Feeler thread: Solo Pro Driving School

Karl Shultz · **Posted:** Sun May 31, 2009 9:24 pm

I think Gwen said she was gonna do this, but it looks like I'm going to beat her to it. :lol:

I'd like to get a gauge on how much interest there would be, if any, in the club hosting a SoloPro driving school. We're targeting the Saturday before our Danville autocross at the end of June. It would be sort of a hybrid of their "Extreme" curriculum and their "Competition" curriculum.

What I need from you guys is firm commitments. Putting one of these schools on costs the club a not inconsderable amount of money up front. If we can't get enough interest, it won't work, and the club will lose a lot of money. We don't want this. No backing out at the last minute unless it's absolutely, totally necessary. Seriously.

I'd say we need, at a minimum, six confirmed takers to make this work. Closer to ten would be better.

I spoke to Tim Aro, one of the owners, at length today. This is not just a rehash of the same old Evolution school "look ahead" stuff they've been doing for years. There's a much stronger focus on the sports psychology aspect of autocrossing. So, it'll at least be something different. Gwen credits much of the recent improvements in her driving to this school, so we know it must work.

Before anyone asks, no, I don't know who the instructors would be. Since this is kind of late notice, and these guys' schedules can vary a lot, we won't really know until we know kind of thing. Among the names Tim mentioned were himself (Tim Aro), Jinx Jordan, Jim Feinberg, another one from the west coast whose name escapes me right now, might have been Heyward Wagner. Tim said he'd try and sweet talk Jonathan Roberts, but Jonathan is pretty unlikely to agree to come up. He's spending more time with his wife and kids this year.

Entry fee should be approximately $260, something in that neighborhood. It might get a little cheaper if we get more people, but Solo Pro has a hard cap in place to keep the instructor/student ratio favorable. So, if the price does drop, it won't be by very much.

I'm gonna leave this poll open until Wednesday - that's when I told Tim I'd follow up with him by.

Gwen Habenicht · **Posted:** Sun May 31, 2009 11:01 pm

Karl, thanks for beating me to it. Sorry, I got sidetracked. Needles to say, I’m in. I can’t say enough about the new curriculum that SoloPro has produced. Tim has graciously offered to combine aspects of the Comp School and the Extreme school into a one day format. Believe me, it will be a full day. There aren’t many schools of this nature planned anywhere near us this year. Anyone who wants to see improvement in their driving skill level should be encouraged to attend. I know in these financially trying times it’s difficult sometimes to justify the expense, but I certainly found it worth the $. Now only did I find new ways to work on better skills, but for us, at least, we noticed much better tire wear after attending the school. We don’t have much opportunity in our sport to have coaching from the best autocrossers in the country. You will also have the opportunity to learn how to better coach yourself.

So, if you want to improve this year, or if you’re planning on going to Nationals, plan to attend this school. If we don’t get the commitment, we’ll have to pass.

Karl Shultz · **Posted:** Mon Jun 01, 2009 12:36 am

Gwen Baake wrote:

Karl, thanks for beating me to it. Sorry, I got sidetracked. Needles to say, I’m in. I can’t say enough about the new curriculum that SoloPro has produced. Tim has graciously offered to combine aspects of the Comp School and the Extreme school into a one day format. Believe me, it will be a full day. There aren’t many schools of this nature planned anywhere near us this year. Anyone who wants to see improvement in their driving skill level should be encouraged to attend. I know in these financially trying times it’s difficult sometimes to justify the expense, but I certainly found it worth the $. Now only did I find new ways to work on better skills, but for us, at least, we noticed much better tire wear after attending the school. We don’t have much opportunity in our sport to have coaching from the best autocrossers in the country. You will also have the opportunity to learn how to better coach yourself.

So, if you want to improve this year, or if you’re planning on going to Nationals, plan to attend this school. If we don’t get the commitment, we’ll have to pass.

What Gwen said. This is a big opportunity for us as a club, and if you're serious about doing this stuff, you NEED to consider this.

Heck...look at Gwen. Gwen can correct me if I'm out of place, but she is SEVERAL SECONDS faster than she used to be. Several. And she places the whole improvement at the feet of the Solo Pro school she took earlier this year. The psychological aspect of this stuff is very, very difficult. This is an opportunity to get better at that stuff. Taught by the best people in the country - maybe the world. If Matthew Braun speaks...you should listen closely. VERY closely. Seriously. You should. I've seen this guy outdrive people by full seconds. In an SS Lotus. Really. He's an expert. Listen to what he has to say. He's not joking around.

Spending a week and a half in a hotel room with Eric Peterson and Jonathan Roberts is bound to teach you some things, and some say it hasn't really taught me anything. But it has. I'm a lot more low key if I have a bad day. It just doesn't wind me up like it once did. If it wasn't my day, it wasn't my day. And that's about it. I'm sure Keith (Vail), or Aaron (Buckley) would say the same thing. It kind of doesn't matter. We're driving around a bunch of cones in a parking lot...how hard can it be?

Anyway, it's something for you guys who want to get better at this stuff to consider. This is an opportunity. Consider it.

Todd Breakey · **Posted:** Mon Jun 01, 2009 9:14 am

I would love to but unfortunately, I don't think it is in the cards for this year.

I definately want to take the intro courses next year.

Thanks for trying to get this going guys.

Chuck Branscomb · **Posted:** Mon Jun 01, 2009 9:54 am

Karl,

I've chatted with Gwen some last week about this, but I didn't get back to her yet, so I'll do that here. I voted "I'm in" above, but Jackie is also in for the school, so add another vote for her. She hasn't used the forum in a long time, so she may or may not chime in and vote.

With us two then that looks like there are now 4 people committed. We only need two more...surely we can find 2-4 more folks in the area that are interested.

Chuck

David Spratte · **Posted:** Mon Jun 01, 2009 10:13 am

I'm the other "in." Wait. That doesn't sound right. But you know what I mean.

Aaron Buckley · **Posted:** Mon Jun 01, 2009 10:17 am

I'd love to do this, but I'm headed to the Finger Lakes Tour on the weekend of the 13th and then the DC ProSolo the following weekend. Being that I just got back from the Arkansas Tour this morning at 4:05am :shock:

, I think I would be divorced if I had 4 autocross events in 5 weekends. Ugh. - AB

JamesFeinberg · **Posted:** Mon Jun 01, 2009 11:04 am

Aaron Buckley wrote:

I think I would be divorced if I had 4 autocross events in 5 weekends. Ugh. - AB

Oh be real-- Bryan would never divorce you.

I don't know what Tim has planned for instructors but I mentioned to him I'd like to attend as a student with the MR2. I haven't heard back from him yet but assuming he is cool with it, you can add another entry to the list.

Jim

Maria Winslow · **Posted:** Mon Jun 01, 2009 1:19 pm

I'm in if we can get this settled right away. Otherwise, I'm going to drive to Savannah this weekend for the Comp there. It's not my preference, but I am so desperate for instruction that I'm willing to travel. (I hit a milestone in Greenville that I want to maintain!) So not to be complicated... but I just don't want to miss the opportunity for a class.

So I'm a definite yes if we have enough people by tomorrow-ish and we're sure we'll have the class.

Maria

Gwen Habenicht · **Posted:** Mon Jun 01, 2009 2:01 pm

Maria Winslow wrote:

I'm in if we can get this settled right away. Otherwise, I'm going to drive to Savannah this weekend for the Comp there. It's not my preference, but I am so desperate for instruction that I'm willing to travel. (I hit a milestone in Greenville that I want to maintain!) So not to be complicated... but I just don't want to miss the opportunity for a class.

So I'm a definite yes if we have enough people by tomorrow-ish and we're sure we'll have the class.
Maria

Maria, we have 5 now, Jackie's vote isn't included in the poll numbers. With you we'd have 6. We'll know by Wednesday if we'll have it. That's when we have to respond to Tim. Go ahead and add yourself to the poll.

Chuck Branscomb · **Posted:** Mon Jun 01, 2009 2:49 pm

Gwen Baake wrote:

Maria, we have 5 now, Jackie's vote isn't included in the poll numbers. With you we'd have 6. We'll know by Wednesday if we'll have it. That's when we have to respond to Tim. Go ahead and add yourself to the poll.

Jackie voted now, so her vote is in the tally above (but now it shows 7?).

Eric Peterson · **Joined:** Mon Sep 01, 2003 10:24 am **Posts:** 494

If it hasn't been done already, cross-posting to the Triad forum to possibly pick up a few extra students may help you get enough for the school.

Maria, if you go to Savannah, I'll see you there this weekend.

Eric P.

Steven Carter · **Posted:** Mon Jun 01, 2009 2:54 pm

I'm interested and available that weekend and would like to go...can novices attend? I have weekend call over the Danville event (two events in a row--scheduling gods are out to get me!) and would appreciate the instruction.

Thanks!

Steven Carter · **Posted:** Mon Jun 01, 2009 3:25 pm

edit--dobule post

Gwen Habenicht · **Posted:** Mon Jun 01, 2009 3:27 pm

Steven Carter wrote:

I'm interested and available that weekend and would like to go...can novices attend? I have weekend call over the Danville event (two events in a row--scheduling gods are out to get me!) and would appreciate the instruction.
Thanks!

Steven,
Here's the curriculum page on Solo Pro's web page. http://www.soloprodrivingschool.com/curriculum
Honestly, I'm not certain about it, but I think I remember hearing them say the you didn't have to do the Intro School first. If that's the case, I don't see why you couldn't attend. We met at Sanford, if you recall-just so you know who's trying to answer your question. I'll see what I can find out, for sure.

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