Bridgestone Driving School @ Mosport
Thought I'd share my experience.
Participated in a corporate event at this school today. Unfortunately, I'll remember it more because we ran their open wheel cars in snow squalls/ice pellets/rain throughout the day. The "Thrill of a Lifetime" they advertise it as wasn't the case today. LOL! Apparently we were the first ones to experience this weather in their long history.
They took us out for an initial warm up session for a few laps, led my a couple of instructor cars (two groups on track at a time) to get familiar with the car and the track. After that, the next sessions were supposed to be at speed, led again by the instructors, but taking turns alternating who followed them after each lap; the car following the instructor would pull to right and let the other cars past, falling to the back of the line and then repeating that each lap, so that everyone gets a chance at being front of the pack. Unfortunately, the speeds were less than fast because of the conditions.
Had the weather been more accommodating it would have been a blast for sure. Despite only 170 BHP in these cars, @ roughly 1000 Lbs., they feel so fast, and raw compared to a street car. With the wet, cold weather, there were several spin outs on track (including myself), which was an experience in itself. You're instructed to just slam in clutch and the brake until the car comes to a stop. Not a lot of room in the cockpit, with pedals in the nose and pretty close together. 5 spd. synchronized manual transmission....which I'd never driven. Took some getting used to because the clutch engagement was so fast/short and you pulled straight back on the shifter to up shift and pushed it straight forward when you wanted to down shift (no gates). Steering wheel has digital read out showing RPM's, Oil Temp and Engine Temp as well as a line of LEDs that run across the top of the wheel to visually indicate where you are in the RPM range.....green, yellow red (6500 RPM max).
The track itself and the facilities were nice. Track is pretty short, though theirs an additional advanced section to lengthen it some. If you like TMP, you would likely enjoy this one (has some elevation changes and minor banking as well).
If you're ever interested, check out race2000.com.
