With an industry leading instructor to student ratio of one for every three students, the School of Racing offers greater one-on-one time to address your specific needs. At the core of the Jim Russell program is the modern and relevant teaching platform, the FJR-50 race car, combined with the methodical use of driver data acquisition.
Throughout the three days of instruction, every facet of driving required to consistently produce competitive lap times is broken down both on the track and during instructor debriefs. Braking, grip and load transfer form the basis of the curriculum.
Day one begins by focusing on braking and heal and toe downshifting techniques before moving onto an exploration of vehicle dynamics. Here, two of Jim Russell’s key car control differentiators come into play – the use of the dry skidpad rather than a wet skidpad combined with the use of a real race car on slicks. This creates a true gauge of grip and load transfer that cannot be simulated by the wet skid pads and street cars used by most schools. The result is a more confident and capable driver in less time. Day one concludes with a driving introduction of Infineon Raceway in the FJR-50.
The second day returns to the skidpad for advanced car control refinement. The car control refinement leads to a brake release exercise, in which the technique of trail braking is reinforced as the driver’s tool that allows for efficient corner entries in slow to medium speed corners. In the afternoon two, 30-minute on-track practice sessions offer the opportunity to begin putting the techniques learned into practice, under the watchful eyes of the instructors and the in-car Pi Data Systems*.
Practice sessions fill Day 3. Included are laps in the two-seater with an instructor behind the wheel demonstrating correct line and braking points as well as what 2+ G’s of cornering grip feels like. Inspired and confident, drivers can now lap on their own with first hand knowledge of the car’s potential. Data debriefs review brake pressure, steering and throttle inputs as well as entry, mid-corner and exit speeds. Student Data is compared against an instructor generated baseline to show where improvements can be made.
Graduates of the 3 Day School of Racing qualify for a regional SCCA license and the Advanced School of Racing where adding the critical skills of racecraft gives drivers a complete foundation to build upon.
