The Skip Barber Racing School claims to have trained more winners than any other, including the driver currently second in the F1 standings 🏫 Where better for a single-seater novice to learn the ropes? JessMcF1 found out ⬇️
Driving through the heavily tree-lined gates of Virginia International Raceway, there’s a real mixture of emotions churning inside me. Firstly, of awe.
If you’ve never heard of the Skip Barber Racing School, you’ve most likely heard of its alumni. Current Red Bull F1 driver Sergio Perez competed in the Skip Barber Formula Race Series in 2004 before a move to Europe. Seven-time F1 winner Juan Pablo Montoya took a version of the same course I’m about to enrol in. IndyCar stars Danica Patrick, Josef Newgarden, Alexander Rossi… in fact, more than a third of the starting grid for the 2018 Indy 500 were Skip Barber graduates.
But my nerves aren’t just down to my novice standing and fear of failure. As a female, I often feel that I will be judged on the stereotype that women aren’t as accomplished as men when it comes to racing, and that there will be the expectation for me to be uncompetitive.
One of my first observations about the course is the balance between classroom learning and hands-on experience. Day one begins with learning what Eric Powell – a TC America driver, and our course leader – refers to as the “Four Fundamentals of Racing”: racing line, vehicle dynamics and inputs , communication, and the often-overlooked mental aspect.
Being one of the shorter drivers, I’m given a makeshift booster seat made of gaffer-taped foam to be able to reach the pedals. Agricultural, but a positive is that I feel very cocooned into the cockpit and protected from the tub as my untrained body is subjected to its first real experience of g-forces.
Two of the younger drivers on the course, brothers, end up heavily damaging their cars and a barrier, causing delays. Despite the hefty fee needing to be paid by their father, this pair seemingly have no patience to find the limit slowly, as they each have multiple offs over the three days. In previous sessions, I knew when I’d had a good lap. It played out almost like a song, the corners flowing one into the next. I felt what I can only liken to the “rhythm” that a lot of drivers talk about on a great qualifying lap . But now I find corners coming at me more unexpectedly, causing me to have to overcorrect.
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