Skip Barber- Ripoff Report- Buyer Beware
01-25-2011, 12:08 PM
#61
The Mrs. wanted to buy 3 days of formula school @ Skip Barber for my 40th, along with a nice weekend in Monterey. Now I'm thinking we should stay home and I should commute to Sears Point and take the Russell school instead.
I did have a good time doing their sports cars advanced driving school 2 years ago but I'd rather not mess around when it comes to open wheel cars & safety.
I did have a good time doing their sports cars advanced driving school 2 years ago but I'd rather not mess around when it comes to open wheel cars & safety.
Unless you like cold water scuba -- in which case, Big Sur and SLO -- Monterey Peninsula and Carmel are pretty dreary at the best of times (eg. golf, concours.)
01-25-2011, 01:08 PM
#62
Rennlist Member
I can highly recommend it, although the classes/formats have changed over the years they have good instructors etc ...
The only negative thing I can say is that the pit crews were a bit distracted ...
While practicing racing starts, the rear bi-plane wing on my F-car (mazda at the time I think) caught fire as it was too close the exhaust ... when I pulled
into the pits in flames it took the crews a moment to pay attention because,
at the time, TRG were doing a photo shoot with their new race car and they had a couple of models in racing suits spritzing each other with water bottles
in 102 degrees of sunshine ... so they were a little less attentive ...
overall the experience was a great one (independent of the eye candy) clearly
the cars had a hard life, but if you pulled in with an issue it was resolved!
01-26-2011, 01:29 AM
#63
Addict
Rennlist Member
Rennlist Member
There's no explaining their behavior re: the refunds other than to say that their front office is also their back office. I had a billing dispute with the LS school a few years ago, and the person who got it fixed for me was the same person who handled the registration. They tried to bill me for a lead/follow session during an open lapping day. It was scheduled, but never happened due to instructor conflicts. No big deal until they tried to bill me for it anyway.
Re: the equipment, they were talking about replacing their fleet of forumula fords 3 - 4 years ago. If I recall, they completed the transition to mazdas only for the cars used in the race series (and graduates of the 3-day racing school). I guess they figure that the 1st timers in the entry level schools are gullible and will jump into aging equipment w/o questioning anything. If I'm correct, then you might have a very different experience if you were to attend the post-school events as you had originally planned. You'd be sitting in a much newer and better maintained car with decent downforce, sequential gear box, and better rubber. If you can get over the billing issues, that is.
Re: the equipment, they were talking about replacing their fleet of forumula fords 3 - 4 years ago. If I recall, they completed the transition to mazdas only for the cars used in the race series (and graduates of the 3-day racing school). I guess they figure that the 1st timers in the entry level schools are gullible and will jump into aging equipment w/o questioning anything. If I'm correct, then you might have a very different experience if you were to attend the post-school events as you had originally planned. You'd be sitting in a much newer and better maintained car with decent downforce, sequential gear box, and better rubber. If you can get over the billing issues, that is.
01-26-2011, 09:22 AM
#64
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While practicing racing starts, the rear bi-plane wing on my F-car (mazda at the time I think) caught fire as it was too close the exhaust ... when I pulled
into the pits in flames it took the crews a moment to pay attention because,
at the time, TRG were doing a photo shoot with their new race car and they had a couple of models in racing suits spritzing each other with water bottles
in 102 degrees of sunshine ... so they were a little less attentive ...
into the pits in flames it took the crews a moment to pay attention because,
at the time, TRG were doing a photo shoot with their new race car and they had a couple of models in racing suits spritzing each other with water bottles
in 102 degrees of sunshine ... so they were a little less attentive ...
12-30-2011, 03:08 PM
#65
Just got back from the 3-day skippy event at Sebring, and I have to agree that the cars are beat to hell. I had some minor brake issues, but nothing compared to the kid who lost his master cylinder (and braking) at turn 2. Luckily we were running the short course, and there was a big runoff onto the regular track. If he'd lost it elsewhere, especially in 8 (17 normal track), he could have gotten hurt.
Instructors were terrific, and lots of great advice and track time. I was quite surprised at how old and beaten up the cars looked though.
Instructors were terrific, and lots of great advice and track time. I was quite surprised at how old and beaten up the cars looked though.
12-30-2011, 10:46 PM
#67
I ran the advanced race school at Sebring last year. One guy lost one of his front A arms which adversely affects handling. On day 2, the pit crew forgot to refuel the cars after lunch and we all ran out of gas. The cars were running old Neon engines regardless of the Mazda stickers. It was still a lot of fun but I agree that newer equipment would have improved the experience. Trying to give feedback by handheld radios which you can't hear doesn't work.
12-31-2011, 07:02 PM
#69
Nordschleife Master
Russel at Sear's Point is unreal.... I am old and will always refer to Sear's. There is a good Ferrari school in the Great White North but that is CJ money.
12-31-2011, 08:46 PM
#70
Rennlist Member
01-01-2012, 05:29 PM
#72
Rennlist Member
01-01-2012, 05:30 PM
#73
Rennlist Member
01-01-2012, 10:50 PM
#74
Rennlist Member
Drifting is fun, we went to the skid pad at Sebring a few weeks ago..
I've put the date in my calender, what other dates do I need to know about for 2012 at the Ring now that I have a line on a good car
I've put the date in my calender, what other dates do I need to know about for 2012 at the Ring now that I have a line on a good car
01-02-2012, 01:01 PM
#75
It seems that most here are going with Skippy's formula car schools; any opinions/observations regarding the MX-5 vs. forumla? I've always thought the techniques learned from race-prepped streetcars like the MX-5 would be more transferrable to those of us driving primarily road-based cars on the track?