May 29, 2007

Thrill of a Lifetime at the Bridgestone Racing Academy

F2000s in the pits getting ready to go. Click image to enlarge

Story and photos by James Bergeron

Photo Gallery: Bridgestone Racing Academy

Sidebar: One Lap of Mosport's DDT

Toronto, Ontario - Ever wonder what it would be like to be a race-car driver? How about to drive a real full blown race-car, not a hopped up sedan off the showroom floor, but a wind-in-your-face, out-in-the-elements open-wheel race-car? When I was asked if I would like to, I simply answered, "Yes" without any further information - and I'm sure glad I did!

Bridgestone was providing a group of journalists the opportunity of a lifetime: to drive Reynard Formula 2000 race cars at the Bridgestone Racing Academy located at Mosport (approximately one hour east of Toronto). The event served two purposes: first to allow us the ability to experience Bridgestone's Potenza RE-01R Ultra High Performance street tire on the track, and of course the thrill of getting behind the wheel of a 1000 lb racing machine.

Bridgestone F2000 Car at Turn 1 of MoSport DDT (top); The F2000 Student cars, ready to go. Click image to enlarge

The Bridgestone Racing Academy is an elite driving school which provides novice, intermediate and advanced drivers the opportunity to learn racing and driving techniques while driving a Formula 2000 race car. This school is offered in many forms, from a half-day thrill of a lifetime ($595) to a full blown three day race school ($3,995) complete with race situations including a dog fight with your instructor.

Bridgestone has been a proud sponsor of the school since its inception in 1992, as the sole supplier of tires for the Formula 2000 vehicles. The owner Brett Goodman purchased 10 Reynard F2000's from Spenard - David Racing School back in 1991 and has not looked back. In 2000, the school moved from its old home at Shannonville Motorsport Park to Mosport International Raceway after signing a 10-year agreement with Mosport's then new owner Don Panoz who committed to building a new Driver Development Track to be designed by the Academy.

Do not be scared away by the term "racing" as this school has a 22-year injury free record. Close to 90% of the students that attend the Bridgestone Racing Academy are attending the thrill of a lifetime package, either through a corporate event such as the one I attended or simply by signing up for one of the many schools scheduled throughout the season.

Everything you need is provided by the school; the car, the instructors, lunch and a full suite of race gear for your day in the Formula 2000 vehicles, including helmet, Nomex gloves, Nomex socks, race shoes and a full race suit.

Group Photo: Bridgestone Racing Academy Class, May 9th, 2007(top); In class, learning to heel and toe. Click image to enlarge

Our class was a fairly diversified group of individuals, a couple of seasoned pros with race licenses and race experience, a few intermediate drivers and a handful of novices eager to learn - proof that anybody with a driver's license and the ability to drive a manual gear box could drive these cars. With a few track days under my belt now and a few schools as well, I would consider myself an intermediate driver. That being said, my strong sense of self preservation keeps me on the tarmac and off the grass but holds me back when the speeds really pick up.

The first order of the day, after some brief administrative items, was an overview of heel and toe downshifting. Heel and toe is a technique used in racing to ensure smooth transitions from one gear to the next while downshifting and braking into a corner. Although very robust, the transmissions in the Formula 2000 vehicles are non-synchromesh gearing (unlike all modern street vehicles), as a result the transmissions operate much smoother using the heel-toe downshift method rather than old "If you can't find them, grind them method."

F2000 driver's seat (top); James getting comfy in the F2000. Click image to enlarge

The non-synchromesh gearing is just one thing you may find different in the F2000 car than your standard daily driver vehicle. One other glaring item is the presence of only one seat. Centered in the vehicle this gives you the ultimate in driving position and weight distribution. Surprisingly the F2000 is an easy car to drive and if you can get over the fact that you are anchored down in the cockpit like a sardine in a can you should feel right at home.

Weight is the enemy of any performance vehicle and with today's safety technology the average family sedan weights in at close to 3500 pounds. To put that into context the Formula 2000 cars weight just over 1000 pounds, and as you can very well imagine, this results in a vehicle that not only accelerates rapidly, but brakes and turns remarkably well. Able to do the sprint from 0 to 100 km/h to 0 in approximately 9 seconds, the F2000 is no slouch.

The F2000 car is also a rear-wheel drive vehicle with the engine hanging off the rear. Drive it like a street car and it has the potential to bite back, but heed the advice of the instructors at the school and these vehicles are extremely easy to drive at dizzying speeds around the Mosport Driver Development Track (DDT).

Flying down the backstraight (top); Chasing the pace car. Click image to enlarge

Not only does the F2000 car have a weight advantage over a standard road car on the track it also has the added benefit of an aerodynamics package. As you pick up the pace around the track the front and rear wings create down force allowing you to turn faster and providing you with a greater amount of grip around the corners. Drive the F2000 slowly though and the vehicle is slow to respond and feels somewhat cumbersome.

The key to driving one of these vehicles quickly is all in the technique taught in the first half hour of the course. You must be smooth and be conscious of the weight transfer and balance of the vehicle at all times. Drive smoothly and with the proper technique and you will be rewarded with speed; try to drive fast and aggressively and you will be slow and potentially off mowing the grass on the side of the track.

The Bridgestone Racing academy not only provides for an excellent learning experience, they provide one, two or three days of some of the most extreme fun you can have at a reasonable cost.

More information on packages and the school can be found at Race2000.com, with packages ranging from $595 to $3,995 for the full race school. As a corporate thrill of a lifetime the Bridgestone Racing Academy will have your employees talking for months if not years.

Sidebar: How to drive one Lap of Mosport's DDT in an F2000 race-car

Coming out of turn 12 onto the front straight and into turn 1 at redline in first gear, apply brakes lightly and toss the car into turn 1 being sure to get on the gas early for the exit.

MoSport DDT track map. Click image to enlarge

Full throttle now and into second gear before the double turns 2A and 2B. Before getting over to the left for the right hander turn 3, grab third gear, then head left for the very quick right hander that leads up a hill to turn 4 which is a blind corner.

Medium pressure on the brakes now and a quick downshift into second gear, turn in and balance the throttle over the curbing of turn 4 and 5, then back onto 100% throttle just as you exit corner 5, grabbing third gear just before corner 6 which is just a kink and line yourself up for the curbing for corner 7.

James powering through turn 1. Click image to enlarge

Hard braking now for corner 7 and down two gears back to first gear while going up the hill. Now, hard acceleration and into second gear down the straight into the medium-hard braking zone for corner 8 and again back into first gear. Accelerate out of 8 and up the hill for 9A, a slight lift for 9A and a little tap of the brakes for 9B then accelerate hard out of 9B as early as you possibly can.

Grab second gear just before corner 10 and hold on tight as you hit a few bumps that force you to the outside of the track. Now full acceleration and into third gear just before the kink that is corner 11, keeping the car full throttle. Do 9B, 10 and 11 properly and you may need to grab 4th gear before the braking zone into the last corner, corner 12 which is a tight 90 degree corner after the longest straight, very hard onto the brakes and back down to first gear for the front straight to do it all again.

That's one lap of Mosport's DDT track in a Formula 2000.

James Bergeron is an Ottawa-based automotive journalist, and editor of CarTalkCanada.