Welcome to the Premier Racing and Driving School, Skip Barber Racing School
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  1. What is the difference between the Driving School and the Racing School?
  2. Can my friends and family come along?
  3. Do I drive my own car?
  4. Why use the Formula Skip Barber race car for the Racing School?
  5. How fast do the cars go?
  6. Am I qualified for a racing license after graduating from the Three Day Racing School?
  7. Are there any other costs beyond the tuition?
  8. What happens if I have an incident during my program?
  9. Is the Skip Barber Racing School just for race drivers?
  10. What's the difference between the Skip Barber One-Day Driving School and the Skip Barber Two-Day Driving School?
  11. Am I doing laps around the race track in the Driving School?
  12. Besides the use of Porsches and BMWs, what is the difference between the High Performance Driving School and the other Driving School programs?
  13. In the High Performance Driving Schools, will I get to drive on the track?
  14. Where are the Skip Barber Racing and Driving Schools held?
  15. What if it rains during my driving or racing school?
  16. Which program -- the Racing School or the Driving School -- would be the best for the teenage drivers in my house?
  17. Do many women sign up for Skip Barber Schools?
  18. There are a number of additional advanced activities for Skip Barber graduates. Can you explain “Lapping Sessions” and the “Advanced Two Day Racing School?”
  19. Another advanced activity is the Advanced Car Control. Do I have to do one?
  20. For the serious racing student, what is the usual progression through the Skip Barber program?
  21. If I'm racing in the Regional Race Series, how many race weekends do I need to complete before I can move up into the Skip Barber National Presented by RACER?
  22. Are there any size restrictions for your programs?
  23. Why is the Skip Barber Racing School better than any other?
  24. Who can I contact for more information?
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1. What is the difference between the Driving School and the Racing School?

The fundamentals of auto racing -- the racing line, and specific braking, downshifting, accelerating and cornering techniques, rules, etc. -- are taught in the Racing School. Your “classroom” is the 2.0-liter open-wheel Formula Skip Barber racecar. A Racing School graduate will, as a natural result, also become a better street driver…

… which is the focus of the Skip Barber Driving School powered by Mazda-- teaching the fundamentals of safe, enjoyable street driving. How you specifically use your eyes, hands and feet to truly control your car in all the situations you might experience in your driving “career” is what you learn, in a fast, fun environment. The vehicles utilized in the Driving School are the Mazda RX-8s, MX-5s and MAZDA3s.

The Skip Barber Driving School powered by Mazda is not just for the driving enthusiast. All drivers -- teens to seniors -- who desire to be better, safer, more proficient drivers on the road benefit immensely from this school. The emphasis is on enhancing overall driving ability and the gaining of confidence in everyday driving situations. You also learn how to extract the most performance from any vehicle and how to cope with emergency situations that would freeze the untrained driver.

But because many of the same techniques taught in the Racing School are also taught in the Driving School, true sports car drivers and other aficionados are drawn to this program school like bees to honey. In a word, the Skip Barber Driving School is fun!

In the end, the fact is many students end up going to both schools!

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2. Can my friends and family come along?

Of course. Bring along your video cameras too. Only enrolled students are allowed in the cars, however. At most venues visitors will need to sign a waiver at the track. Guests under 18 years old need to have a minor waiver or be accompanied by an adult.

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3. Do I drive my own car?

No. For the Racing School, we've designed the curriculum around purpose-built single seat, open cockpit, open-wheel Formula  Skip Barber race car (see Question 4), while in the Driving School, Mazda passenger vehicles are used, and in the High Performance Driving Schools, a mixture of high performance sedans and sports cars are used.

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4. Why use the Formula Skip Barber race car for the Racing School?

For the Racing School, the Formula Skip Barber race car is the ultimate and perfect “classroom”: a space-frame chassis, 2.0-liter 4-cylinder making 130 h.p., high-performance street tires, and a conventional four-speed racing gearbox. It offers exemplary handling characteristics, an ideal amount of power, and it is a strong, safe car. Its handling feedback is positive and progressive -- it is very easy to develop a feel for the transitional responses necessary for controlling the car at the limit. And the car's power is perfect -- enough to master the skills of sliding a car through a corner, but low enough so as to not mask improper driving techniques.

Bottom line: The Formula Skip Barber race car is simply the best rolling classroom there is to learn the fastest way around any track.

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5. How fast do the cars go?

In our Skip Barber Three Day Racing School, we gradually "unlimit" your speed at various points on the race track. Thanks to our proven methods, you'll actually have the car at the limit in many of the corners by the second day. By the last day, the top speed on the straightaways is well over 100 mph.

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6. Am I qualified for a racing license after graduating from the Three Day Racing School?

Yes. A Skip Barber Three Day Racing School graduate is, of course, eligible to begin “lapping” and then racing in the Skip Barber Mazda Race Series. In addition, a Skip Barber Three Day grad can apply for an SCCA Regional License, which will be granted based upon your performance in the school and a recommendation from your particular instructors.

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7. Are there any other costs beyond the tuition?

Students are responsible for food, travel and lodging. Where required, suits and helmets are provided free of charge. For Racing Schools, racing shoes and gloves (or an equivalent) are highly recommended but not required. Additionally, optional liability reduction is available – see #8.

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8. What happens if I have an incident during my program?

Drivers are responsible for any damage that occurs to a vehicle during a school. Your liability for damage is unlimited. For Three Day Racing Schools, MX-5 Cup Racing Schools and High Performance Driving Schools your liability can be limited to a maximum of $2,000 per incident by paying $125 per day for each day of your school. For Introduction to Racing and One Day Racing/Driving Combo programs, your liability can be limited to a maximum of $1,000 per incident by paying $50 per school. All liability reduction payments must be made prior to the start of your program. Drivers participating in Mazda Driving Schools and Advanced Car Control programs have no damage liability.

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9. Is the Skip Barber Racing School just for race drivers?

No. The school curriculum responds to as many different expectations as there are people taking the course. To some, the school is the first step taken on their way to a professional career. To many others, it's the culmination of years of anticipation and curiosity. And to most, it is the most unforgettable experience they'll ever have.

Everyone learns something, be they a novice driver or already a race car driver. In the Racing School, you are taught the skills that will make you a race car driver and a better driver on the road. In the Driving School, you will have the time of your life -- and learn the skills that may save it.

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10. What's the difference between the Skip Barber One-Day Driving School and the Skip Barber Two-Day Driving School?

Both programs teach slides and recoveries, threshold ("panic") braking and autocross skills, along with classroom sessions on vehicle dynamics. The Two-Day adds heel-and-toe downshifting, trailbraking (turning while braking), emergency lane-change and evasive techniques. Plus, the additional day allows more "practice" and in-depth coverage of all areas involved.

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11. Am I doing laps around the race track in the Driving School?

No, but you will be doing laps around an autocross course (defined by cones and paint, just like a sanctioned SCCA event.) Remember, the point of the Driving School is to teach you street "survival" skills and how to be a safe enthusiast. You will, of course, have loads of fun in the process.

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12. Besides the use of Porsches and BMWs, what is the difference between the High Performance Driving School and the other Driving School programs?

The difference is you are applying vehicle dynamics principles to an exciting mix of purpose-built sports cars. While the vehicle dynamics message is a constant, these cars drive and perform more dynamically. Further, the mix of exercises and on-track sessions allows you to compare and evaluate, basically road test, these models at the limit.

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13. In the High Performance Driving Schools, will I get to drive on the track?

Yes. In the two-day program, you will experience on-track action in [2] lead-follow sessions and [1] hot lap session (you sit right seat as an instructor demonstrates the fast way around the track). The one-day program features the same Hot Lap experience with [1] session of lead-follow.

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14. Where are the Skip Barber Racing and Driving Schools held?

Unlike any other racing school, Skip Barber has programs all over the country - the Racing School operates at 20 different tracks from coast to coast, while the Skip Barber Driving School powered by Mazda is conducted at five different venues, all of them at vacation destination locales: Lime Rock Park, Conn.; Sebring, Fla.; Road America (Elkhart Lake), Wis.; Road Altanta, Ga.; and Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca (Monterey), Calif. The Driving School utilizes a skidpad, autocross course, and a specially designed emergency braking training area at each location.

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15. What if it rains during my driving or racing school?

All Skip Barber Racing School programs take place rain or shine. Actually, rain provides an excellent additional variable that all drivers, including racecar drivers encounter and our curriculum provides the instruction to drive in these conditions.

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16. Which program -- the Racing School or the Driving School -- would be the best for the teenage drivers in my house?

Either would be a good choice -- car control is what active safety is all about -- but the Skip Barber Driving School powered by Mazda is an ideal program in which to enroll the young drivers in your household. They will become better, safer, more confident drivers.

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17. Do many women sign up for Skip Barber Schools?

Of course. Because no one knows better than the instructors, and Skip himself, that taking driving seriously, and learning to do it well, is not a male prerogative. The number of women participating in our programs has increased steadily over the years, and they now make up a sizable part of our enrollment.

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18. There are a number of additional advanced activities for Skip Barber graduates. Can you explain “Lapping Sessions” and the “Advanced Two Day Racing School?”

”Lapping” is coached and instructed track time (approximately 80 racing miles) in a more sophisticated race car, the Formula Skip Barber 2000, and is held at one of a dozen+ tracks across the U.S. Skip Barber Three Day graduates, as well as other qualified karters, racers and graduates of other racing schools, can “lap.” A refundable $500 crash damage deposit is required.

The Skip Barber Advanced Two Day Racing School is the program of choice used to transition from the Formula Skip Barber race car used in the school to the Formula Skip Barber 2000 race car. You start out on the autocross to familiarize yourself with gearbox and slicks, then spend the rest of the two days on-track at progressively greater speeds. A refundable $500 crash damage deposit is required.

The unique thing about Skip Barber advanced activities is that you continue to be taught and coached -- you are not left to motor around aimlessly as you would if you were learning to race on your own.

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19. Another advanced activity is the Advanced Car Control. Do I have to do one?

Do you have to do one? No. Do you want to do one? Without question. The Advanced Car Control  is an intense, one-day program open to Three Day Racing School graduates, Skip Barber Race Series competitors, Skip Barber Driving School graduates, and other experienced drivers. Designed to augment Lapping, the bulk of the Advanced Car Control is conducted on a wet skid pad. You will learn what "the limit" feels like -- and how to find it. You'll become good enough to induce oversteer or understeer, and not just be a victim of it. Most importantly, the Advanced Car Control lets you practice and experience threshold and at-the-limit skills in a totally safe environment.

Also, a Advanced Car Control is especially helpful to those drivers with good, sound basics (footwork, understanding of racing lines, etc.), but who haven't yet found enough speed. Those who want to learn the all-important skill of racing in the rain will also want to do a Advanced Car Control.

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20. For the serious racing student, what is the usual progression through the Skip Barber program?

The Skip Barber Racing School system was designed from the outset to take anybody from novice to skilled professional in the least amount of time. Close to 30 years of experience has proved time and again that what we do works. You start with a Three Day Racing School, where all the basic racing skills are introduced. Then, via the advanced activities – Advanced Two Day Racing School, Lapping, Advanced Car Control, etc. -- you further practice and refine those skills. With instructors advising and encouraging you the whole time, you blend this information right into the Skip Barber Regional Race Series. The learning curve continues as our coaches and instructors help you sharpen and practice your skills. Because you are driving equal and well-prepared cars, there are no equipment differences between drivers. Everybody's learning curve with Skip Barber is steep and fast.

In as little as one season of Skip Barber Race Series competition, a level of mastery and experience equivalent to three years of racing your own car can be achieved.

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21. If I’m racing in the Regional Race Series, how many race weekends do I need to complete before I can move up into the BFGoodrich/Skip Barber National Presented by Mazda?

Thanks to our coaching prowess, you -- and the instructors -- will know when you're ready. The time spent racing the Skip Barber Formula 2000s in the Regionals before moving up to the National, where the talent level goes deeper down the grid, is shorter for some drivers than others.

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22. Are there any size restrictions for your programs?

For any program that uses the Formula Skip Barber  2000 race car, there is a height and weight restriction of 6'5" and/or 240 pounds. As these measurements are mutually exclusive, please contact a School and Series Advisor for specifics on car sizing.

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23. Why is the Skip Barber Racing School better than any other?

Besides the fact that we are the largest and most successful racing school in the country, there are three primary distinctions separating us from the rest:

1. The level of instruction; Skip Barber instructors are past and current champions or race winners and are chosen by their ability to teach. Just being fast is not enough for an instructor to make our grade.

2. Our access to more racetrack facilities than any other school. From Laguna Seca to Lime Rock Park to Sebring to Road America, no one gives you more driving time in a formula race car at more of the most famous American racetracks than the Skip Barber Racing School.

3. The built-in progression, for those who want to take advantage of it, that can take you from the novice student to the full-time professional. If you want to go from School to Race Series to the professional National Championship and then beyond, it's all there for the taking. There are many Barber graduates now racing professionally who have never had to purchase a racecar and/or field their own team. And even if that IS your desire, you still won't find a better place to learn the art and craft of racing than from Skip Barber.

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24. Who can I contact for more information?

You can reach a Skip Barber School and Series Advisor Monday through Thursday, 8:30 a.m. until 7:00 p.m. Eastern Time (Fridays until 5:30) at 1.800.221.1131 (860.435.1300 direct). They will be more than happy to answer your questions!

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