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Old 02-22-2011
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lazy maritimer lazy maritimer is offline
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"Other" racing schools

I know this is a Skip Barber forum, so I apologize if this isn't an appropriate question. Because I live in Canada I've been considering the Jim Russell school. Cost seems to be fairly comparable, so I'm wondering if anyone could highlight any pros or cons compared to the Skippy schools. Specifically I'm looking at a 3 day race school. Other than the quality of the school itself, I'm also looking at the venues, equipment, and maybe most importantly, the ability to make relevant contacts and network in the industry. I finally want to explore my dream of racing, so I want to consider the longer term impacts of going to one school or another (if any), rather than just looking at the three days of the course.
As usual, thanks for any feedback.
William
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Old 02-22-2011
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Re: "Other" racing schools

Can't really comment on specifics of the Russel school and its content or equipment but can say that Skip Barber is in many of the great road courses in North America and has been the first training stop for most professional racers in all walks of racing.

Juan Pablo Montoya, Jeff Gordon, AJ Almendinger were open wheel alums who jumped to Nascar. Marco Andretti and Connor Daly are recent alums. Ricky and Jordan Taylor stopped buy at Sebring this past weekend to hang out after starting their sports car and DP careers with Skip Barber. Hard not to find Skip Barber alums in almost any form of pro racing so the connective tissue is there.

A number of long time instructors now also work as private coaches to guide drivers on the track and in making pro connections. Money is a huge factor in any pro career now and if you have your own sponsorship it opens a lot of doors. If not it's a tough environment.

The open wheel cars are not downforce cars and are simple by modern standards but they are great teaching cars. Experience has shown that if you learn to drive an SB open wheel car well you'll adapt well to any other type of race car. It's one of the primary reasons the training and series has been so highly valued and successful over the years. It offers great basic training at a lower cost point in a wide variety of road courses no one else offers.

So ultimately the value of Skip Barber is you will be able to train and race at a much wider variety of world class road courses than you would with other schools, with a network of instructors who have a strong knowledge base and first hand contacts with pro connections at a cost point no one else can match. You'll get more seat time for your dollar while learning the basic's of car control and race craft that can then be applied to a more expensive curriculum using downforce cars and data acquisition if that's where your future lies.

Pat
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Old 02-22-2011
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Re: "Other" racing schools

Not sure anyone here would even admit to being 'appropriate'.
You're heading in the right direction, William. You need talent, skill, experience and luck. Good instruction practicing the right things makes for a steep learning curve (a good thing). Both schools have a good history. Currently (and with some bias, I admit) I think you'll find yourself racing at more venues seen by more people in the Skippy series and it looks good on the resume. I can't compare instruction but I'm darn proud of ours.
Work your butt off. Get as much seat time as you can. Be a sponge whenever you get the chance to hang around people who are good at what you like to do.
And bring your wallet.
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Old 02-23-2011
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Re: "Other" racing schools

Thanks guys! I appreciate all the information.
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