4-17-2003

4-17-2003 - Fran Am 1600 - Speed Secrets Driver Development Camp

Colin had the chance to attend the Speed Secrets Driver Development Camp at Pacific Raceway in Seattle WA. The camp is the result of a long standing dream of Ross Bentley. Ross has written 3 great books on the inner science of driving race cars and the camps are the melding of all the 3 books and the Inner Speed Secrets seminars he and Ronn Langford have been giving the past few years.

The camp starts with instruction on the cars, driving, and many of the Inner Speed Secrets items.

Here the drivers test fit the custom seats they made early on day one. This is not a normal "driving school", in fact it is not a school at all. The camp is designed to take experienced drivers from other forms of racing and hone their skills to put them on the way to being a complete driver.

Ross and his coaches, Don and Danny worked with the drivers on everything from mental preparation and programming the mind to how to handle interviews and each drivers career.

This was in addition to technical discussions on the cars and set ups and driving techniques.

Day one also included a track walk, dinner and more career work. The day ended at 8:30pm.

The camp is designed to simulate a race weekend and teach each driver what commitment is about, so the time schedule is precise with the day going from 7:30am to 8:30pm.

Above, Ross works with Colin on day 2 - Driving. Colin was driving the Fran Am 1600 of George Latus. George loaned his car to Colin for the camp as the teams car was being painted for the season. George is a great guy who Colin knows from one of the Inner Speed Secrets seminars last year.

Here Colin is behind Adrian another 14 year old driver. Adrian came from a quarter midget background and was learning not only the cars but road racing.

The drivers got a ton of track time on day 2 and 3. Colin did over 200 miles in the 2 days. There were braking exercises to allow the drivers to find the limit of the brakes.

They worked on lines and slowing down your hands to go fast.

Rain was a factor, a good factor. There was driving in the wet, dry and in between. This gave each driver a chance to learn the cars in all conditions.

The Pacific track is fantastic. You can see that from this picture. It is 2.25 miles long and very challenging.

The drivers worked on lines and with the help of the coaches stationed in the turns learned how to read the track and get the best out of the cars.

The Fran Am 1600 cars are very good for the camp. They are a modern car with a carbon tub and a sequential gearbox. For Colin it is perfect as that is the car he will be racing this year.

As Colin was working on the details Don Kitch one of the coaches was watching in turn 3a and 3b, shown here. Don has many laps at Pacific and had been working with Colin in this section of the track. He was watching when he said to me that Colin had done that turn perfect just then. I looked at the stop watch and.......yep a new fast time for Colin. These guys know their stuff!

Here into turn 3a you can see how the track is set into the woods.

On the last day Colin kept getting quicker and quicker. He ended the day with a track record for the Camp in a Fran Am 1600 car at 1:30.28. This will be broken later in the year when the track gets better, but for now we were all happy that the coaches could work with Colin to make improvements like this.

Lucky for car owner, George Latus Colin never put a wheel off, or spun in the 2 days of driving.

We did work on some set up stuff but mostly on the driving.

By the end of the 3 days of intense driving each driver had learned so much.

Here is Colin on the left, with Ryan center and Adrian on the right.

I know Colin will be a better driver after the camp.

We want to thank George Latus for the use of his car. Also the coaches for their great help and Dave the Camp' s chief mechanic for keeping all 3 cars in great running order.

Now off to Portland for a test with George and possibly a chance for Colin to drive another new track.

The press release after the camp said:

May 05, 2003 News

Braun Attends Speed Secrets Camp

Colin Braun, 2002 SKUSA 80cc Jr. Champion, participated in the first ever Speed Secrets Driver Development Camp at Pacific Raceways in Seattle, Wash., April 15-17. The 14 year-old quickly impressed the staff of coaches, both behind the wheel of the Speed Secrets Fran-Am 1600 cars and out of the car.

The camp, which is designed to help young karters make the jump to professional car racing, was not the first time Braun had driven a Fran-Am 1600. He had already completed over 900 miles of testing in his own car at Motorsports Ranch in Texas. Although the young Texan had some experience, he still learned more than he had anticipated, “I was really surprised how much I learned, even though I have been testing our own car a lot. I learned about driving, of course, but I also learned about the other aspects of being a complete driver," says Braun. "I was really surprised at the amount of seat time I got. I thought I was going to get a few sessions each day. I was seriously wrong – I was driving practically the whole day! And, it was great to work with such professional and knowledgeable coaches. They taught me so much, not just about driving."

Speed Secrets Head Coach, Ross Bentley, commented, “One of our goals for the camps is to help young racers become the ‘complete driver’ – a mix of driving skills, technical knowledge, marketing and business skills, physical and mental skills. In other words, to be an all-round driver who can succeed in making a career racing cars. Compared to other 14 year-olds, Colin is truly amazing. Even compared to drivers older than him, he stands out from the rest. Man, can he drive! But it’s all the other aspects that really makes him shine. Obviously, growing up in the sport makes a big difference, but it’s his personal commitment, intelligence and personality that will take him to the top, no matter at what level he races,” Bentley added.

Braun’s plans for 2003 are to continue his development as a driver through further testing and coaching sessions with Speed Secrets, and to compete in selected Fran-Am 1600 West Coast races.

For more information about Colin Braun, please see http://www.tracc5.com The other drivers participating in the April Speed Secrets Driver Development Camp had similar racing backgrounds as Braun, coming from karting and quarter midget competition. And, a number of other young kart racers have signed up for future Speed Secrets Driver Development Camps. Could it be that these young racers have found the “secret”?

Says Braun, "The transition from karts to cars was way easier than I would have thought - I credit a lot of that to the Speed Secrets camp. They taught me so much about driving a car, and how it is different from a kart. It would have taken me a lot longer to learn these things by myself."
More information about the Speed Secrets Driver Development Camps can be found at http://www.speed-secrets.com.