CAMP
ZOOM ZOOM
By
Michael Vidor
May
2008
Driving a racecar must be informally
classified as an ultimate experience on virtually
every person’s list of fantasies, particularly
men: heart pumping, extreme mind engagement, cutting
edge, adrenaline rushing with sweaty white knuckles
wrapped in pure, instant gratification.
 What
he is about to encounter is not in his mind. This
isn’t go-carting, not hot-rodding or drag
racing. It isn’t XBOX. This is real—on
the tarmac of the legendary Mazda Raceway at Laguna
Seca on a warm Monterey morning.
Matt Vidor
was zoning in the cockpit when it hit him—“years of waiting
to fully exert my driving ability on a racetrack
in a bad-ass ride,” he thinks to himself.
Driver for this CCM/CC Rider extra he concludes, “I’m
at Laguna Seca and I’m about to burnout in
this bitchin’ little Mazda racer and there
isn’t going to be any stop and go.”
 As
one member of a small group of game and like-minded
drivers, he would be called to task on what he
could actually do in a racecar designed
and engineered for the ultimate track. There was
no turning back. This is the Skip Barber
Racing School introduction to racing.
He prepares to start the engine of his Mazda
MX-5 Cup Racer, about to explore his limits
on the autocross in the same car used in the SCCA
Pro Racing Series.
The first and only racing
school in North America in which students need
no experience
to learn the art and science of racecar driving,
Skip Barber is the largest company for automotive
education and entertainment in the world, with
base locations in Lime Rock Park in Connecticut,
Road America in Wisconsin, Road Atlanta in Georgia,
and Sebring International Raceway in Florida. Since
1975, Skip Barber has operated a fully integrated
system of racing schools, driving schools, racing
championships, corporate events, and special projects
across North America—designed to throw
life some curves.
 Skip
Barber Driving & Racing Schools also teach
the survival skills needed to safely handle today’s
challenging road conditions. Everyone in the family,
from the teenage driver to the more experienced
enthusiast, can benefit. Courses combine classroom
with behind-the-wheel instruction in an exciting
variety of Mazda passenger vehicles. Suit up Parnelli;
you’re going for a drive.
 After
roughly 45 minutes of white board time for the
Racing Introduction segment with one of many excellent
instructors, mechanicals were gone over (staying
the line, brake points, clutch and throttle, curve
apex, under steer, over steer, load transfer, and
acceleration). Then these enthusiastic boys
hit the bricks. What awaited them in the pits were
new and shiny MX-5s waiting to be cranked.
As they
were being strapped in, however, a certified Skip
Barber driver threw down
the challenge: he would oppose them in a pace car
during 60 of the most thrilling minutes of their
lives—as fast as they can go.
It
is said that no one ever forgets their first lap.
If
you love to drive, go to Laguna Seca and see what
you can do. For all of the information,
visit www.skipbarber.com.
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