Our first day at Bondurant...
Our first day at Bondurant started in the classroom with chief instructor Mike McGovern going over what we'll be doing, why we'll be doing it, and what we should be learning from each exercise. Here he's giving a brief introduction to proper corner entry from the Bondurant Apex Manual that is given to each student. The green line shows the proper route, while the red shows the natural tendency of most inexperienced drivers. This is a critical point that will be revisited and expanded upon with each day's exercises.
We'll do our best to recap our adventure, and provide a good primer of the lessons we took away that you can apply to your own driving styles, but there really is no substitute for being there first hand. We'd honestly rate attending the Bondurant School as one of the most transformative things we've done. It caused us to reevaluate our driving in every aspect, and not only made us feel more capable behind the wheel, but more confident-and that benefits everything right down to our daily commute dodging Gomers on the freeway. Plus, we actually get more enjoyment out of our joy rides than ever before. There's truly no better investment for a car guy than learning how to really drive.
Know Your Curves
Each corner has three main sections: the turn-in point, apex, and exit. Connecting them together correctly produces the racing line. Of course, every curve is different, and the location of the three points will vary. Below are representations of the five major types of curves present on every track and the appropriate line to follow through them.
Constant Radius
Increasing Radius
Decreasing Radius
Right Angle
Chicane
After more classroom time...
After more classroom time and lunch, we met number 31, our toy for the next couple days. All of Bondurant's C6 Vettes are mechanically stock Z51 coupes with Performance Friction brake pads and Castrol brake fluid. Even the hard and heavy Goodyear Eagle F1 Supercar run-flats remain; though they only last a couple of weeks at best.