Learning Curves

Think "Driving School" and the image of personality-challenged instructors barking textbook spiels to nerve-wracked, completely dazed and confused students easily comes to mind. Exciting sometimes it can be, as brushes with all sorts of costly damage to life and property are part of the deal. But the whole experience is also as much fun as watching sinampay dry.

Thankfully, that’s not the case in this driving facility. No, at the Tuason Racing School, driver’s ed means major doses of serious kickass racetrack action. Even the classroom courses are less of a chore too, as the terms "apex", "late-braking" and "crash-the-car-and-you-pay-for-it" are sure to stir things up. (Now if you think it’s unfair to compare basic run-of-the-mill driving school experience to racing school classes, think again. Students will be students, and no matter what type of driving school they enroll in, chances are they’ll be attending the first day of class completely clueless. It’s a challenge either way.)

Besides, try teaching an eight-year-old kid how to corner a kart. Which is exactly what the TRS folks did recently when they held a two-day special karting clinic-cum-competition on May 21 and 25 at the Kart Trak located on the Boomland grounds in Pasay City.

Called the Alaska Karting Cup, the event was sponsored by Alaska Fresh and the racing know-how provided by Formula 3 driver JP Tuason, a guy whose racing pedigree and experience is beyond doubt. The event allowed both the truly young and the plain immature folks — ooops, young-at-heart — to learn and experience the adrenaline-charged sport of kart racing in a safe environment and at a minimum effect to the wallet. Kids at least eight years of age to the older ones attended the karting cup.

On both days, mornings meant an on-track classroom session with Tuason. Tuason patiently explained the basics of karting to the students, and pointed out in detail the parts of a kart, the function of that particular part, and the what-tos and what-not-to-dos with those parts. As the audience included kids (this writer’s autistic child included), Tuason made sure the instructions were clear to everybody. "On your right is the engine. The engine gets very hot. Do not touch the engine."

Also included in the lecture were basic racetrack driving lessons like racing lines, entry-apex-exit techniques, and braking and acceleration points. Safety precautions and equipment were also discussed, as were the meaning of flag signals. Clearly, a lot of information had to be drilled into the students’ heads in one morning, but Tuason made sure the classroom session was not stiff nor ho-hum boring. "Think of this as school, but fun since we all get to drive karts," he said.

The afternoons meant racetrack action. Hopefully, a student should have retained a lot of the information discussed earlier and not have been washed down with the soda at lunchtime. It was time to put theory to practice. Most students fumbled their way around the track, and were obviously overzealous to drive the karts as fast as possible. Especially the older kids, like a teenage girl who kept ignoring flag and verbal instructions. By the end of the day, it was clear a lot of practice was needed.

But that was to be expected. One does not become a Schumacher in a day. The Alaska Karting Cup promised to teach the students some of the basics of karting, and it accomplished exactly that. It also promised major doses of fun, and a blast the students had. School definitely was never this fun.

(For those seeking another brand of racing, TRS, powered by the Ford Lynx, will hold its first session on June 7 and 8 at the Batangas Racing Circuit. Tuition fees are P5,000 for the basic course and P7,500 for the advance class. Participants enrolling in both get a P1,500 discount. Included in the package are the use of a genuine race-prepared Ford Lynx, safety gear, and of course expert instruction from Tuason and the Tuason Racing Team. Graduates of the program are eligible to race in the TRS-Ford Lynx Cup scheduled later in the year. For inquiries, call 531-2962 and 535-4769. Call now and learn racing.)