The Bridgestone Racing Academy Gave Us Lessons in High-Speed Awesomeness

The Bridgestone Racing Academy is a training facility at the Canadian Tire Motorsports Park outside of Toronto (that's Canada, for those of you who might be geographically challenged). In said facility, instructors teach groups of regular guys and girls how to kick ass at high speeds in a fleet of 2008 Van Diemen Formula SCCA race cars. We got an invite to go play for the school's two day "Learn to Lap" course. How could we say no?

So there I was in Toronto. It's a lot like New York, but cleaner and with slightly fewer stabbings, with eight other irregular guys and girls (I wouldn't call auto journalists "regular") getting ready to attend two days of proper race training. If you're too lazy to do more than look at the pretty pictures, just know that it was awesome. If you're interested in learning about what it's like to drive on the track in a race car, please, be our guest, and read on.

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If you go anywhere near the Bridgestone Racing Academy, you'll be told that the school has been open for 28 years and that nobody has ever gotten injured or killed. This was certainly our group's first introduction to the school, before the instructors, the cars, the track, or the famed graduates were mentioned.

We then went on to learn that the track is right next to the one everybody thinks of when the words "Canadian Tire Motorsport Park" are uttered. They told us all about how it was purpose-built for driver education, they told us that we'd be driving 2008 Van Diemen Formula SCCA cars, and they introduced our instructors. Then, they named-dropped the facts that Danica Patrick, James Hinchcliffe, Daniel Morad, and Danica Patrick (she came up a lot) had all trained there at some point.

We discussed how they could spin it if one of us broke the safety record. "No customer has ever been injured!" Wood was promptly knocked on.

After rising on the first day and boarding the hilarious prom bus complete with neon and starry headliner (sadly, no stripper pole) we were ushered into a classroom in which we were instructed on driving technique, how not to crash into the tire wall, and how best to drive this track and these cars. The staff was friendly and engaging, and imparted a ton of useful information.

We were then taken out to the pit lane to check out the cars and be instructed in how to operate them and their sequential manual shifters, which some of the journalists had never seen before. On the inside, there's a switch to turn the car on, an ignition button, three pedals, a shift knob, and a detachable steering wheel. Pro tip: you should keep all of these things attached when driving.

Pro Tip #2: For all giants who might want to drive a race car: that dude in the orange shirt is Jermaine Bagnall from Toro Magazine in Toronto and he's 6'7". He didn't fit in the Van Diemen cars, but they did find an older formula car for him. If you're any taller than him, you're going to be out of luck.

The track is clearly designed to be used by a school, and that's a very good thing. There's very little to crash into, save for one ballsy staff photographer standing on the apex of corner one and the tire wall after the last corner, but it's not an easy track to go quickly on. It's exactly what is needed: a track that's difficult to master, and also difficult to crash on.

We used two different layouts, and got to work out the cars in a variety of corners, with a bit of elevation change to keep things interesting.

At this point, we knew what we were driving, we knew where we were driving, and we even knew how we were supposed to be driving. It was time to go get suited up in a two-layer nomex racing suit, gloves, shoes, and a helmet. I opted to also don a supportive neck donut, since I had just spent about $500 on my local chiropractor, and he's already rockin' a BMW M3. I need the cash more than he does at this point. All of this was provided by the school, of course, but people who already own gear are welcome to bring it.

The pit crew, a group of students on a six-month race mechanic training program, set the cars up to fit each of us quickly and efficiently, and were even on standby to help people who had trouble with the clutch to get going.

I've mentioned that these are Formula SCCA cars already, but they really do deserve their own slide. The car is powered by a 170hp 2.3L Duratec, weighs about 1,000 lbs, and hits 60 mph in about four seconds. It might not be much power, but these cars had the same power to weight ratio as a 2013 SRT Viper, so they were, indeed,very, very fast. Slowing down was accomplished by a set of Racing Performance carbon metallic brake discs that got us down to a stop from that 60 mph in less than three seconds, and the cars all rode on, of course, Bridgestone Potenza RE-11As, which are the Japanese tire maker's new performance tire aimed firmly at autocrossers.

Pro tip: Needless to say, there's no A/C in a race car, so try not to show up on a 98-degree day like we did. If you do, at least the crew will give you a parasol when you're waiting in the pit lane.

The first day of the course was spent following the instructors' cars in small groups (two to four) in order to learn the proper racing line and slowly build up speed and confidence. Although it might seem a bit slow at first for anybody with some track experience, there is still a lot to learn here and the instructors will keep going faster and faster as the day goes on. The idea is to slowly build up speed and confidence without having a pants-wetting encounter with the tire wall.

By the end of the first day, we were all very comfortable with our personal limits, the layout of the track, the braking zones, the turn-in points, and the racing line, and we were ready to push it further.

Pro tip: The awesome and ballsy staff photographer from Colour Tech Motorsport Photography is occasionally standing right on the apex of turn one; that's how he gets images like this one where you're looking right past him. And yes, he's there for every group that comes through the school, not just journalists.

The first day is great, but it really just feels like prep for the second day, during which the drivers go without instructors and simply get to drive as fast as they can in 15-20 minute sessions with coaching between sessions. They usually give one or two corrections after each round, but a driver who asks questions can unlock dozens more. I was there to have fun, but I also really wanted to learn and get faster, and the instructors walked the fine line of catering to me and catering to the people who are just looking to an experience and don't want to be overwhelmed.

By the end of the day, I'd taken my time from 1:16 down to 1:07, and was the fastest in the less experienced of the two groups in all but one session, in which Emilg Chung of www.autoniche.ca beat me by just a few tenths of a second and posted the best time for our group of the day. We were discussing a re-match almost immediately.

Passing is allowed, but only with direction from the person in front and on one part of the track. If you want to learn to pass another driver in a corner, you'll have to stay for the third day.

Pro Tip: Drink lots of water, and always pee right before getting in the car. Those lap belts get strapped down tight and mine was pressing right on my bladder for the whole session.

After the day of hot lapping, we were done with the Bridgestone Racing Academy, much to my lament, but paying customers have some options to continue should they want to keep going. The two-day course we just took is $2,495 CAD, which is, for this sort of program, a rather good price, but there are options for those to want to spend more or less. If you just want to get a 20-minute lapping session you can buy that for $295 and if you take all three days for $3,995 CAD, you're eligable for an FIA racing license.

The third day of training, we were told, starts off with passing excercises and learning how to participate in a rolling start, and culminates in a race against the other students and the instructors. It sounds incredible, and we made it no secret that we'd really like to come back and review that portion of the academy as well...you know, because journalism and shit.

People who have completed the two-day course can also opt to come back and take the second and third days, get some private coaching, or just show up for another student race.

All in all, we were very impressed with the level of professionallism, fun, and education the school offered, even if being in front of a 180-degree engine in a thick insulated racing suit on a 98-degree day was freakishly hot. For more information, check out www.race2000.com.

Pro tip: Don't worry about the occasional spin-out; it happened to most of us. Take for instance when my foot slipped off of the dead pedal and onto the clutch right when I was exiting a sharp corner (seen above).