From Sept. 27-29 I traveled to Wisconsin, USA to lap the famous Road America race track.  Since I arrived a day early I decided to head for the track and scope out the surroundings.  This first thing that strikes you is the natural beauty surrounding the track.  With the vast rolling hills and seemingly endless array of dense trees, the track simply blends in and becomes a part of its surroundings.

The Skip Barber Racing School, whom I would be lapping with the following day, was conducting their final day of a two day advanced racing course.  I asked if I could tag along with the instructors for the afternoon and they were more then willing to allow for me to accompany them to various corners around the track.  It was a productive afternoon of surveying the circuit and gaining a better understanding of the Skip Barber cars and how they work.

The following day was the first day of my two days lapping Road America in an R/T 2000 car.  First thing in the morning the instructors took us around the track in their vans and gave us pointers on how to best navigate it in our race cars.  After this, all the drivers and instructors met for a briefing in the Skip Barber clubhouse.  I quickly realized how appealing the Skip Barber Racing School is to a wide range of demographics.  There were some as young as 14 while others were over 50, and there was a good mix of both male and female drivers too.  Some of us were there to use this as a stepping stone in our racing career, while others were there simply for the enjoyment of driving.

After our briefing it was off to the pit lane and our cars.  I have driven karts and various types of cars (Formula Renault 2000) but the school’s R/T 2000 was new to me.  After a brief intro to the cockpit and controls I felt comfortable that I was ready to tackle the challenge of Road America.

It was my first time in two years having to use the heel and toe downshifting technique so I spent a few laps becoming comfortable with this again.  For those unfamiliar with this technique, it simply requires you to blip the throttle just before releasing the clutch on a downshift.  The trick is that you have to do this while continuing maximum braking.

A huge advantage that Skip Barber provides is that they place instructors at corners all around the track. Then after each session they return to the pits and provide feedback to each driver individually.  They also send instructors onto the track and they are very accommodating to those who would like to do a lead and follow with them in order to get faster.

The plan for the day was to run 2 lapping sessions with a 30 minute break in between them.  But with the threat of rain looming overhead it was decided that I should go out in back-to-back sessions to avoid the rain.  I made good progress throughout the day and was eagerly anticipating my second day in the car.

When I woke up Thursday morning and looked out my hotel window, I was greeted by nothing but sunshine.  I headed to the track for my second day of lapping with Skip Barber.  After some initial delays with my seating position in the car, I was off streaking down the pit lane and onto the beautiful Road America course.  The first session went well and after making some minor pedal adjustments I headed out for my final session.  The second session got off to a slow start as drivers decided to explore the gravel traps.  At one point there were as many as five cars off the track.  Each time we had to return to the pit lane and allow the track crews to rescue the stranded cars.  Finally we were able to continue the session and once again develop a rhythm of lapping the circuit.

After two days of solid running I was pleased with the progress I had made.  Road America is truly one of the best race tracks in the world.  I would like to thank all those instructors involved with the Skip Barber lapping day.  They conducted each day with the utmost professionalism and showed an interest in each individual driver.  I would highly recommend the Skip Barber Racing School to any interested in driving, no matter your skill level or aspirations.  This is why I plan to continue testing with the aim of competing in the Skip Barber National Championship next year.

For more information on the Skip Barber programs, visit www.skipbarber.com