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August 2004 - Red Bull Shoot out -
Sebring FL
RED BULL DRIVER SHOOT OUT SEMI
FINALS
Sebring, FL - 2004
8-30-2004 - Colin arrived today at the track
to get ready for the shootout. The Skip Barber guys were preparing
about 25 RT2000 cars for the drivers with new tires and they were
also doing some test driving to be sure the cars are equal. Not
sure how that works but we will see. I guess the cars have
different restrictors based on how good the engines are and the test
drivers can feel what restrictor the cars
need.....................we will see how this works.
Colin had a seat made and found out that he can left
foot brake the car. Not easy because the steering shaft is very
close to the brake pedal. But Colin has some tight, one size too
small driving shoes. The cars are not very modern, but they look
like good cars for a driving school. Tube frames with fiberglass
body. Very soft front springs on the pull rod suspension. The rear
feels about 100% stiffer than the front. The wings are mostly for
looks. The fronts have a Gurney but are very small, the rear is
smaller than a Formula Renault 1600. The tires are very hard
Michelin slick tires with a tall soft side wall.
In the morning Colin registers and starts to drive.
The reporting on the event will be from what Colin tells us. We
will not be at the tack at all. The little league parents factor
will be very high at this event and we think it best for us to let
Colin alone completely. It will be tough on us (his Mom the most),
but we all want what is best for Colin, so that is what we will do.
8-31-2004 - It was a slow start to the
driving today in Sebring. At 8:00 a.m. registration started in the
hotel lobby. By the time all 25 drivers were registered it was 9:00
a.m., then Danny Sullivan talked to the drivers and gave them some
idea of what to expect. Each driver that had never driven a Skip
Barber RT2000 car was put into 2 groups. Colin was in one of these
groups and they went to the autocross track and circular skid pad.
These drivers were given 10 minuets on each track in a "regional"
car. This car is close to the RT2000 except it has a H pattern
gearbox and no wings.
Colin was by far the fastest in this and got some
time to try to feel the car and figure out the brakes. By the time
all drivers had a chance at that it was noon. They ate lunch at the
trackside hotel and had a chance to go to the room. The temperature
was 95 and the humidity was 90%! Back to the track after lunch. No
parents were allowed inside the track all day. Most parents went
outside the track and timed and then called their drivers on cell
phones after the run. We thought it better to stay away.
The drivers were split into 5 groups of 5 drivers.
Each driver shared a car with another, Colin sharing with his good
karting friend John Beason from Oklahoma. Colin was surprised how
soft the car was and how little grip the tires had. He said it made
absolutely no grip or lateral force. These cars are used for
beginners and they are very mushy, rolly, and don't do anything
particularly well. Colin thought the brakes were not working and
the test driver said they were fine "they are all that way," he
said.
In the first session go around, one driver crashed
and she had to go to the hospital. There were many spins and off
track excursions. Colin spun once in turn 1 but kept going. After
20 minutes it was over. About 3 hours later Colin got another 10
minutes and kept trying to adjust to the strange handling car. He
said the first time he went for the brakes the front of the car hit
the ground!
There was no indication given by the Red Bull guys
as to what will happen tomorrow. The judges did offer some
suggestions and the Skip Barber instructors were there to help as
well. They posted a time sheet at the end of the day and Colin was
10th quick. The top drivers, as expected, were drivers with 1 or
more years experience in these exact cars. Then came the drivers
who have tested in these cars before. Colin was the fastest driver
who has never driven one of the Skip Barber cars.
But.................there is no prize for best of the rest, so he
was able to get some help tonight from the Speed Secrets driver
coaches on the phone as well as 2 friends of his who have driven
these cars before, David Jurca, and Marco Andretti.
The event could be over tomorrow. There is very
little structure to the shootout, and they said that the 3rd day is
"optional." So we are not really sure what will happen. Stay tuned
for more.
9-1-2004 - It only got more strange today.
They were suppose to start at 8:00 a.m. but some of the judges were
late to breakfast so there were delays. Each driver got two 5 lap
sessions. This brought Colin's lap total up to 25. Colin was given
a different car today and it was much better than the one he had
yesterday. He was able to run laps in the 1:23.9 range and many
laps at low 1:24. This compared to the 1:25.5 he ran the day before
and the 1:22.9 the fast guys were running. It looked like Colin was
in the top 8 to 10 cars on time at lunch.
At lunch Colin called to say that he had been cut
along with about 15 other drivers. Danny Sullivan said he should
have been quicker with all his experience in other race cars. They
kept 2 drivers slower than Colin. When the time sheet came out they
had Colin at a best of 1:24.4. I personally timed him at 3 laps
faster than that. But they had timing system problems and had
revised the day 1 times in the morning today. In any event Colin
was out and 12 drivers were in for the rest of the day.
Colin was interviewed 2 times today, one after being
cut. He thanked Red Bull for the opportunity and said he hoped to
be picked for the shoot out next year.
It was disappointing to be judged on just 25 laps in
a very different car. But that was the competition and that was the
result. Colin loaded up his gear and we left.
Then it really got weird...................They ran
some laps for the remaining drivers and did some mock races in the
wet. After that they selected only 3 drivers to go to the finals
in Europe. They were:
John Edwards - 13 years old with 1 full year in the
Skip Barber National series racing these exact cars. He can' get a
racing license in Europe due to his age. I don't know how he can
even do the F3 test in Portugal.
Jonathon Summerton - 1 year in Skip Barber National
and a top runner in Formula BMW.
Wade Van Hooser - Testing in Skip Barber National
cars as well as FF-1600 and FF-2000.
What many people can't figure out is that Brian
Frissell and Robbie Pecorari were not selected. These 2 guys were
in the top 3 fastest speeds both days. In the past they have picked
6 drivers to go to the finals and compete in the F3 cars for the 3
spots. We have no idea what they plan to do with the 3 selected
drivers. It looks like they will not need the final shoot out.
Like I said it was not what we expected. If we were
really working to get the Red Bull prize we would do things
different. For anyone doing this next year...................
1) You must have many laps in these cars. A year in
the National series at a minimum. The cars are not good for
training drivers to race in the higher classes, but you must learn
how to trick them into going quick. It will teach bad habits for
any real race car but you have to know these cars to have a chance
at the Red Bull Shootout - we blew it here, Colin had never sat in
one before.
2) Presentation, manners, work ethic, enthusiasm,
drive, desire, working with the mechanics, etc. has NOTHING to do
with who gets selected. We thought that they would take these
things into consideration - they did not. We spent time working on
that stuff.
3) The Skip Barber drivers had many advantages. We
should have done some series races as the instructors took more time
with the drivers they knew and worked with them. I would like to
think that Colin having a Speed Secrets logo across his entire chest
on his suit had no effect.
4) Abuse the cars. They will not turn at all.
Forget driving like you would in a proper car. Don't blip on the
downshift, just jam the gear lever down to lock the rear tires for a
split second and get the car to rotate. It was a trick that the
series drivers used. We figured it out too late
5) Look at the contract. We have never seen one,
but we hear that it is a 10 to 25 year contract that is quite
restrictive. Some people have turned it down.
6) Bring a driver coach or 2 or 3 with you. They
made a big deal about keeping the parents away from the drivers, but
every driver had a coach or a parent stationed around the track with
a cell phone. After every session the coach would call the driver
and they would debrief. We thought that letting Colin do it alone
was going to be the right thing to do so they would see it was his
individual talent with no outside help that was showing. WRONG!
Blew it again. If we did it again I would bring 3 Speed Secret
coaches and station them around the track. Each would call Colin
after every session and coach him on what to do in each corner.
7) Ask for a new car often. There is a big
difference between these cars. Don't worry about sounding like you
are complaining. Just keep working to get a good car and go fast,
that is all that counts. We watched drivers change cars and go over
1/2 second faster the next session. We were asleep on that one as
well.
Well it was a good experience and we learned a bunch
of things. If we would have done it right Colin would have had a
better chance. We have no one to blame except us! We wish all the
3 selected drivers a great season in Europe.
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