Skip Barber Racing School

Skip Barber Racing School stole my money!
In September of 2015 I was to attend the formula class, 3 days, in St. Louis, MO. A representative of the school called me, and explained that they had transmission failures the previous event, and therefore had to cancel the St. Louis class.
They gave me the option of rescheduling to another event, or, receive a full refund. I opted for the refund. The representative explained that it could take a MONTH to return my money.
After a month of waiting I tried getting in touch with the school, and no one would give me an answer as to when I would receive my money.
Two months, three, four, it is now almost five months… still no money, still no contact, still no effort has been made at all to return the $ 2307 that they stole from me.
This has been the worst experience of my life. Learning how to race has been a lifelong dream, and they downright crapped on it.

I have mixed emotions on this school. It was extremely fun and I feel like I learned a lot about the cars, car control, and learned the beginning of race craft. I took this school 12÷21÷15−12÷23÷15 and it rained the first 2 days, which provided the opportunity to learn to race in the rain, a valuable skill.
The instructors were all experienced racers, so they were able to provide valuable feedback to go with the instruction.
As someone who really wanted to learn about racing and measuring my progress, I felt there were some problems. First, they combined two classes into one, so there were 23 students to only 4 instructors. This limited the instructors being able to watch individuals and limited the feedback they were able to provide. I asked specifically for feedback, and I got a little bit more than I was getting, but there were many sessions were I received no feedback. Also, due to the lack of instructors, the driver I was sharing my car with ran out of gas at the start of an open lapping session and was not found stalled on the side of the track until the end of the session. I had even mentioned to an instructor twice during the lapping session that I had not seen my car at all during the session and the instructor never radioed anyone to go check for the car.
Second, they did not have enough back up cars for a class of this size. People inevitably will crash if they are pushing their cars. For a class of 23 they only had 3 back up cars. When these cars ran out, lapping sessions were lost. I bent a tie rod on my car and this put my car out of commission, and because others had crashed earlier, I lost several lapping sessions as the instructors tried to figure out what to do.
Third, for someone who wanted to measure improvement, I was disappointed to learn once I arrived that they do not time any of your laps. The instructors said this was something they used to do, but it caused students to compete with each other which lead to more crashes. While I understand how this can cause issues, lap times are needed to measure progress.
Because of these issues, I feel like this was a very introductory race driving school. Their advanced school seems more like what I was looking for. Don’t misunderstand me, this program was extremely fun and the instruction was very progressive and each lesson built on the last, helping you go faster as the days went on. I just expected a little more personal instruction so I could make more progress.

I feel bad writing this review — Skip Barber has been great in the past. They have wonderful instructors and are hands down the best racing school I’ve ever attended.
However, their fleet of cars is falling apart. I attended a Formula Car race weekend recently, and almost every session was either cut short or severely impacted by repeated breakdowns. So many cars were out of service that they had to break us up into smaller groups, meaning we all had to wait longer between sessions (and one whole qualifying session got canceled).
I know these are race cars that are subject to wear and tear. But, I’ve never seen anything like this — bolts were literally falling out of the cars in pit lane, one mechanic taped a part back onto my car with duct tape, etc. It’s shamefull.
If you’re considering booking any of the schools or race weekends, I suggest you wait until these mechanical issues are resolved.
By the way, I emailed the CEO and head of operations to see about getting make up time or a partial refund given how bad the weekend was. They apologized, but then stopped responding to emails. Very poor customer service, especially for loyal customers that have spent $ 25k+ with the company.

I have a feeling I’m going to lose my hubby to this place!!! I got him a class for a birthday present… My mistake! I created a monster!!! He is obsessed! And already planning on signing up for the 3 day class! He said the facility’s are not the best, but the racetrack and the staff are more amazing then words! He said this was the best birthday present ever! And that he only wants to go to this racing school! Doesn’t ever want to check out the others in the area!!!

I did the intro to racing class. It’s 3 hrs, about 40 min of that on the track playing «follow the instructor» at increasing speeds as you gain skill and confidence. The classroom learning stuff is ok but a lot of time wasted with intros and bad jokes. Plus I think the vehicle dynamics stuff could be simplified at the end to:
— Step on it and target the outside of the turn
— Stay strait and apply brake 70% increasing until your turning speed is achieved
— Smooth off brake and into your turn — at this point no gas and no brake
— At apex start to straighten out and applying gas, swapping the two
— Once straight again step on it and target the outside of the turn
The Skip Barber Formula car is a lot of fun and will make you resent your daily driver. Laguna Seca is also awesome and has the same disappointment impact to all the roads you will take on your way home.
The Skip Barber ‘experience’ is:
— A thrill ride to see how you feel about going fast on a track (the intro class at $ 600)
— Training you to drive in real races (the 3-​day class at $ 5−6k).
Also, the insurance for the intro is $ 250. I don’t think it’s worth 50% of the class cost but it’s a personal choice.

I did the 3 day racing school, and it’s a totally unforgettable experience. I’d only recommend it to those who have a real passion for driving since it’s really expensive and pretty exhausting. I went with Skip Barber because I want to start racing competitively, but I have neither my own race car nor a truck and trailer to tow it. Compared with SCCA’s racing school, Skip Barber is as arrive and drive as it gets. Plus it’s always better to drive someone else’s car.
The instructors are all seasoned professional race car drivers, and not only did they provide a lot of useful constructive feedback, but they also tried to push the students to their limits. They encouraged everyone to make mistakes in order to learn and become better drivers. Getting the insurance is a good idea because you want to be able to play with the car’s limits without worrying about an accident that will empty your savings account. For the high speed exercises, they used portions of the track with lots of run off room, so actually hitting a wall or significantly damaging the cars was pretty difficult. This allows you to drive outside of your comfort zone without endangering anyone else or yourself.
The cars themselves were a blast to drive. The 2.0L engines probably don’t make much power (less than 150 hp?), but they’re quick because they only weigh around 1000 lbs. The combination of light weight and quick ratio steering gave the cars instantaneous reactions and extreme agility. Even though they put on all season tires, there was plenty of grip to carry lots of speed through corners. It’s also better to learn on all seasons since they have more forgiving slip angles. The cars have sequential transmissions, which were pretty neat to use. You don’t have to use the clutch for upshifts, but downshifts still require heel toeing so it’s really beneficial to be proficient at driving stick beforehand. The lack of electronic nannies like traction control and ABS made them a handful to handle in certain situations, but they’re really rewarding and fun to drive fast.
At the end of the school, you can continue with the Advanced Racing School and compete in their racing series. There’s also the option of applying for an SCCA Regional License if you have a car you want to race with in SCCA. There was a guy in my session that already races and just wanted to hone his skills. There’s something for everyone here.

Anyone who can get me track time on Laguna Seca is going to get at least 4 stars regardless of any other circumstances. Laguna Seca is my old stomping grounds from back in my SCCA days. Plus, I’ve witnessed many forms of racing including Indy Cars, Moto GP, American Le Mans Series, Trans Am Series… Altogether, it took about 3 hours for classroom instruction & driving the track. There were 15 of us in my session. During the classroom portion, we got suited up & went over the very basics of the car itself, vehicle dynamics, the racing line & how we should apply it to the track. The classroom portion was short & sweet. The driving portion was a blast. The cars corner as if they are on rails. We were limited to 120 mph max speed, would have liked a bit more along the straightaway heading into turn 1 (also know as Mario Andretti hairpin). The drop down the corkscrew is a rush & the approach gives you a great view of Monterey Bay. We got to lap the track for 3 stints of 20 minute each. It was essentially follow the leader with an instructor out in front driving the ideal line through the curves. For what it was, a very simple & basic introduction to race car driving in a nimble but not too fast car, it was a blast. Your asked to keep 1 car length between cars even at 120 mph. Faster drivers are rotated into faster groups. Our group passed everyone!
Insurance for the car runs $ 75 for coverage with a $ 1000 deductible. It was, by no means, a hard sell. Although, the instructor assured me that I wouldn’t need it.
The $ 795 price is worth every penny. Although, I understand Unilocal offers a half price deal. I’ll be sure to take advantage of the savings for my next Skip Barber adventure.
So, if you have a bad case of LEAD FOOTITUS, Skip Barber Racing School is for you!
Thanks Skip.

If you ever have the itch to get professional instruction to really drive a race car, Skip Barber is the way to go! I’ve done the 3 day race school at Laguna Seca and the 2 day advanced race school at Road Atlanta. Both tracks were an incredible experience and the instructors at each location were top notch. Ya, it’s a little pricey, but if you really want the best experience possible, Skip Barber is the way to go. I will be doing another course in the near future!

Worth the money. Not very much track time and not very fast on track.

If you want to experience open Wheel driving, this is the place !
The track is great, (Laguna Seca), the training session is excellent, and these guys know what they are talking about.
definitely a must if you are a drivers enthousiast.

What a blast! Driving Laguna Seca at 100+ mph in the straights is quite a thrill, and the scenic, iconic course is more than I had hoped for.
I bought the special Unilocal deal for my adult son and me in late 2011. When I called in Feb or March to schedule our track time, I was disappointed that only weekdays were available, but scheduled for mid-​December 2012. Not sure, but I felt like this limitation was the trade off for the lower price. Was it worth it? YES!

Did the half-​day formula class around Laguna Seca. It was sooo awesome! Got stuck in the slow group for the first couple sessions but then was able to stretch out and get some speed!
Staff was friendly and helpful. Would do again.

Put your right foot up on the glass coffee table… did the glass on the coffee table break? IF Yes? Well then, you have a bad case of LEAD FOOTITUS, And Skip Barber Racing School is for you. They cover all the needed techniques of lead foots that want to know more about racing and auto-​cross. At first you go with an instructor, who will give you the lowdown on how far down your lead foot will take you. (Unfortunately, flooring the lead foot on normal roads can get you in trouble. but not here. At Skip Barber Racing School, the symptom is encouraged, welcomed and desired.) Next you will cover safety, turning, shifting, lines, tracking. and many other useful things you can apply to normal driving when no cops are around.
Highly recommended for those that need to cure the lead footitus problems.

I did the 3-​hour Intro to F-​1 racing back in February 2012, and it was probably the most intense and exhilarating experience I’ve ever had.
Ever since, I’ve been trying other extreme sports, but none so far has matched the intensity and concentration required to drive an F-​1 around the fantastic curves of Laguna Seca without crashing or spinning out of control. This is a must for anyone that craves the thrill of driving fast.
Class time was short and to the point, so we actually wound up with nearly 90 minutes of track time. Wish it was more, but I’ll probably save my money and sign up for a 2 or 3 day F-​1 program. My only criticism is that it would have been nice to get our stats and some extra tips at the end of our session.
A small warning– unless you are an already primed-​up athlete or you chose to drive like a fuddy-​duddy, you will be sore for a few days afterward in your core and arms. The G forces around the turns will push muscles in ways that they may have not been pushed before. But still, in the end, it’s a good kind of sore…

OK, 1^st of all, I’ll be completely honest. Anyone who can get me track time on Laguna Seca is gonna get at least 4 stars regardless of any other circumstances. Laguna Seca has been the racetrack of my speed-​crazed dreams for years & years now.
When I saw the Unilocal deal for $ 350 off the price of a racing school session at Skip Barber Racing School, I knew the dream would soon be reality. After talking to the guys at Skip Barber on the phone, I was informed that the discount could be used toward any session in any program.
Though I was more interested in a Mazdaspeed Intro to Racing session, I ended up reserving a spot on a Formula Car Intro to Racing session because it fit my schedule better. That session also, luckily, fit the weather better too, as it was on a dry day between 2 rainy weeks.
The whole Formula Car Intro to Racing session is very brief. Altogether, it was about 3 hours. There were 6 of us in my session. During the classroom portion, we got suited up & went over the very basics of the car itself, vehicle dynamics, the racing line & how we should apply it to the track.
Just to note some add-​ons, we were offered while in the classroom:
+ Insurance for the race car, $ 75 for coverage with a $ 1000 deductible. It was, by no means, a hard sell & the instructor sort of assured me that I wouldn’t need it.
+ Photos & video of our session, $ 120 for video, $ 190 for photos & a Skip Barber photo frame, $ 100 for digital copy of photos only. The video is shot by a camera mounted to the top of the roll bar on the car & displays an array of real-​time drive data. The photos are shot from various vantage points around the track, including the Corkscrew.
After all that, we headed out to the cars. The instructor went over the cars with us, reiterating some of the stuff we got in the classroom. Then it was time to get in, sit down, strap in, shut up & get ready to go like Hell.
For the driving portion, we got to lap the track for 3 sets of 20-​ish minute intervals. It was, essentially, follow the leader with an instructor out in front driving the ideal line through the curves. For what it was, a very simple & basic introduction to race car driving in a nimble but not too fast car, it was a blast.
Ultimately, a racing school session like this is just to provide a taste of what it’s like drive a race car. Truly, it’s too short to come away with a whole lot of new driving skills. But the experience alone was well worth it for me, especially with the Unilocal deal discount.
No doubt this was a «bucket list» kind of thing for me. Drive a race car on Laguna Seca? Check. Thank you Skip Barber for the opportunity. Just a taste, however, wasn’t enough & I will absolutely be looking for more chances to put the rubber to the road on Laguna Seca!

Review is for the ½ day deal on Unilocal.
I had very high expectations for Skip Barber as it is often regarded as the premier driving school, but I walked away a bit disappointed and it probably has to do with the fact that I was in the ½ day course, which cuts too many corners on meaningful content.
I have been to a few track events before and I did not learn any new mechanics from this course as they cover only the very basics, but I did get a lot of track time in their formula car and Laguna Seca is a pretty nice track. That in itself is worth the money for me but for someone with less experience on a track, you might want to reconsider — there’s no way you can get comfortable enough in the allotted time to really enjoy yourself out there!
At the end of the session they will try to pitch to you to sign up for additional classes at an «exclusive discount». Since then I have received multiple email offers with comparable discounts, so don’t feel pressured into signing up on the spot.

Bought the intro to driving Unilocal deal as a gift to my fiancée on our anniversary and he really enjoyed it!
Whats nice is that they didn’t kick me out while he was taking his class or while they were driving around the track.
Basically you come in, sign in, get your gear on, and they teach you some basic fundamentals of driving (as much as they can in an hour-​ish), then they take you out and do 3 sets of laps. The pace car is a Mazda, and cool thing is, if you are the friend, girlfriend, fiancée, or family member who just tagged along, you are able to get into the pace car and go for a ride!
Unfortunately I have been blessed with the ability to car sick easily, and I didn’t bring along any medicine, so I did one set of laps and chilled out for the rest. But I was able to take as many pictures and video as I wanted. Of course, it is probably not as good as the professional photographer/​videographer can capture (which they do offer a package as an additional fee), but heck, its free, and it will do for now. haha.
From the sound of it, my fiancée loved it so much, he wants to go back and do the 3-​day racing school.
quick tip: I would be prepared to bring some snacks or eat breakfast beforehand. They have coffee and tea for you, but that’s not enough to last until lunch.

Only did the half day intro course so YMMV. The setup is 3 cars chase the pace car. The pace is only as fast as your slowest guy. It’s a beginner’s course. You’ll probably only ever crest 100 just before breaking into turn 2.
The great thing about the intro course is you get to slip into a formula car. It’s kind of a trip if you’ve never been in one. Definitely would recommend trying that out over the Mazda MX-​5.
The instructors were very proficient at their craft. They each have a lot of knowledge and seat time. I wouldn’t have minded a wrap up class room session.
At the speed that we were going, I’m glad I did not opt for the insurance. We only had one guy spin out and he kept it on track the entire time. I was following, but I could see what was happening and avoided him without an issue.
As far as value, I’m glad I got the Unilocal deal. For only a half day, $ 800 seems a bit high. Sure you’re whipping around on their equipment, but I doubt if I put on that much abuse in a half day.

Redeemed my Unilocal racing intro deal on Sunday, whoa that was fun. Driving a formula 1-​style car on a famous racetrack was quite the adrenaline pumping experience.
Can’t say I got all that much out of the classroom hour, there was a lot of fluff time spent on instructor resumes, a photo/​video sales pitch, and participant introductions… cut out the fat and you could get it down to 30 minutes, easy.
The track time was generous and while I enjoyed every second out there, I was spent by the end. Once you left the classroom session everything was very efficient… moments later you were zipping around at high speeds (trailing a speedy pro) almost uninterrupted for a couple hours.
The instructors were chill and very welcoming. They push you harder than you’d likely have pushed yourself, thought they do so gently in an unintimidating way. While I’m not sure I’m hardcore enough to do one of their mutiday classes, I’m sure it’d be fun… maybe someday.

My wife signed me up for Intro to Racing as an anniversary present. Yes, she is cool.
The cars are hardcore. The course — the real F1 deal with Laguna Seca’s legendary «corkscrew» and all — is even more so. It felt like driving a ski run at Aspen. Fast.
I managed to spin out on turn 6 on my 3^rd lap. No harm done, but definitely gives you an appreciation for what the pros are really doing out there at 100 MPH and scores of other cars on the road.
The lecture hour is helpful, and after the track time I ended up wanting more class time (to ask questions now that I had some experience) followed of course by more track time.
Insider tip for those like me who know nothing about racing: don’t be scared to brake hard before the turns, even over-​doing it so you are going quite slowly beforehand… which gives you tons of control and allows you to gun it once you’re straightened out. I was coming from the video game school of racing, where you basically never use the brake — so anyhow, I think I would have been a lot faster had I been heavier on both brake and gas.
In all, definitely one of those lifetime experiences I am not going to forget. And if I manage to stumble into money someday, I could see getting really into this (e.g., trying their 2 day class, etc.).