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A few years ago I got a Civic Si race car around VIR in about 2:12 and I thought I was really doing something, man. Had Mike Skeen been at the track that day, he would have had time to cross the line, stop his car, get out, remove his helmet, and have a short sip of The Kraken Rum Gatorade before I trundled past in my little econocar. We’ll have coverage and highlights from this event tomorrow, but in the meantime, watch this video. It will show you just how fast driving is really done: with economical hand motions, solid control inputs, and an utterly fearless mentality.
18 Comments on “2012 Ultimate Track Car Challenge Winner Mike Skeen Shows You How To Drive...”
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having an additional 400+ hp doesn’t hurt either.
Whatever Skeen’s driving always makes Skeenhundred wheel horsepower.
But in a race, the other drivers have the extra horsepower, too.
I’m guessing you haven’t driven VIR. You need more than horsepower to hit 145 in the uphill esses.
I love the mirror adjustment at 1:45. I really appreciate this videos Jack. The LS7 is sounding about as nasty as ever. I’m always in awe of the grip people are able to attain in Corvettes. The major gripe I hear from other sources is the lack of road feel for the C6, so that actually pays even more tribute to his fear-less approach.
+1. I snickered when I saw the casual adjustment of the rearview mirror at 154 MPH. One heck of a driver.
I may be alone in this opinion but this has nothing common with the pinnacle of driving.
100 miles of the runoff, endless safety margins, long, fast corners. Nothing really happens. What is exactly difficult in that, except of these occasional middle-corner crests where you have to watch the shortage of grip.
Try RALLYING. In the wet or on gravel. Through the forest or in the mountains. Now we’re talking. Everything happens 10x quicker than here. 10x more reflex needed or you’re off. Margin for error: none. Most corners done by holding the slide.
This or… F1, where everything happens in fast forward.
Compare this dude riding some vette around an easy sandbox circuit to this: youtube.com/watch?v=eTUviCzqovw
Good point about rallying, where leaving the course may mean a tumble down a rocky ravine, forest, or stream, not to mention striking a spectator and possibly killing your navigator.
Yep…to see a rally car going nearly as fast as this guy but….sideways….on mud….off camber…on ice…through standing water…with trees less than 10 feet either side…or a many 100 feet drop-off…
…yes, THAT is driving.
Still, the post is about TRACK driving so, within that context, impressive enough.
Someone above says something about “his hands moving” and “looking for the grip” or something like that….I don’t get your point. Unless you are AT the limit you are not going at maximum capability and if you ARE at the limit then, of course, sometimes you are going to have to correct the slide.
I once saw a video of Michael Schumacher at the limit in his Benneton and his hands were CONSTANTLY adjusting the line right through EVERY corner. Absolutely stunning to see.
You’d probably feel very differently if you were in the car. These amateur in-car videos don’t give a good sense of speed.
True, rallying is much less forgiving, but the reduced risk on a track doesn’t undermine the skill needed to drive fast. These are different disciplines with different challenges. There’s a reason rally drivers have navigators.
So road racing isn’t real racing because there’s safety involved? I think that’s a really ignorant opinion. Have you done any racing?
Skeen is the national Spec E30 champion. He schools everyone, regularly, in (allegedly) equal cars. He’s a true talent.
Nice, I think this is much more relevant to us aspiring track day drivers than rallying or F1. Although this does suffer from my pet hate of youtube in car video: for those of us who have not been to VIR, or simply lack the ability to replay pixel perfect video of the track on the backs of our eyelids it would be much nicer if the quality was good enough to actually see the edges of the track…
This was mesmerizing. I enjoyed this more than Mora at the Nurburgring. A master at his craft. I’d like to follow up with him in a ZR-1. Wait! No, a Ruff Yellow Bird! Take that “utterly fearless mentality”! No, he’d rock that too. I’m going to watch this critically, break it down, and learn. But, the questions remain: What would Mike have done in the Civic Si, or how would Jack compare in the ZO-6? Mike’s better? But by how much… great stuff.
I wouldn’t expect to be faster than Mr. Skeen in any situation other than maybe Spec Neon racing. He is just as serious about the craft as I am and he gets twenty hours of wheel time for every one I get.
Why is the wheel shaking back and forth in his hands during the tight turns? Feeling for the tire grip? The peak of his turns doesn’t seem so smooth at all.
He’s playing with a ton of grip, and it’s a bumpy surface, I reckon.
That’s more than skill. That’s confidence in his ride.
I’ve autocrossed C5 ‘Vettes, but I’ve never done a track day in one. This guy has no qualms of dancing his car at — or just barely past — the limits of adhesion, and absolute faith in his ride and his abilities as he slides 3500 lbs of ‘Vette and driver through the esses at a buck-forty plus. Not an easy thing to do with any big-bore car, but with something as twitchy at the limits as a Corvette that’s phenomenal.
That’s skill AND confidence.
I met Mike Skeen when he was driving Spec E30s with NASA-Southeast a few years ago. Watching him destroy a field of spec cars was testimony to his driving skill. The man is seriously fast in anything you give him.