Most of us secretly believe that, if given the opportunity, we’d be able to go wheel-to-wheel with Lewis Hamilton and probably come out at least a car-length ahead. After all, how hard could it be?

Fortunately or unfortunately, the reality is quite different. In fact, it’s exceedingly difficult to succeed in any form of professional motorsport where the odds always appear to be stacked against you. Not only do you have to be incredibly talented, but also have excellent reflexes and motor skills, as well as being exceedingly fit – all of which seems quite obvious actually. But what most people don’t realize is that you also need to have the concentration and mental ability to absorb and process a multitude of information at speed. There’s a great deal more to it than simply violently exercising your right foot.

One way to find out if you have what it takes is to attend a racing school. Perhaps you’ve already gained some seat time in the National Racing championship and want to hone your skills. Either way, racing schools like the Jim Russell Racing Drivers School provide drivers of all skill levels the opportunity to stop dreaming and actually strap themselves into the cockpit of a racecar.

Jim Russell was a British racing driver who founded the first racing school in 1957 when he set up a training facility for other drivers. A number of famous racers have made their way though the school during its long history – including the likes of ex-Formula 1 driver and multiple Le Mans winner, Derek Bell, Formula 1 legend, Gilles Villeneuve, and his son, 1997 F1 world champion, Jacques Villeneuve.

While the Skip Barber racing school is perhaps better known, the Jim Russell school at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, California, has an incredible single-seater racecar that sets it apart from the rest. I got a chance to observe the second day of a two-day racing program, as well as briefly get behind the wheel of the very impressive FJR-50 (Formula Jim Russel 50 Years), which looks like a mini F1 car.

The day began with a practical exercise on the schools skid pad. This included a student and instructor sitting side by side in the schools two-seater. The purpose of the exercise is to teach students to approach and exceed the handling limits of the vehicle, and then react accordingly. The instructors, all of whom currently race themselves or have in the past, encourage their students to be aggressive in inducing understeer or oversteer, and then attempt to correct it thereafter.

After a suitable number of spins, and having worn away a substantial amount of tread, they moved on to another exercise – this time in the FJR-50. A small course had been set up in the infield of the main racetrack. It was primarily a small oval – essentially consisting of two straights bisected by two slow corners.

The objective was to encourage students to judge braking distances and turn-in points, as well as learn when and where to apply the throttle coming out of a corner. Students would have to judge braking pressure, choose braking and turning-in points, as well as the line through the corner, and finally modulate the throttle at the exit. Through the exercise, instructors gave feedback and encouraged students to push the envelope based on their individual ability.



While the exercise was underway, I was asked to suit up and get myself fitted in the FJR-50 – in order to get a sense of the car and the circuit. In the past, I’ve had the chance to race a Formula Maruti at Sriperumbudur, near Chennai, as well as get behind the wheel of a Formula Dodge at Laguna Seca in the US, and a Formula Palmer Audi at Brands Hatch in the UK. While both the Formula Maruti and Formula Dodge are very basic single seaters, which have tube frame chassis that were designed decades ago, the Formula Palmer Audi is a modern racecar with wings and slicks, but was limited to 4,000 rpm when I was behind the wheel.

The FJR-50 meanwhile is a full fledged racecar based on a European Formula 3 car built by famous constructor Lola. It has a carbon fiber tub, adjustable rear wing, an engine from a Mitsubishi Evo, a 5-speed sequential racing gearbox from Hewland, brake discs from AP racing, and Yokohama slick tires. The 2.0 litre turbocharged engine produces just under 200 horsepower for the school, but approaches 300bhp in race trim. Such is the attention to detail that it even has gold foil around the suspension arms where the exhaust circumvents the suspension – since gold is a good conductor of heat.

I finally strapped myself in the car and was told to follow one of the instructors around for a few laps. You’re essentially lying down in the cockpit of a modern single seater – it seems unnatural at first but you get used to it fairly quickly. Before setting off, I was warned that it’s difficult to actually get going since it has a triple disc clutch that engages quite quickly. Despite visions of stalling multiple times, I was able to get away cleanly on the first attempt. A well sorted racecar is surprisingly easy to drive – unless you’re really going for lap times, at which point it becomes decidedly more difficult. Normally, it’s relatively easy to get up to speed, and it’s only when you’re a few seconds off the pace that it seems near impossible to go any faster.

Over the first two laps, I was basically getting to grips with the car and the track, which has a beautiful mix of crests, dips and blind corners. Realizing that I had only a few laps on circuit, I decided to start pushing a little more. In an effort to see how easy or difficult it would be to correct a slide, I decided to give it a bootfull of throttle coming out of a slow second gear corner with runoff on both sides. Since the tires were still cold, the car came all the way around despite an armful of opposite lock. I was left facing the wrong way and kicking myself for not showing greater restraint. I managed to get it pointing straight once again, and continued following the instructor as we made our way back to the pits. I assumed the session had been prematurely cut short, but after some explanation was allowed back out.

The spin notwithstanding, which was due to the driver rather than the machine, the FJR-50 was nothing short of fantastic. With a little heat in the tires it had tremendous grip, and you can really feel the downforce stick the car to the road in the faster corners. In fact, in some instances it felt like the helmet was going to come clean off, taking my head with it. In 200 horsepower trim, it felt incredibly fast. I can’t even imagine what it would be like with 50% more power, but I’d love to find out.

After another few laps, some of which consisted of slides that I was actually able to correct, we headed back to the pits for good. And while it was a great experience being behind the wheel of the FJR-50, it was far too short. One of the instructors then took me for a two lap run as a passenger in their two-seater. Those few laps, whatever I can remember of them anyway, were quite literally breathtaking. They also served to demonstrate that I was driving around like an old lady. I’m just glad I completed my laps before experiencing the two-seater, otherwise I would undoubtedly have tried to emulate the instructors speed and almost certainly ended up in the Armco barrier.

The FJR-50, combined with the schools impressive facilities and professional instructors, make Jim Russell a fantastic racing school. Most schools have much older cars that do teach you car-control, but don’t give you the same experience of being in a cutting edge race car. Moreover, other programs don’t necessarily allow you the freedom to push yourself and your car to the limit, which is when the learning really becomes amplified.

So the next time you feel like you can take on Lewis Hamilton, consider actually getting out there and giving it a try for yourself.