Mike W.

Here's the name of the guy whom the Chicago club has used. http://www.midwestdriver.com/

I have never been, but I've only heard the best about him. If we could get him to do a class nearby or within easy weekend driving (ROAD TRIP!) I think we'd get a huge response! He has one is SC in November... but that may be too long a drive for some (not me, but hey...).

Since you have the experience with track events, do you want to head this up? Gabe could probably tell you more as I think he was involved in the planning for the Chicago event.

Deb

 

This is a great write-up on the Chicago club board about attending a driving school... gives me such a jones for going!! Hehehe

http://chicagominiclub.com/2003/09/0...trackdays.html

 

I am hooked on track days!! Did my first last fall at Pocono East, track map: http://www.racenow.com/d02_pocono.htm I didn't go to that school just want you to see the track map.

I have done 10 days so far this year, did Phil Wicks in April at CMP in South Carolina. Here's a link to my write up:

http://mini2.com/forum/showthread.ph...0&page=2&pp=15

You can PM me for more info if you like. You can find all my recaps of every track day I've done in the Mid-Atlantic and New England regions.

Track days are great, no matter what, you don't have to be with a bunch of other MINI's, though that's fun, too. What's particularly fun is when you're still a novice, the MINI is a much easier car to learn and you're likely to pass cars that are much more powerful than you, as those drivers are still having difficulty learning to manage their cars.

I'm wondering how far you are from Pocono. I met a fellow in South Carolina who'd driven down from Baltimore. He was only 3 hours from Pocono and he recently joined us for an event on the North Course. We had 16 MINI's at that one. http://mini2.com/forum/showthread.php?t=57999

My first event, lots of MINI's: http://mini2.com/forum/showthread.ph...0&page=2&pp=15

Others where we had good MINI turnouts:

http://mini2.com/forum/showthread.php?t=53517

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ad.php?t=23337

That's not all of them, only the ones where we had lots of MINI's.

I ran many events on the run-flats. The 17" Pirellis were better than the 16" Dunlops. But now, I'm done with run-flats for the track. When I had no experience, it didn't hurt me as much. Now that I have a few days in...... When my 17" Pirellis were close to being worn and I had no longer had an extra wheel/tire, I got the Yokohama AVS ES 100's, 215/45/17. I love them!!

BMWCCA's have a good reputation for their high performance driving schools.

Good luck and definitely give it a try! Again, feel free to PM me for more info.

 

Doesn't seem like that first link is working. According to RandMcNally, I'm about 250 miles from Pocono, which is a good way for a weekend, but doable. I'm thinking about joining BMWCCA just for the track days and schools.

 

Here is the link again:
http://mini2.com/forum/showthread.ph...0&page=2&pp=15

See if that works.

Joining the BMWCCA is a good idea, I just recently did so myself.

A Philly region of the PCA is having a very well priced event at Pocono. Three days for $300, F,Sa,Su, Sep. 24-26. Friday on the South Course, Sat. and Sun. on the North Course. You may be assigned a task like flagging or something, but that would be a good learning experience.

www.rtr-pca.org

You must be reasonably close to Summit Point. I did an event at VIR with NASA-VA and was pleased with their driver's ed program. They also have a race series and run the races btw. the driver's ed sessions. They will be at Summit Point soon. I know of at least one MINI who will be there, I'm still considering it. https://www.nasaproracing.com/nasa_e.../?event_id=165

 

Hi Deb!
Good to meet you in person. Yep, I'll get in touch with those guys and see what the scoop is.

For individuals, the easiest and cheapest way to get on the track is to join BMWCCA. Once in, there are a number of driving schools put on each year, similar to the one we were at over the weekend.

Incidently, on the way home, Mike A and I had a little MINI off-track adventure. We were using the Vcommand to tax us over to Fairfax County and at one point the GPS system decided it would be good to take a right off the main road, head down a dirt road for a few miles, then down another dirt road, returning us to the main road and on our way! I suppose it was the GPS equivalent of a joke??? It was pretty funny, and we even saw a few deer!

:smile:

 

I just sent an inquiry to Phil. We'll see what sort of response he gives.
Mike

 

Do keep us posted. I'd consider another weekend at Carolina Motorsports Park, as I've now made friends in that area.

 

I just looked at the website for CMP, looks like Phil Wicks is aiming for 11/14.

Not so sure I'd drive all that way for a one day event.

http://carolinamotorsportspark.com/calendar.htm

 

Mike -- I was great to meet you FINALLY after all of our conference calls (gotta do those again!). It was nice to meet Mike A too. Did you get a good turn out on any of your photo op pics? Mine didn't turn out as well as I'd hoped and I wanted to put one in the newsletter. Either of you have a good one, email it to me please?

Let me know what assistance I can provide for doing a track day. I heard tell he needs ~50 car sign up to do a school. I think we can (easily) gather that number in this area.

Hahahahaha! What amuses me here is NOT that the Vcommand sent you down dirt roads (it was the General Lee run remember? Guess you didn't realize it was the General Lee of Dukes of Hazzard fame! )... what amuses me is that you actually LISTENED to vCommand as she told you to take a long drive down a short road... LOL... Do you always listen so well to women?? Was Mike A following you willingly? At least he can claim the lemmings excuse... LOL (JK, of course)

 

This event is taking place on Saturday and Sunday, November 13 & 14.

http://www.midwestdriver.com/sched_pwda.htm

I will be attending an event with a different group on the 12th to reacquaint myself with this track,and receive instructor's instruction. :smile:

I will be instructing for Phil on the 13 & 14. Who's going to be there?

 

Nice to see you have graduated to the instructor position

 

First, let me say for those of you who are really interested in the schools, join BMWCCA and do theirs. The infrastructure is already in place, and the discounts are quite good! Also, most MINI dealers without agreements with your MINI club will give you discounts on MINI parts! (Here in the DC area, Tate and Sterling give discounts to DCMetroMINI members, and we are working on MINI of Towson)

I have emailed Phil, and he is looking for a phone call to chat about classes, so that's next. Meanwhile, MINI of Towson set up a school a couple of weeks ago that I got invited to! It was very nicely done and quite cool! Also, it was free, sponsored by MINI USA! Heh, heh, heh. Phil's schools are a little less than $200 which is reasonable. I will see about getting him to do something at Summit Point in WVA, the closest track to DC.

Lastly... anyone ever here of a car called the Radical? On the 27th of October, FunKtion Auto will have some of these cars at Summit Point. They are also doing a small driving school, though I don't have many details about it. I am planning on taking the day off and heading up to see this cool new sports car if anyone wants to join in!

Here are the links to Radical and FunKtion...

http://www.funktionauto.com/funktion_news.asp

http://www.radicalextremesportscars.com/index.php

 

Just got back from another weekend at Summit Point with NASA-VA.

AWESOME!