i'm about to get my regional comp. license and would love to get any advice on the best way to get myself out on the rack and competing. maybe an old super vee? rentals? i'm located really close to laguna seca and am at a point where i have a little time to get started. any advice is very much appreciated.

kyle

 

Kyle,
I am in the same boat, I found IT classes very competitive and wallet freindly. Bought a 94' Sentra SE-R to run ITA in, figured this would be the most fun for me as there is an SE-R cup that runs in Virginia so I could take advantage of these races as well. The most expensive part of the whole project is the safety equipment, the car is about the third of the cost compared to suits, gloves, shoes, helmet, hans and other minor stuff that falls into that catagory.
Good luck with you project!

 

Another option, at least at the beginning, is to rent a race car.

That way if you decide that it's not your cup of tea, you're only out your personal stuff instead of a car (and storage, if necessary) as well.

 

I would suggest looking into renting a Spec Racer Ford (SRF). They are readily available, reasonably priced, bullet proof, and always a large run group (both regionals and nationals). When I was starting out, someone told me to run SRF for those reasons plus it's all about keeping momentum with those cars so it'll teach you to be smooth and all-in-all a you'll be a better racer. I obviously didn't listen, but looking back, would have been a really good option.

Good luck!
Jason

 

Can't go wrong with spec miata's either. The rules keep a fairly level playing field and the car's themselves are inexpensive and really fun to drive. I've even seen people drive them to and from the track. And they are also widely available for rental.

 

As a longtime SCCA racer, I'd suggest going to Laguna Seca and working a race or two (tech, pit and grid, T & S, whatever). Let people know you are looking for a solid, low cost racer and let the offers come to you. You'll make some friends, get educated and become more familiar with the classes and racers you'll be interacting with.

 

Hey, thanks a lot for the advice everyone. Really appreciate it. Hopefully I'll see you guys out at the track soon!

Kyle

 

Kyle,

Lot's of good advice given so far in this thread. After renting a Spec Racer for my drivers schools and for my first two Regionals, I spent some time at the local SCCA races (Willow Springs, in my case) to get familiar with the club, the people and the cars - and I asked a lot of questions. I ended up buying a well-sorted ITS Supra with a trailer and started running Regionals. Subsequent to that, I've owned a Spec Racer (Ford) and a Spec Miata. All great cars and classes.

If you have a particular fondness for a brand or style of car, that may help guide you selection, but keep in mind that the car you like may not be the best for a particular class. If you don't want to spend lots of time developing a car and simply want to drive, you might lean towards a spec class. There is no absolute right answer.

 

SCCA is a. great place to start in racing.
Defintely look into getting involved in spec racer ffords.
The class is by far the most competitive on every level which is very important in SCCA racing and learing to go fast.
Everything you learn in spec racers can be carried over to other forms of racing.
There are so many aspects to look at with it ....cost , ease of working on the car, availability of parts at the track (huge because usally if you dont have it...one of the other 30+ guys there does.)
Its a great place to learn how to work with set up because the option are limited.
There are plenty of prep shops where you can do an arrive and drive program which makes starting out even better. When I got my start I worked in the shop and helped prep cars for regional races and go my nationals for free.
There are alot of great classes out there but SRF will put you i the right direction a lot faster with better results.
Just my 2 cents!

Cheers
BJ Zacharias
1993-1996 Spec racer Renault (no prior racing or karting)
1997 FC/ F2000 SCCA national champ
1997 SRF Runoffs pole sitter (mechanical DNF) ;(
1998 FA SCCA national champ

 

Another option, if money is tight, is Solo II.

Everything you learn there as far as car control will translate directly to road racing. Most everything you learn about line will translate, although you can make more mistakes about driving in road racing, and it won't "kill" your position.

About the only thing you won't learn in Solo II is "wheel-to-wheel" driving.

(BTW, I've attended both autocross -- Evolution -- schools and road racing -- Russell Racing and regional -- schools)

 

I would agree on the Solo II part.... that is where i did most of my racing. yes it isnt wheel to wheel, but it is a lower cost alternative, and you can run pretty much anything. (my all time favorite was someone in a VW bus, that was just hilarious, but he was just out having fun).

 

I think the biggest "compliment" I ever got was my second time at the Russell school. My instructor asked me to push a bit more when doing one of the handling courses. I told him I was pretty much pushing as much as I could, and asked him to watch closer.

He did.

After that session, he told me that there was very little more that I could get out of the car -- I was sliding the car right to the edge of the course without going off.

This was in a formula car set up to be loose (handling day, they make you work to keep the car straight).

(BTW -- the last session on the handling course, I lapped the last car on the course, who had caught up with the second car)

 

Do you guys mean solo II as in autox or solo I as in time trials? Autox and road racing are very different skills. Yes one might help with the other but they are very different animals in my opinion.
Solo I is a good way to get seat time and decrease lap times, but there is no substitute for wheel to wheel racing. Dicing it up with other cars is part of the skill involved. Setting up for a pass is one of the more important aspects of road racing.

 

Solo II.

Autox and road racing require exactly the same car handling skills. If you can't manage a car for 30 to 60 seconds, then there's no way that you can manage a car for 30 minutes. If you can't drive smoothly (a skill that you learn -- in spades -- doing autox), then you can't set up the pass for the lead two laps (at least!) in advance.

The skills you learn in Solo II you can apply directly to road racing. There are additional skills that you will need to learn for road racing that you won't learn running Solo II. However, those are generally the easier skills to pick up. Learning to pass a car is actually pretty basic: pick the place where you are faster than the other car, then pass there. Getting to that place where you can drive the car consistently, so that you can even figure out where you are faster is the real skill, and that is something that you can learn easily running Solo II events. One skill that you won't necessarily learn in road racing is how to minimize the effects of a mistake. When you're on an autocross course you are only losing time, and mistakes just increase the amount of time you lose. Take that ability to the road course, and you'll drive your competitors crazy because they can't pass you due to your mistakes.

At my last commercial road race school, they re-started me in the "intro" cars because I'd been out of a "real race car" (sales' terms) for over 10 years, although I'd been autocrossing. After one session, the instructors all realized that I was beyond the intro class, and should be in the advanced class -- along with people who knew what they were doing. I felt my first track session in the advanced group was a disaster -- until the instructors complimented me on my ability to basically keep up with guys who won the class by winning their respective karting championships. Day two, which was "handling day" for the class (take a formula car, make it more tail-happy, and then put the drivers into situations that require exquisite car control) was like icing on the cake for me. Trail-brake a formula car into a corner (been there, able to do that!). Power-slide a formula car out of a corner (been there, able to do that!)? Put three formula cars on what is basically a go-kart course (I lapped them!)?

I'm not the only one who feels that Solo II is a good way to get started into other motorsports -- or just as an end itself. Randy Pobst and Jeff Altenberg, just to name two well-known SCCA drivers, attribute their ability to win to their early days in Solo II.

Most professional drivers understand that Solo II is a great way to improve your driving and car control skills. The additional skills needed for road racing are simple in comparison to getting 10/10ths out of a car.

 

Agree with everything you said. Autox definatly teaches you the handling and car control basics and general concepts apply to both solo II and road racing. My students with autox skills definately have the advantage in that department but when you start adding high speeds, cars react differently ie low speed push vs high speed oversteer. You have to practice to transfer the skills you learned at autox at track speeds. Same skills different reaction times.
It is similar to how many of the great motorcycle racers often practice on dirt bikes to hone in their skills.

 

Man, this is some great discussion. Went to the US Sports Car Invitational this weekend at Laguna Seca and got two "parade laps" prior to the Sunday Race. Of course, I held up as long as I could and tried to go full bore through as many corners as I could.

Anyway, it was my first time taking my car out since doing the Russell Techniques school in the winter. Being able to throttle match and feel the car was an incredible difference from my pre-school track days. Two laps was such a teaser though...

dwnshft and Scott - Formula Fords sound like a great place to start on the road. Either of you guys in NorCal by any chance?

daveh - do you still run autox up here? If so, I'd love to give it a shot. I just got the SCCA membership package with all the dates for the year.

 

Kyle,

I'm in SoCal, but it's not unusual to find me up north for racing events. In fact, I almost made it up to Laguna Seca this weekend, but the right deal for a seat never came about.

I have no formula car experience, but I bet that Formula Fords are pretty awesome to drive. Depending upon your goals, however, the Spec Racer Ford (which is what you may have meant in the first place) may be a better choice for the reasons BJ listed. There are plenty of them out there, many companies rent them, and they'll teach you how to become a smooth racer. More info on the cars and class can be found at http://www.sccaenterprises.com/spec_ford.html and http://www.specracer.com. As a side note, BJ and I actually raced against each other at the SCCA national championships in '97 driving Spec Racer Fords.

More recently, I've been behind the wheel of Spec Miatas. I've rented and owned, and there are plenty of teams in NorCal with competitive cars available for test days and races. Spend some time at http://www.specmiata.com to get a feel for the class and competitors. They have an FAQ and search function that should enable you to do a lot of research on the class.

In either case, don't be intimidated by the seriousness of the front runners. They're not representative of either class as a whole. Most competitors are very friendly and helpful - until you try to pass them. It's a great community.

 

I haven't been autocrossing for about 3 years now. I tend to do the track events because you get more seat time. You can get 2+ hours of track time depending on the club vs the 3 minutes at a local autox event. A few Z's do compete up here though in a few different classes so you should be able to check out some different setups. Like Scott said, everyone at these events are generally very friendly and willing to share.
You should come out to one of the HPDE events. I'll be at thunderhill in a couple of weeks.