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Activities
Nor'easter News
Car Care
Membership
Other Cool Stuff
Sponsors & Advertisers
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Porsche
Club of America
By
Win Perry,
wperry@winbro.com
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Those unfinished items from last month’s column turned out pretty well. The bad catalytic converter on my Boxster is being replaced under warrantee (thanks Pass & Weisz), my son Luke was signed off for solo driving at his Watkins Glen DE, and as I threatened, the principal subject of this column is my adventures at the Bertil Roos racing school. Those few of you with long memories may remember my description of the three-day performance driving school in last June’s Nor’easter. For the rest, Bertil Roos is a driving and racing school founded in 1975 by Swedish racer Bertil Roos (who else?). The school’s home track is Pocono International Raceway, a NASCAR track in Pennsylvania. The current owner of Bertil Roos is Dennis Macchio, a racer, former manager of Bridgehampton, and a visiting pro for NER’s DE program. The school uses open wheel single seat Formula 2000 race cars, and still features it’s wicked, wildly oversteering Mazda based slide cars for learning car control. I liked the smaller size and greater individuality (and lower prices) of Bertil Roos compared to, for example, the better-known Skip Barber school. The programs of most interest to PCA members are the three day Road Racing School and the follow-on two day Road Racing Competition School. These can be taken consecutively in one gulp, or split up, as I did. The three-day school is really about performance driving, and is very worthwhile for participants in PCA’s DE program. The two-day competition school is about real wheel-to-wheel racing. A lot of the appeal of the June Competition School was its venue: Virginia International Raceway. I had heard a lot of positive buzz on this track from fellow DE track rats. But, at a 12 or 13-hour drive, it was too far for me to be comfortable pulling my tire trailer. If I had any mechanical problems (or a shunt on the track), it would be a real challenge to get the Boxster home. So VIR seemed reserved for those who tow their racecars, not their race tires. However, since Bertil Roos provides the cars, all I would need was a flight to Raleigh-Durham and a rent-a-car for a short drive to Danville Virginia. I arrived at the South Paddock on Wednesday morning at 8:30 AM sharp to suit up and meet my fellow students. Most had just completed the first program. Along with a couple of new arrivals, I was taken out in one of the school Volvos to see the South Course. This is a 1.65 mile circuit which includes a couple of long straights and about 11 turns (depending upon how you count them) including Oak Tree from the full course, and the aptly names Bitch, an off-camber double turn. While it might seem nice to drive the entire 3.4-mile main circuit, the need to get quickly familiar with the track made using the South course an intelligent choice. There are a variety of corner types, decent elevation change, plus several locations for setting up a pass. After a brief classroom session outlining the day’s objectives, we split into two groups for some track time in the slide cars. Even at 30 or 40 mph, turning into a corner produces immediate oversteer. One quickly learn the use of opposite lock, of keeping the throttle on, and looking down track where you want to go, not worrying about which direction the car is pointing. Last year, I found these cars almost impossible to drive, but something must have stuck, since I was pretty much able to drive the race line this time. The Formula 2000 car was a different matter, or at least the unsynchronized dog clutch transmission was. With these transmissions, down shifts require putting them into neutral, then a throttle blip to match revs before shifting. If the revs aren’t matched, the gears don’t engage. During our morning warm-up drive, I couldn’t shift consistently, especially when two quick shifts (4th to 3rd to 2nd) were required at the end of a straight. These led to inconsistent turn-in points and an erratic line. Otherwise, driving these cars is a blast. You sit in a low recumbent position, the controls are extremely direct and require very little movement of your hands or feet. After lunch, it was back to the classroom to learn how to pass (and how not to pass). Ignoring many important subtleties, we were taught passing under braking. This method starts with setting up a pass by drafting the lead car on the straight, pulling out (to the inside) before the braking zone, and pulling up even during braking. At this point, the overtaking car controls the corner and the turn–in point, and should be able to get on the throttle first around the apex, coming out in front by track out. Back on the track, we paired with our instructor and alternated passing and being passed. I was really regretting not arriving a day earlier: my lack of familiarity and comfort with the course and the car was really detracting from these exercises. However, there was no choice other than keep trying. After a break, we had another session in the racecars, without instructors on the track, but with open passing allowed. Thursday, the second and final day, was full of driving. The plan was: start with the slide cars, then a warm-up session in the race cars, then a qualifying session to determine grid positions in the first race, a session practicing rolling starts, and, finally: two sprint races! I was looking forward to the slide car. These stupid things are fun, like drifting only without all that tire smoke and noise. Lap timers had been fitted to the racecars, so we could monitor our times during the warm-up and qualifying sessions (and the school could download our qualifying times for the starting grid). I was resigned to being at the back of the back as we began the warm-up session. However, to my pleasant surprise, somehow things came together, and I was really driving, even the *#&%# shifting worked! I was able to take about 3 seconds off my lap times over the duration of the session. I even managed a couple of passes. Things were looking up. During the subsequent qualifying session, I continued working on driving smoothly and improving my line. My last 2 laps were a couple of seconds faster than the warm-up session, and (to the amazement of my instructor), I qualified 3rd out of 8 cars. After lunch, it was back in the classroom to learn about rolling starts, and then into the cars to practice them. We lined up two by two and left the pits behind the pace car. During this pacing lap, we tried to warm up our tires and brakes as best we could. After the pace car pulled into the pits, we continued in formation until the green flag was thrown, at which time it was pedal to the metal (at least until the first turn). Then, we reformed a grid in a different order and practiced starting several times. Then, it was finally time to race. Qualifying 3rd gave me a great starting position. I was on the inside right behind the pole sitter (One Lap of America veteran Derek Whitis, see Car and Driver, August 2006, page 153). We completed our pace lap and roared off at the green flag. I stuck right behind the leader, drafting him until the first turn. At the corner (a 2nd gear hairpin), I was able to nip inside the 2nd qualifier and (more by luck than skill) block the car behind me from slipping inside my line. So, after the first corner, I was in 2nd place, chasing the leader. The third car, driven by Hans, a young German, was right behind me. I held him off for about half of our 8 laps, until I missed a shift (an upshift!!). Hans was able to get a good draft on me, and executed a clean pass in corner one. I chased him around the track, probably overdriving as my line got a little ragged and I actually lost ground. At that point, I figured: qualified 3rd, might as well finish 3rd. I smoothed out my driving and was making good time. About half way into the final lap I saw Hans. Only his car was facing mine! He had overdriven trying to catch the leader and had spun. I flew past him and finished 2nd. (Hans had a great recovery and finished 3rd.) PCA’s DE program stood me in great stead for this race. After a good (and lucky) start, there really wasn’t much racing. What I had to do was drive the race line consistently and pretty fast; exactly what we learn in DE. My second (and final) race was very different from the first. Having finished 2nd, I now started from the front row, but on the outside. I fully expected Hans, who had my old grid position, to turn the tables on me, and, if he did, I had no idea how to block him. So my strategy was to let him pass and see if I could dive inside him and re-pass. Hans did stay inside, pushing me to the outside edge and leaving a huge hole on his inside, which the car behind him filled. Suddenly we were three abreast in the corner. I held on, but lost speed and was now running 4th not 2nd. Here, in mid-pack, my DE experience was less use. I tried to drive a faster line, but I should have been drafting the car ahead of me and more aware of blocking the car behind me. I couldn’t pass Hans, and in another three wide in the corner, I went into the grass. Although I didn’t spin, I lost a couple of places, and (worse) was black-flagged in to check the car for damage (school policy). The 10 or 12 seconds I lost in the pits effectively ended my race. I got back out and just focused on driving the remaining laps well. In a short race, with identical cars and comparable drivers, 10 seconds is an eternity. Hans must have spun again because he ended up just ahead of me in next-to-last. (By the way, Derek led both races, pole to checkered flag.) Not a race to be proud of. However, as is usually true, you learn much more from your mistakes than from your successes. Wheel to wheel racing really is different from DE. Drafting, seizing any opportunities, blocking (within the allowed limits), and taking whatever line works at that instant is racing. Unfortunately, I didn’t have another opportunity to profit from my hard earned insights; our day was done. For me the big question is: what next? I am looking forward to a bunch more days at the track this year in DE. However, wheel-to-wheel racing is certainly intriguing. I also know that racing is substantially more expensive than DE (and not in this year’s budget). But who knows. Like the Red Sox, there’s always next year. |
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