Oct 1 & 29 Club Driving Schools
We will hold our first driving school oriented towards the novice to inter mediate driver on Saturday, October 1st. The club schools are designed to be high performance driving schools. The skills learned are usable in street driving and can be used as an introduction to more advanced competition driv ing. There have been cases where a guy in the club will send his wife to a club school “so she can get more comforta ble with the car. ” While this is a valid reason to attend, sometimes the guy has never been to a club school because “I’m a good driver. ” Unless you’ve got racing experience, you can benefi from one of our schools. Plus, we give a discount to couples sharing a car.
The actual track time will be preceded by a mandatory ground school and tech inspection on Thursday, Sep tember 29th. This will be held at BMW Seattle. While your car is being in spected for safety, we will spend about an hour and a half discussing seating and steering wheel position, various types of braking, cornering, understeer and oversteer, heel and toe downshift ing and . . . well, lots of other stuff. It’s all part of being a more capable driver and getting the most out of the on track time. Arrive at BMW Seattle between 7:00 and 7:30. The service entrance is at 715 E. Pine st. The ground school will be held on the mez zanine level, above the showroom. The showroom is at 714 E. Pike St.
On Saturday, October 1st, the school will follow this schedule:
7:30- 8:00 Check in
8:15- 8:40 Drivers’ Meeting
8:40- 9:00 Staging – proceed to first station
9:00- 9:40 Station A
9:45-10:25 Station B
10:30-11:10 Station C
11:15-11:55 Station D
11:55-12:20 Lunch Break
12:20-12:30 First Corner workers out – Instructor meeting
12:30-12:55 Run Group 1
1:00- 1:25 Run Group 2
1:30- 1:55 Run Group 3
2:00- 2:25 Run Group 4
2:30- 2:55 Run Group 5
3:00- 3:25 Run Group 6
3:30- 3:55 Run Group 7
4:00- 4:25 Run Group 8
4:30- 5:00 Run Group 9
The four stations in the morning will be: 1) Wet skid pad. On a wide portion of the track we will practice sliding and skid control. We will have a water truck to keep the track wet. It’s a lot of fun and a good thing to know with winter coming on. 2) Slalom/Heel and Toe Downshifting. A slalom allows the student to learn about transient response. Heel and toe downshifting is a useful skill. You may have never heard of it before but here’s your chance to learn. 3) Handling Oval. Here we’ll form a small enclosed road course. You can practice a few simple turns in quick succession. 4) Backside of the Track. We’ll practice the chal lenging backside of SIR prior to driv ing the fu track. The backside includes the hairpins, the back straight and the chicane.
The school is limited to 36 students. There will be no more than three stu dents per instructors. The instructors are experienced Club members. They will not push you. You do not have to drive fast! More important is good technique, smoothness and control. During the open track sessions, stu dents will be either driving, riding as a passenger, working a corner or taking a break.
If you have any questions, call Lucetta or David Lightfoot at . Remember, participation in this school qualifies you to take part in the Pro School on October 29th
October 29th Pro Driving School
For the graduate of our Club driving schools who wants to further their skills, we are offering a special driving school on October 29th. As the special mailing you received a couple of weeks ago detailed, instruction will be pro vided by the ProFormance Advanced Driving School. All of the instructors have extensive racingexperience. Chief Instructor Ross Bentley is a nine time champion.
ProFormance offers a series of courses similar to the Bob Bondurant School in California. Three years ago the club brought the Bondurant in structors to SIR for an exclusive BMW ACA school. While the Bondu rant instructors were excellent, the school suffered somewhat due to disorganization and poor utilization of time. These concerns have been dis cussed with the ProFormance people. The aim is for maximum utilization of the eight hours of track time and a level of sophistication in instruction warranted by students who have prior track experience. The Club will handle organization of the school.
The price of the school is $150 ($125 if you registered prior to September 20th), which is quite a bargain. Essentially the same school offered by Pro Formance at their Westwood home costs $350. Use the registration form in this issue to register. If full, we will be starting a waiting list for any spots that become available.
The night before the school, Friday the 28th, a ground school will be held at a yet to be determined location. This chalk talk by Ross Bentley will last about one and a half hours. On Satur day the following schedule will be followed:
7:30- 8:00 Check in
8:15- 8:40 Drivers’ Meeting
8:40- 9:00 Staging, proceed to stations
9:00-11:00 Stations
11:00- 5:00 Open Track
The open track session will use a lead and follow drill to show the proper line. This will become looser and looser as the period progresses.
This article was originally published in the September/October 1988 edition of Zundfolge
