Not sure if you so cal guys know this but, Nathan Swartzbaugh put together a dream team of driving instructors and got permission to use the old El Toro Marine base (in Irvine) as the staging ground for driving instruction and tracking. I attended the first day today and am so stoked. A.) El Toro is literally 10 mins from my house vs. 3hr drive to Willow (any LA, SD or OC guys this is huge!) and B.) The track is setup in a way that allows you to test the limit of your car without risk of hitting a wall, etc. Not only that but the layout of the track is sick! so technical. I learned so much!

In the morning they had breakfast, coffee, etc. with nice tents, linen table cloths, etc. There were about 35 or so cars divided into 3-4 groups. My group started at the dry skip pad. They had rental cars for this exercise. So fun and very helpful. Instructors would pull e-brake to induce oversteer. Next, we did turning exercises on a tight oval with mid, early and late apexing. Then we did a braking exercise that started with pushing beyond the limit to see what each car could do, then worked back to trail braking, etc. This was insane, as generally no one focuses on braking and most don't realize how important it is. Keep in mind, at each exercise, they had 3 to 4 professional driving instructors with tents and water, etc. Then we had a gourmet lunch with instruction on the track, safety rules, etc.

After lunch, we broke off into our groups and did lead-follow on the track and then essentially got to run freely on the track until the end. In between sessions, we did a wet skip pad exercise (with rental car). Due to group sizes, there was no shortage of track time. The track layout was better than I expected for an old airport. And the tarmac was relatively smooth and had some elevation changes. While max speed was just over 100mph, the track was very technical and teaches all the various techniques learned in the exercises. I essentially drove by myself, but at anytime, I could have pulled into the pits and had an instructor ride along.

Tomorrow (Day-2) is an open track day for those that attended day-1 and/or those pre-approved by OCRC to run in the session. In addition, they will keep the exercise stations open to further practice specific techniques. I love the track layout and it allowed me to really push my car. Everyone was having a blast. And the cars were really impressive as well. Turbos, GT3s, GT3RS, F430's, Scuderias (there were 2!), Ford GT's, CGT's, Vettes, Lotus', etc. Just a solid showing of badass rides and cool dudes. And drivers range from beginners to advanced.

You can see the list of instructors at ocracecraft.com

I will try to post some pics and a review of day 2 tomorrow. I hope this takes off, as I would love to be able to track my RS each month without dealing with the pains of Willow.

All-in-all, it was the most organized and top-notch driving event I've ever been to. More to follow......

 

I'm interested. Where are the pics.

 

as soon as I get them from the photographer, I will post them along with a review of day-2.

 

sounds like fun, really wish I could've made that event... but car is down right now.