Competition Licensing School

April 1st 2005
We arrived at the track (Mid-Ohio) for the Comp School. I met our instructor for the day, Paul Hamm, who is a seasoned GTS driver. Paul told us to pair up for the first session and try to just stay together during the session. He said that we would be using the “buddy” system throughout the day and we would be working together on numerous drills throughout the day with our partner. I paired up with a 944S driver and we headed out. The first session was just to get the cobwebs out and shake down the car. We were out with the HPD4 group so we had to be mindful of their abilities and exercised caution when in traffic. The session went fine and I posted a 2:02 best lap, pretty slow, but again cold track, cold tires, and many cobwebs.

Then we headed to the classroom for the first of three, classroom sessions. Paul spent time talking about the events for the day, many of the race rules and safety procedures. He then told us that for our second on track session, we would again be with the HPD4 group, but we would need to hang tight with our partner because we were going to be doing “passing drills”. We were required to pass each other in ever corner, not on the straight aways. Paul said that when racing, most of the cars are very equally prepared and usually neither car has enough of an advantage on the straight-aways to execute a pass, therefore the vast majority of the passing is done in the corners, by either late braking or taking advantage of errors made by the other drivers in the corners. So I led out of the pits and “Casey” my partner, followed. He passed me in the keyhole, I passed him in turn 7, he passed me gong over “Madness” and we continued to do that for the entire session. That exercise was excellent! I have never passed another car in some of those turns. It was a great confidence builder.

Back to the classroom to de-brief on the last session and to review additional information presented by our instructor. In the next session, we were going to do a “side-by-side drill”. This exercise is designed to allow us to practice driving at speed with a car on either side of you, we were told to exit the pit, pair up side-by-side and continue side-by-side all the way around the track “at speed” and at the start finish line, we were to switch sides. I started on the outside for the first lap and went to the inside on the second lap. We did this for 5 laps then broke apart to allow for built up traffic to clear. We finished the session separated. Again, a great exercise that I would later find very valuable.

The last classroom session was mainly a de-briefing session and an explanation of how the Comp School Race would take place later in the day. For our last session before the race, were told go out with the HPD4 group and practice driving “off-line”. This would teach how to drive at speed at the edges of the track where you will find the dirt and bits and pieces of rubber from the tires called “marbles”. This was tricky and required great concentration, but again it would be valuable experience that I would later be glad that I had under my belt.

The last on-track event of the day would be the Competition School Race. Finishing this race without incident would be the first step toward getting a full competition race license. After successfully completing this race without an “incident” (crash, off-track, etc.), drivers are issued a “provisional” license and are required to complete four more races, again without incident, to receive a full competition license.

There were thirteen students at the beginning of the day and by the time of the Comp Race rolled around only ten remained. One dropped out, one was failed and the other had mechanical problems with his car. We did not have to qualify for this race, our instructor told the Grid Marshal where to stage us based on our car’s horsepower and our ability. Competing in your first race with just ten cars didn’t seem to be too bad, but as were told earlier in the day, ANY racer with a competition license could participate in this race! There were thirty other drivers that lined up behind us in classes ranging from American Iron to Spec Miatas. We rolled out onto the track and immediately formed up into two neat rows; at least all the students did, not sure about the back of the pack. We paced ourselves with the Track Pace Car for a full lap and at the carousel, the pace car left the track, and on the front stretch we received our first of three green flags. This is not a normal practice, but since we hadn’t had the opportunity yet to practice full rolling starts; we needed to practice this as well. So the green dropped and we were off, speeding into turn one three wide, what a rush! We all made it through and then again three wide, which then reduced to two wide going thought the “keyhole”. We raced full out until we reached turn nine where a second pace car was there to pick up the pack again for our second practice start. I started in the second row on the inside and lost two positions after turn one, one to a Mustang and one to an RX7. On the second start, again it was a clean start, and at one point were four wide on the front stretch, we dropped to three wide through turn one again, that was pretty intense, but we all made it trough. We were again picked up by the pace car back near turn nine and were re-grouped. When we rounded the carousel, I saw that the lead cars got the green and I quickly picked up a spot on a Spec Miata exiting the carousel onto the front strait. Now we were under way to a five-lap sprint race. Other than the whooshing sound of the American Iron, American Iron Extreme and the GTS 3s and 4s that blew by me on the next four laps, the race was uneventful. I finished 13 out of 40 and more importantly, without incident. Best lap time was 1:51.615 in lap 2, average miles per hour was 69.436.