mikeys2k

I am planning to hopefully track the S this year and wanted a little bit of race knowledge before doing so.
I have never tracked before and would like to go to a track school so I don't do anything stupid.

Any recommendations would be appreciated

Thank You

Mike.

BKL

Ian Laws's Car control school http://www.carcontrolschool.com/ (Mosport DDT)

HANSON school (email peter hanson directly to sign up) hanson_gtr@sympatico.ca (Mosport DDT)

RAVEN BMW holds good schools at Dunville. www.ravenperformance.com


They all hold good schools. I liked Ian Law's school the most. It's called tracking school, by the way. Racing school teaches you racing...

Good luck! and hope to see you at the tracks next year!

BioBanker

Yeah - huge difference between drivers education days and "racing".

But it is awesome that you're being proactive about picking the best place to start.

I usually start the year at the Hanson school myself - its a terrific introduction to a "track" and a great way to get back in the seat for someone who's been on the track in the past.

cthree

Are you expecting to do something stupid?

mikeys2k

I wasnt sure what these school were called exactly thanks for the heads up (I edited my topic). I will definitely look into the ones mentioned.

Im not expecting to do something stupid, I just want to make sure that i have some track knowledge prior to tracking my car to ensure I dont do any mistakes that could wreck the car, hurt myself or anyone in the process.

shareall

Great attitude IMO

QIKSILVR

I've taken the Ian law car control and lapping (tracking I guess) schools.. They're good basic courses that will give you a good foundation to start with. Sometimes it can be a crap shoot on the quality of your in car instructor but you can always request someone else, for the most part they are pretty good.

^AnDre^

Mike,

Come out to TRAC's school in Montreal (St. Eustache) April 15 weekend. They have quite a good program and its a blast of a weekend (especially with alot of the honda guys from HADA motorsports). Let me know if you are interested and I can hook you up with Carl's number.


Any decent race/lapping school is great, it dosent matter where you start and it dosent matter how many you attend, you will always learn something. I even started off taking the Porsche Driver for a Day which wasn't really more than just driving some expensive porsches around shannonville in 3rd gear all the time (but at least I drove a 911 GTR and 944 cup car, along side many other 911 and boxters). As they say, the greatest benefit for tracking/racing is practice. Everytime you take a school you get someone else's fresh advice, and help build on what you were learning before and also maby tell you the mistakes you are making which the other guys were too soft to tell you in the first place. Not to mention that any of these schools will better teach you the limits of your car and how to avoid potential problems even on the road. I am the first to say that it should be manditory by the government that all people must successfully complete an advanced drivers training course before they are granted their license. My gf's father even had his son and daughter take the bmw training course to become better and safer drivers.

I would recomend taking one of the simpler classes to get a feel for things, then go to something like the MCO school or better yet TRAC Racing, and then even after that, if you have cash, bridgestone has some decent schools but the best part is that they are in single seater Formula 1600's. Check out www.casc.on.ca, theres lots of info on proper schools there. Definatly money well spent.

Chicos

http://www.trillium-bmwclub.ca/site/...DriverTraining these events are very good introductions and they will put you in the C (beginner group). Mosport is an unforgiving track, but if you have the right attitude you can learn on it safely.

The Hansen DDT is good to learn on as Biobanker suggested.

I like Shannonville, but it is a bit of a drive.

Last year I participated in 10-11 track days at they were a lot of fun. Do not start out with lapping days PLEASE. You will need to get 5-15 days under your belt of instruction before you are comfortable enough to drive Mosport or the bigger tracks on your own. Even then having instruction will take your driving to the next level.

Do not worry about being fast, concentrate on being smooth, understanding car control, and working up the speed slowly. I found myself pulling back my speed a lot with my new car even though it is more capable, and really who cares I'm having fun. learning and I will go back with my car.

rioja

I'd also suggest the Dexter Days at Mosport http://www.dexterautosport.com/

It's not bad starting out at Mosport (if you're at a good school!)

In hindsite, I wish I had taken that approach.