Skip Barber Racing School
Encyclopedia
The Skip Barber Racing School is one of the largest racing schools in the world. It conducts racing
schools, defensive and high performance driving schools, amateur and professional racing championships and corporate entertainment schools. Skip Barber
started the school in 1975 with two borrowed Formula Ford
race cars and four students. The school visits up to 30 race tracks across the United States and Canada
and owns 120 race cars. As of 2007 the school is affiliated with Mazda
, who provide many vehicles for the school.
, teaching emergency braking, skid and slide control, proper cornering techniques, an understanding of vehicle dynamics, and a variety of other car-control skills.
Since its founding in 1975, Skip Barber Racing has trained more motorsports winners and champions than any other organization of its kind. Skip Barber alumni race and win in every major event and championship, from NASCAR's Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series to Formula One
, the Indy 500
, American Le Mans, and the IndyCar Series
. Since 1983, the Skip Barber Racing School has trained over one-third of all Indy 500 competitors and one-quarter of the NASCAR Sprint Cup competitors. Skip Barber Racing alumni have won every major U.S. auto racing championship.
In 1975, with two borrowed Lola Formula Fords and four eager students, Barber started the Skip Barber School of High Performance Driving. In 1976, it was renamed the Skip Barber Racing School and that same year, he created the Skip Barber Race Series. Within a decade of its founding, Skip Barber Racing became the largest racing and driving school in the world. Barber remains active in motorsports today as the owner and operator of Lime Rock Park, the famous road racing venue in the northwest hills of Connecticut. He lives in the nearby town of Sharon, with wife Judy.
On May 9, 2011, the racing school announced it would move its corporate headquarters to its Road Atlanta
facilty in Braselton, Georgia
.
The Skip Barber Driving Schools teach emergency braking, skid and slide control, proper cornering techniques and a variety of other car-control skills. The purpose of the programs is to raise awareness of all the elements that together constitute good driving through understanding of vehicle dynamics and practicing the skills in a controlled environment. The Driving Schools can be found at five base locations: Lime Rock Park
(Located in Lakeville, Connecticut), Road Atlanta
(Braselton, Georgia), Road America
(Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin), Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca
(Monterey, California) and Sebring International Raceway (Sebring, Florida).
BFGoodrich/Skip Barber National Presented by Mazda is an entry-level professional racing series that takes drivers to several venues each season, and exposes them to bigger racing markets, while receiving feedback each session from Skip Barber Racing instructors. Each season's champion earns a scholarship to compete in the next level of racing and help advance their racing career.
The Skip Barber Regional Race Series is collectively three separate open-wheel, spec racing championships — a summer race series and two winter race series based out of the Southeast and California.
The Skip Barber MAZDASPEED Challenge is a race series using Mazda MX-5 cup cars with specifications closely matched to those of the SCCA Pro Racing Playboy MX-5 Cup series. The MAZDASPEED Challenge runs alongside the Skip Barber Regional Race Series.
The Skip Barber Cup is a racing series for drivers aged 26 and older who are looking to race in a professional-level series without becoming full-time professional racers.
Corporate Events unit creates custom Racing and Driving programs for companies of any size that desire special events to train, entertain, educate and reward. Each one is unique and tailored specifically to the client’s needs and can include almost any criteria including catering, photography and apparel.
OEM Events provides specialized automotive-related training, analysis, evaluation, logistics and consultation.
s, Boxster
s, Cayman
s, Lexus IS-F sedans, Lotus Exige
s, Lotus Evora
, BMW M3
s, Mazda3's, Mazda MX-5
s, and Mazda RX-8
s for use in the High Performance Driving School, Driving Schools, and Corporate Events.
Racing
A sport race is a competition of speed, against an objective criterion, usually a clock or to a specific point. The competitors in a race try to complete a given task in the shortest amount of time...
schools, defensive and high performance driving schools, amateur and professional racing championships and corporate entertainment schools. Skip Barber
Skip Barber
John "Skip" Barber III is a retired racecar driver who is most famous for his Skip Barber Racing Schools.- Driving career :...
started the school in 1975 with two borrowed Formula Ford
Formula Ford
Formula Ford is a single seater, open wheel class in motorsport which exists in some form in many countries around the world. It is an entry-level series to motor racing....
race cars and four students. The school visits up to 30 race tracks across the United States and Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
and owns 120 race cars. As of 2007 the school is affiliated with Mazda
Mazda
is a Japanese automotive manufacturer based in Fuchū, Aki District, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan.In 2007, Mazda produced almost 1.3 million vehicles for global sales...
, who provide many vehicles for the school.
Overview
Since 1975, Skip Barber Racing has operated a fully integrated system of racing schools, driving schools, racing championships, corporate events and OEM events across North AmericaNorth America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
, teaching emergency braking, skid and slide control, proper cornering techniques, an understanding of vehicle dynamics, and a variety of other car-control skills.
Since its founding in 1975, Skip Barber Racing has trained more motorsports winners and champions than any other organization of its kind. Skip Barber alumni race and win in every major event and championship, from NASCAR's Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series to Formula One
Formula One
Formula One, also known as Formula 1 or F1 and referred to officially as the FIA Formula One World Championship, is the highest class of single seater auto racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . The "formula" designation in the name refers to a set of rules with which...
, the Indy 500
Indianapolis 500
The Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, also known as the Indianapolis 500, the 500 Miles at Indianapolis, the Indy 500 or The 500, is an American automobile race, held annually, typically on the last weekend in May at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana...
, American Le Mans, and the IndyCar Series
IndyCar Series
The IZOD IndyCar Series is the premier level of American open wheel racing. The current championship, founded by Indianapolis Motor Speedway owner Tony George, began in 1996 as a competitor to CART known as the Indy Racing League . Citing CART's increasing reliance on expensive machinery and...
. Since 1983, the Skip Barber Racing School has trained over one-third of all Indy 500 competitors and one-quarter of the NASCAR Sprint Cup competitors. Skip Barber Racing alumni have won every major U.S. auto racing championship.
History
John "Skip" Barber, one of only a few Americans to compete in the Formula One World Championship, started racing in 1958 while studying at Harvard University, where he earned a degree in English. When his racing career ended, Barber's belief that auto racing was "coachable" in the same manner as any other sport—at the time, a distinctly minority position—led him to create the eponymously named Racing School, and a year later, the equal-car Race Series.In 1975, with two borrowed Lola Formula Fords and four eager students, Barber started the Skip Barber School of High Performance Driving. In 1976, it was renamed the Skip Barber Racing School and that same year, he created the Skip Barber Race Series. Within a decade of its founding, Skip Barber Racing became the largest racing and driving school in the world. Barber remains active in motorsports today as the owner and operator of Lime Rock Park, the famous road racing venue in the northwest hills of Connecticut. He lives in the nearby town of Sharon, with wife Judy.
On May 9, 2011, the racing school announced it would move its corporate headquarters to its Road Atlanta
Road Atlanta
Road Atlanta is a 2.54-mile road course located just north of Braselton, Georgia, USA. The facility is utilized for a wide variety of events, including professional and amateur sports car and motorcycle races, racing and driving schools, corporate programs and testing for motorsports teams...
facilty in Braselton, Georgia
Braselton, Georgia
Braselton is a town in Barrow, Gwinnett, Hall, and Jackson Counties in the U.S. state of Georgia, about 40 miles northeast of Atlanta. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 7,511....
.
The Offerings
The Skip Barber Racing Schools are held at more than 20 race tracks in North America and feature a series of autocross, braking & downshifting exercises with special attention on heel-and-toe downshifting, high-speed lapping sessions combined with racing theory & advanced braking techniques and Track drills in drafting, passing & racing in the rain; double-file race starts & single-file restarts.The Skip Barber Driving Schools teach emergency braking, skid and slide control, proper cornering techniques and a variety of other car-control skills. The purpose of the programs is to raise awareness of all the elements that together constitute good driving through understanding of vehicle dynamics and practicing the skills in a controlled environment. The Driving Schools can be found at five base locations: Lime Rock Park
Lime Rock Park
Lime Rock Park is a natural-terrain motorsport road racing venue located in Lime Rock, Connecticut, United States, a hamlet in the village of Lakeville, Connecticut, in the state’s northwest corner...
(Located in Lakeville, Connecticut), Road Atlanta
Road Atlanta
Road Atlanta is a 2.54-mile road course located just north of Braselton, Georgia, USA. The facility is utilized for a wide variety of events, including professional and amateur sports car and motorcycle races, racing and driving schools, corporate programs and testing for motorsports teams...
(Braselton, Georgia), Road America
Road America
Road America is a road course located near Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin on Wisconsin Highway 67. It has hosted races since the 1950s and currently hosts races in the NASCAR Nationwide Series , American Le Mans , SCCA Speed World Challenge Series, ASRA, and AMA Superbike series.- Current track and...
(Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin), Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca
Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca
Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca is a paved road racing track used for both auto racing and motorcycle racing, originally constructed in 1957 near both Salinas and Monterey, California, USA....
(Monterey, California) and Sebring International Raceway (Sebring, Florida).
BFGoodrich/Skip Barber National Presented by Mazda is an entry-level professional racing series that takes drivers to several venues each season, and exposes them to bigger racing markets, while receiving feedback each session from Skip Barber Racing instructors. Each season's champion earns a scholarship to compete in the next level of racing and help advance their racing career.
The Skip Barber Regional Race Series is collectively three separate open-wheel, spec racing championships — a summer race series and two winter race series based out of the Southeast and California.
The Skip Barber MAZDASPEED Challenge is a race series using Mazda MX-5 cup cars with specifications closely matched to those of the SCCA Pro Racing Playboy MX-5 Cup series. The MAZDASPEED Challenge runs alongside the Skip Barber Regional Race Series.
The Skip Barber Cup is a racing series for drivers aged 26 and older who are looking to race in a professional-level series without becoming full-time professional racers.
Corporate Events unit creates custom Racing and Driving programs for companies of any size that desire special events to train, entertain, educate and reward. Each one is unique and tailored specifically to the client’s needs and can include almost any criteria including catering, photography and apparel.
OEM Events provides specialized automotive-related training, analysis, evaluation, logistics and consultation.
The Vehicles
The skip barber school owns 60 Formula Skip Barber open-wheel school cars and race-prepped Mazda MX-5 Cup cars for the Racing School, Racing Series and Corporate Events and 60 Skip Barber Formula 2000 race cars for the six racing championships. They also utilize more than 75 passenger/street cars including Porsche 911Porsche 911
The Porsche 911 is a luxury 2-door sports coupe made by Porsche AG of Stuttgart, Germany. It has a distinctive design, rear-engined and with independent rear suspension, an evolution of the swing axle on the Porsche 356. The engine was also air-cooled until the introduction of the Type 996 in 1998...
s, Boxster
Porsche Boxster
The Porsche Boxster is a mid-engined roadster built by Porsche. The Boxster is Porsche's first road vehicle to be originally designed as a roadster since the 550 Spyder....
s, Cayman
Porsche Cayman
The Porsche Cayman is a mid-engined, rear wheel drive 2-seat sports car produced by Porsche AG of Germany. First launched in the 2006 model year, the Cayman is a coupé derived from Porsche's second generation Boxster convertible. Like the Boxster, most Caymans were assembled in Finland for Porsche...
s, Lexus IS-F sedans, Lotus Exige
Lotus Exige
The Lotus Exige is a two-door, two-seat sports car made by Lotus Cars. It is essentially a coupé version of the Lotus Elise, a mid-engined roadster in production since 1996....
s, Lotus Evora
Lotus Evora
The Lotus Evora is a sports car produced by British car manufacturer Lotus. The car, which was developed under the project name Project Eagle, was launched as the Evora on 22 July 2008 at the British International Motor Show.- Development :...
, BMW M3
BMW M3
The BMW M3 is a high-performance version of the BMW 3 Series, developed by BMW's in-house motorsport division, BMW M. M3 models have been derived from the E30, E36, E46 and E90/E92/E93 3-series, and sold with coupé, sedan and convertible body styles...
s, Mazda3's, Mazda MX-5
Mazda MX-5
The MX-5, also known as Miata in North America and Eunos Roadster in Japan, is a lightweight two-seater roadster, of front-engine, rear-wheel drive layout, built by Mazda in Hiroshima, Japan. The model was introduced in 1989 at the Chicago Auto Show...
s, and Mazda RX-8
Mazda RX-8
The Mazda RX-8 is a sports car manufactured by Mazda Motor Corporation. It first appeared in 2001 at the North American International Auto Show. It is the successor to the RX-7 and, like its predecessors in the RX range, it is powered by a Wankel engine. The RX-8 began North American sales in the...
s for use in the High Performance Driving School, Driving Schools, and Corporate Events.
See also
- BFGoodrich/Skip Barber National Presented by Mazda
- Skip Barber Formula Dodge Series
- Barber Dodge Pro SeriesBarber Dodge Pro SeriesThe Barber Pro Series was an entry-level open-wheel auto racing series from 1986 to 2003. The races were primarily on road and street courses in North America, although the schedule did sometimes include a few ovals....
- Barber Saab Pro Series