See below.

 

The Corkscrew exit at Laguna Seca Raceway



Yes, you’ve driven your Mini at Streets of Willows and Thunderhill, but have you ever lusted for Laguna? Here’s your chance to indulge yourself and learn new skills with a professional MINI Cooper race driver in the right seat! Laguna Seca Raceway outside Monterey, CA is a world famous racetrack with 11 challenging turns through the hills and the Clinic has made a deal with TrackMasters Racing to reserve 5 slots in Intermediate and 5 slots in Advanced Intermediate on April 8th.



Bob Scheer's Silver #4 leads Jerry Bradbury in his white and red #37 at a USTCC race



Bob Scheer and Jerry Bradbury, both Mini race car drivers in the US Touring Car Championship pro series, will be conducting their second Advanced Car Control Clinic there for experienced Mini drivers. There will be 5 sessions each for only three run groups that day. That works out to around 140 minutes of track time for each run group! And the price is $10 less than the 5 sessions at Buttonwillow - $365 per car. Breakfast, lunch and waters all day are included. Guests are welcome to hang with us and can ride along when Bob and Jerry are not aboard.

Splitting the Minis into two run groups will allow Bob and Jerry more seat time with each Mini driver than they could offer at Buttonwillow, so everyone is guaranteed their personal attention to help you up to the next level. Sorry, no novices at this event – you must have some track days under your belt to qualify.




Laguna Seca has her secrets, but you can be there as Bob and Jerry reveal them. They will help you understand the dynamics of the track and your car, point out how your Mini can best take advantage of the Andretti Hairpin, the Corkscrew and the other 9 turns, raise your confidence and lower your lap times. As always, they concentrate on tweaking the carbon unit rather than the car. If you’ve modded your car, that’s great, they’ll put those modifications to the test. If your car is stock, that’s even better. They’ll show you the capability of the stock Mini and as your ability increases, the car will tell you what it needs for mods.

You’ll have to get some time off, but you deserve it. And what more exciting place to blast around in your Mini than Laguna Seca? Camping is available on site and nearby hotels abound. To reserve your place now, send a PayPal payment for $365. to jerry.bradbury37@gmail.com. An Info packet will be sent to you when your payment is received. Join fellow Mini enthusiasts at Laguna Seca on April 8th!



Comments from Buttonwillow:

I learned so much, not just about how to drive Buttonwillow, but principles that apply where ever I drive. Thanks so much for putting this event on. I had more fun here than any other track day that I have done, and I always have great fun whenever I drive! - Brian from Spokane.

I had an amazingly awesome time, learned new things, made new friends and can say I've driven Buttonwillow! Thanks to Jerry and Bob for providing this opportunity and invaluable lessons. - Kelli from Los Angeles

When they do this again, I'd highly recommend it to anyone who's able to attend. Plus, we can all play "that's what she said" with our cheerleading crew - Joe from San Diego

Only 10 available so reserve your slot now!

Requirements:
At least 4 track days anywhere in your Mini
A M2005 or SA 2005 Snell rated helmet
Questions? Email jerry.bradbury37@gmail.com or Bob Scheer canyonracer@sbcglobal.com

 

Sounds like fun. We did Laguna last week, I wasn't planning on another track day so soon, but I'm being really tempted here.

 

Did you get any lap times? Your Mini is capable of sub 2 minutes around LSR. We can show you how.

 

Hooked on Driving don't encourage you to worry about lap times, which is fair enough. But I find its a useful diagnostic, so I go look at the video to work out what the lap time was. 2 min was my target for the day, and in the last session I managed:

1:59.3
1:58.2
1:59.9
2:05.4 (slow BMW 3 series in the way)
1:58.4
1:59.6
1:59.8

I got relatively comfortable with most of the corners, but I haven't worked out turn 9, and I'm using the beginners line on turn 2.

I have a thread where I made notes about my recent track experiences. Do you think I'm ready? I barely make your 4 trackday minimum.

I got the go ahead from the wife, I just have to work out if I can get away that day.

 

Turn 9 is tricky but only because most people are patting themselves on the back for having survived the plunge over Turn 8 once more and blow the entrance. Consequently, if you have your wits about you, 9-10 is an excellent place to pass. Turn 2 for the Mini is a way late apex corner, later than you think.

Your lap times are very consistent, which is good. Our Clinic is for advanced drivers, but it looks like you already have experience at Laguna, so if you want to pick the brains of guys who race Minis there and put it to your own use on the track, it's entirely up to you. We have two groups of Intermediates, B and A and you and the wife would fit into the B group. There are two slots left in the B group as of this morning. Let me know.

 

I'll take one of the B's, just me, the wife isn't that interested in going fast (yet?). I'm trying to get Paypal to work, but its hanging at the moment.

Edit: Just sent the Paypal.

 

Welcome to the family. Bob and I are looking forward to meeting you. We recommend that you bring Shawn with his LSD.

Jerry

 

So here's the deal people: Bob and I came up the hard way - trial and error - with emphasis on the error. There was no one to offer us any words of wisdom or encouragement. We had to work it out for ourselves. And we did. It took me 5 years to learn how to drive a Mini fast enough to qualify for a pro series. But it doesn't have to take you that long. What we are offering is a leg up. You've heard it said that practice makes perfect. That's not really so. PERFECT practice makes perfect. And we can show you how to do that. By eliminating the negative and accentuating the positive, we can put you on the fast track to more confidence in your car, more ability in your hands and feet, more fun, more juice and lower lap times. Is this something you would be interested in?

Cheers,
Jerry

 

Jerry & I promise to increase your "S.P.H." (Smiles Per Hour).

Dollar for dollar we will make YOU the "carbon unit" faster then any single modification you can do to your MINI.

We will trim your lap times by tuning YOU the driver.

The skills we teach will stay with YOU & are transferable to every car you own now & in the future.

Invest in yourself, by improve your driving skills, car control, safety & have a bunch of motoring fun while learning!

Sign up with us for Laguna Seca & see what YOU & your MINI are capable of at speed.

Hope to see see YOU at Laguna!

Cheers, Bob

 

I’m interested; I sent an email with a listing of my experience. I’ll have done 5 days on the track (3 Thunderhill; 2 Sears) by the time it rolls around. But never been at Laguna.

BTW, I’d note that there’s two autox’s the previous weekend in Marina: one is the Golden Gate BMW CCA and one is UFO.

Rob

 

Sorry, I didn't get the email. Where did you send it? jerry.bradbury37@gmail.com

Never mind. It just hit and was answered. With your experience, you would fit well into the Intermediate B group.

We hope to see you at Laguna.

Cheers,
Jerry

 

I sent it to the jerry.bradbury37@gmail.com address. I just forwarded a copy.

My email is rob.gendreau@gmail.com if that doesn’t work.

thanks,

Rob

Edit: got a message from gmail that the jerry.bradbury37@gmail.com address failed. I copied it and sent it via PM.

Let me know if that doesn’t reach you, or if you have another email you want me to try.

 

Hrmmmm. Must have been an mail daemon hiccup. It worked fine for me.

Anyway, I gotcha covered. Welcome to the family. Bob and I are looking forward to meeting you at Laguna Seca.

 

Just saw this thread. Would really like to do this but can't make April (2 HPDE in April, 10 & 16). Any chance that another clinic will be scheduled? Please say yes!

Cheers!

 

I second Boomer's plea..if you have another one later in the year (summer or fall) I'll be on this like a tick on a hound dog!

 

We would love to have this become popular enough to have another one and eventually take it on the road. There are many Minis and many tracks outside of the West Coast.

But we have to crawl before we walk before we run. Meaning this one has to be successful enough to warrant more in the future.

So if you can't do the April 8th event but you are interested in doing one later, fan the flames in your Mini buddies who can make it in April and get them to sign up now.

Cheers,
Bob & Jerry

 

Not to blow our horn too much, but we can give you more attention and steepen your learning curve more than any two regular trackdays. And for less money. Your choice.

If you lean our way, I can put you in touch with one of our mega track day Buttonwillow students who can give you his opinion on the value of our school for track day veterans.

Jerry

 

Already posted on PS Mini about this event. Wildfamily is a member and PS Mini has several Track Junkies. The real attraction is Laguna. That track is special, at least for me. Used to go there for the Motorcycle races and the vintage races.

Would really love to do this at Laguna. Just can not make the April date. Hope you sell out in April and get another event set up. Mini's are great track cars but the key, like you said, is how skilled is the guy in the drivers seat.

Check out the PS Mini site and the post:

http://www.psmini.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=5175

Please set another event up at Laguna. My best wishes for a sell out in April.

Cheers!

 

Time to bump this. We still have a few slots open in the advanced group A and the clock is ticking. If you want to advance to the next level of driving your Mini on the track, this could be your ticket.

Cheers,
Bob & Jerry

 

Registration for this event is now closed. Thanks to all of you who signed up. We'll have a spectacular day. See you at Laguna Seca!

Bob & Jerry

 

Eagerly awaiting this tomorrow. One thing I haven't seen is when things start in the morning. I'm currently planning on turning up about 8am.

 

Gate opens at 6:45.
Mandatory driver's meeting at 8:15.
Track goes hot at 9am.

I'm here at the Ramada with a few other R56 drivers... we're planning on rolling out around 6:40 or so... see you there!

 

how did this turn out. Looked like a wet day. Heard rumors of a mini accident the day before. Hope everyone was alright.

 

It went great. I learned a lot from the instruction. I was new to LS and frankly I would have been lost without the guidance of the teachers. Not only did they clue me into the correct line(s), but they showed me the capabilities of my vehicle and pushed me just enough to improve my skills. With only one day at LS I can’t say I’ve got it dialed, but it gave me the confidence to do more and to see that I’ve got a ways to go.

If they offer this again I’d highly recommend it to anyone who wants to improve their driving performance. Most of us at this event had more than a few track days, but I expect that they could help anyone (although I’d recommend someone do a club track day for their first time, where they could have a ride-along for most of the day).

Rob