Mid Ohio Road Course

During the past couple of years, we have done a lot of work to get prepped for the Progressive Insurance Automotive X-Prize. Spent a lot of late nights crunching numbers, compiling data and researching things that most people didn't know were in their cars. There were some bright spots like when we got the new engine or drove the car for the first time. The SEMA show was enlightening. We met many vendors and saw a lot of great equipment. Yesterday, we hit on a major fun part of this competition. The requirement that drivers, George and I, had to have a high performance driving certification.

I heard about the Mid Ohio School from my sister-in-law, Jill. We looked into it and they had openings available in the nick of time for us. We went out there and found a racecourse in the beautiful hills of central Ohio. The school was great, instructors knowledgeable, and the cars fast! The Honda S-2000 is a fun roadster. Growly engine with torque to spare. There was a variety of students there. Some were there to learn how to control there sport cars better. One student had taken the teen driving class, which sounds like a great class for driving safety, and wanted to expand her skills. We came in at the buzzer and sat next to Jack Chan of the Enginer team and the Liberty Motors guys. The Progressive Insurance Automotive X-Prize dominated the front row of the classroom with 3 teams present. The class started with a test. They put us in an Acura TSX, and had us drive an autocross course. I had an OK time. We then went back to the class to discuss vehicle dynamics and then back to the course. We drove the skid car and then worked on improving our lines. That is a fun thing to do, which culminated in driving on the track for an hour playing follow the leader with the instructors. The Acura was really hooking up! It brought back the memories of sprint kart racing from close to 20 years ago. These cars were a bit faster than a Yamaha KT 100 racing kart, however.

It was great fun and George and I received our certification along with relief from the computer screen and piles of paper . I look forward to going back for the advanced class.