In June of 2023 I decided that I would make a long standing dream come true. That was taking a real, honest to god racing course. When I was younger, it was prohibitively expensive. To be fair, it still is. Probably even more so. But I was getting older. And part of the dream was to do this by the time I was 50. The course I took started five days after my 50th birthday. It was a three day GT course put on by the Skip Barber Racing School. They do this and many other courses at various tracks around the country. Based on proximity to my home (and knowing someone who could help me out with lodging and tips for the track) I selected Lime Rock Park in Connecticut.
Part of the experience (for an added fee!) is a video feed of your days on the track. When you engage first gear and roll off, the camera starts. A few seconds after you stop, so does the camera. They compile all the footage, edit some junk out, and send you a link to it a couple of weeks after the course ends. The video posted below is very long. It encompasses all three days, and every different training module we ran through. It can be quite boring for those that don’t know what is going on. To be fair, you cannot get a sense of much just watching it in a video. So, even for me, watching it is difficult. I haven’t really been through all of it. But I suppose I was actually there, so I know what is going on. Also, you can’t get the sounds and smells of it all either. That really adds to the experience of it all. My suggestion is to head right for the last hour or so. That would be solidly in day three when we were allowed unrestricted laps.
I’ll try to answer some FAQs here before you jump in.
First, “How fast did you go?” Honestly, no idea. At least not until I watched the footage. But even I haven’t found my fastest lap/speed yet. A lot more goes on inside the car than the casual spectator knows. Your speed is one of the last things on your mind. I know I broached 100 mph at least once or twice. My dad confirmed he saw that at one point or another in the video. So, there’s that.
“Is it scary?” For me, not really. Although there are places on the track that can pucker your sphincter a bit. One of those is turn 5, known as the “Uphill”. You come into it fairly quick. But get it wrong, and at best you’ll go airborne for a moment. At worst, you’re going for a ride right into a wall!
“Why does it look like you’re going so slow?” As mentioned before, watching the video does not allow you to feel the forces on the car, or smell the smells, or hear the all the sounds going on. Without all that, you can’t get the sense of speed. Any car video you watch will be this way. Believe me, I might not have been ripping off laps like a pro, but I was pushing as hard as my nerves would allow.
“Why do you keep stopping after each lap?” If you happen to watch the laps taken before we were given a full green light, you’ll notice I stop in between some cones on most every lap. This is called the “Hot Box”. During Hot Box laps, unless one of the instructors waves you on, you MUST STOP in the box. They have other instructors at various turns watching you. If they see something they want to help you with (or if you’re really fucking up) they will radio to the attendant at the box, then through the noise of the engine, your helmet, and a crackly radio, they will offer guidance. It is near impossible to hear them. Another reason they might stop you is that you are actually holding up faster folks. They hold you back until they pass, then let you go on.
I think that covers the big stuff. I’ll include a track map below as well as some links to the track’s site and Skip Barber’s site. And the video, of course! One last thing, you’ll see on the map the “No Name Straight”. This was actually its name right up until a little before my course. It is now known as the “Paul Newman Straight”. He turned many a lap at Lime Rock Park, and was quite successful. So, fittingly, and rightly, they named this after him.
Jimperfections 