing.
Skip 3 day formula, perhaps that will move into some kind of competitive amateur racing. Some friends are trying to pull me into Porsche GT3'ish track day stuff. Not sure yet, but something, plus sim racing.

- What keeps you busy during the day? Job, School etc.
I sold a software development professional services company I built August 2012, and semi-retired for a few months, then ended up starting something new again. I'm enjoying the process of building something new again, albeit with better life balance, hopefully it can support a racing habit.

Re: New member: kross
 

Welcome Kevin,

A 3-day open wheel racing school and a 2-day advanced school would be the starting sequence for race series activities. I'm partial to the open wheel cars because their response is more direct and valuable in learning vehicle dynamics. Being rear engine cars they're also great training for driving a Porsche.

If you want to go road racing, a season in the Skip Barber open wheel series would pay dividends in building confidence and race craft, while learning multiple tracks at a reasonable cost point. You can run a full season of Skip Barber for less than the cost of repairing a crashed GT3. :-)

The other value of doing a season of Skip Barber is, if you learn to drive their open wheel cars well, you will be able to jump into almost any other kind of car and do well. It's a great training series because it teaches the etiquette and craft of racing in a supportive forgiving environment.

Can't tell you how many times I've seen racers at SCCA and other amateur events with fast expensive cars and minimal training being passed by slower cars with better trained drivers. Whether you go to Skip Barber or not, get the best instruction and lots of seat time before you invest in a fast expensive car or rent-a racer. You'll never regret it.

PS... Nice Sim. :-)

Re: New member: kross
 

[QUOTE=kross;50534]- How you got into racing.
I started running iRacing four years ago, and that escalated into a serious Simcraft Apex 3 motion simulator.

I just looked it up.. holy crap, that thing is crazy!

http://www.simcraft.com/apex-sc830.aspx

Is it also suitable / easily convertible to flight simulator duty?

Re: New member: kross
 

Saw one at VIR a few years ago - beautifully make, fine craftsmanship, quite the sim.
You can buy one, or buy a season of SBRS racing :D

Re: New member: kross
 

I saw the price on their website, but didn't want to mention it in the post, and I had exactly the same thought about it being equal to the price of a skippy season.

Re: New member: kross
 

Regarding flight, you can use it for flight but I do not, I think it would take some time to switch over and get your cockpit ergonomics exactly the way you like them. I think most people stick to one at a time, though I'm sure some people switch over.

Regarding pricing, I learned long ago how much seat time you actually get in a car, that's why I did it. I wanted the most affordable, most realistic simulation to accumulate some seat time. I can probably get more seat time in a few days in this than I can in an SBRS season, so it has accomplished it's purpose for training (and still does). It's also very convenient to sit in air conditioning, read a chapter from Speed Secrets and go try it out right away!

While it isn't a replacement for the real thing, it's very good and inexpensive by comparison ($/hour). Now that I've gotten some seat time that some if my friends got growing up karting, I feel good about venturing into the real thing.