Seattle09GT
07-02-2009, 02:38 PM
I just want to plant this seed for 2010 seeing how this would be a significant investment of time and money.
Pacific Raceway runs a racing school on their 2.25 mile 10 turn (really nine turns with a kink in the straightaway) track. The school runs on Monday and Tuesday (no weekends).
The high performance school costs $535 if you bring your own ride, $935 if you run in their sedans or $1,035 if you run in their Lotus Elises.
Basic requirements:
1) A car (check we've got that covered)
2) A Snell approved helmet, but they can provide for free if you need
3) Brakes in "excellent" condition, their words
4) Tires in good condition, no plugs or repairs, good tread
5) Valid DL (d'uh)
You get about 3-1/2 hours of actual track time during the course but here is the cool part. After you take this course you are eligible to run on 1/2 day or full day open laps. Think of it as an afternoon of street legal fun runs on a 2-1/4 mile race track, not wheel to wheel racing, although there are points where you would be allowed to pass the slower car in front of you.
I figure that all told it becomes a $1,500 event even if you bring your own ride.
$535 for the course
$500 for a set of used beater tires that still have tread on them to destroy in the day of school versus destroying your street tires
$100 to $200 for a good helmet (my old racing instructor told me years ago, got a $50 head, buy a $50 helmet)
Meals, hotel, and a tank of racing fuel to burn up covers the other $300 to $400.
Anyway, I'd be interested in doing this next year, unless something changes in my life. If we had enough regional or national interest (not just Western Washington) I could find out what the minimum bar would be to have a private "G8" school just for us. I would suspect we would need around 10 cars firm to make that happen, and possibly get a price break.
But, $1,500 and significant wear and tear on the car is a big commitment. On the other hand after taking this course you can have half-a-day on the track to get your need for speed for $225, and that is about the price of a speeding ticket if you think about it. THAT - is a good deal in my book.
I'd be interested in doing this, and again, I would say other regions if people wanted to drive in sure could join us. I know from racing in the SCCA and being a racing instructor many moons ago it is a very humbling experience to go to these schools. Most people learn they don't know how to drive to save their life.
Thoughts?
http://www.proformanceracingschool.com/
Pacific Raceway runs a racing school on their 2.25 mile 10 turn (really nine turns with a kink in the straightaway) track. The school runs on Monday and Tuesday (no weekends).
The high performance school costs $535 if you bring your own ride, $935 if you run in their sedans or $1,035 if you run in their Lotus Elises.
Basic requirements:
1) A car (check we've got that covered)
2) A Snell approved helmet, but they can provide for free if you need
3) Brakes in "excellent" condition, their words
4) Tires in good condition, no plugs or repairs, good tread
5) Valid DL (d'uh)
You get about 3-1/2 hours of actual track time during the course but here is the cool part. After you take this course you are eligible to run on 1/2 day or full day open laps. Think of it as an afternoon of street legal fun runs on a 2-1/4 mile race track, not wheel to wheel racing, although there are points where you would be allowed to pass the slower car in front of you.
I figure that all told it becomes a $1,500 event even if you bring your own ride.
$535 for the course
$500 for a set of used beater tires that still have tread on them to destroy in the day of school versus destroying your street tires
$100 to $200 for a good helmet (my old racing instructor told me years ago, got a $50 head, buy a $50 helmet)
Meals, hotel, and a tank of racing fuel to burn up covers the other $300 to $400.
Anyway, I'd be interested in doing this next year, unless something changes in my life. If we had enough regional or national interest (not just Western Washington) I could find out what the minimum bar would be to have a private "G8" school just for us. I would suspect we would need around 10 cars firm to make that happen, and possibly get a price break.
But, $1,500 and significant wear and tear on the car is a big commitment. On the other hand after taking this course you can have half-a-day on the track to get your need for speed for $225, and that is about the price of a speeding ticket if you think about it. THAT - is a good deal in my book.
I'd be interested in doing this, and again, I would say other regions if people wanted to drive in sure could join us. I know from racing in the SCCA and being a racing instructor many moons ago it is a very humbling experience to go to these schools. Most people learn they don't know how to drive to save their life.
Thoughts?
http://www.proformanceracingschool.com/