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Allen Berg Racing Schools

4.5 (66 reviews)
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Iconic Cork Screw - check out bottom of right tire

So much fun - once (or more) in a lifetime bucket list item. Top notch instruction in open wheel Formula racing cars at a globally iconic track (Laguna Seca). Professionally run, great cars (top notch mechancis and excellent inventory), knowledgeable and experienced instructors. We had rain on Day 2 of a 3 day program, tires change from slicks to rain tires - a completely different and additional experience in the wet. Open lapping at your pace - non-restricted. Terrific video and data (in car telemetry) feedback, that absolutely improves your driving. This is a 7 out of 5 experience.

Staff cleaning up/disinfecting the cars between sessions.
Andy F.

This review is for a 2-day Formula Car course at Laguna Seca. I'd previously driven this track many times with other organizations as part of "driver's education" sessions in my own (street) car, so I came in knowing the racing line and general high performance driving principles (though I'd never been in a Formula-style car before, which was the main appeal of this course for me). Because this course assumes no previous experience, and because it's really just the first 2 days of a full 3 day curriculum, we didn't get to the full experience I was expecting until late in day 2. What was that experience I wanted, you ask? Driving full sessions without restrictions (no following a lead car, no "stop box", i.e. slowing down artificially on the front straight) and in between reviewing data collected for areas to improve. I only got one of those sessions (with data) by the end of day 2, which is disappointing because I then didn't get to follow up and improve in a subsequent session based on what I saw in the data. Having done this 2-day course, I now qualify to come back and just do day 3/open lapping sessions, which I'd be very happy to do. For the relatively high price (vs. regular "driver's education" with organizations like Hooked on Driving) you get a high staff ratio of race-experienced drivers stationed around the track during sessions and looking at your helmet cam video and data in between sessions. I felt their analysis and advice was excellent. So why 4 stars, and not 5? For value. I wish they had an event for folks like me who'd driven before and didn't need as much initial instruction so we could get to the good stuff I didn't get to experience as much of (the open lapping with data analysis I mentioned before). There were several in our group with said experience, and I imagine they might have been wishing for the same thing. I can understand why they might be hesitant to offer this. I was a bit shocked at the number of spins and off-track excursions from even experienced drivers I saw at this event - many more than is typical when people drive their own cars in driver's education, and this despite the relatively more capable and less speedy Formula cars we were driving. Don't let this scare you - I never spun or went off (or felt even close). Still, an "ease in" day is probably warranted. For day 2, though, I think experienced drivers clearly could have gone straight to open lapping a lot earlier, so splitting the groups in some way to afford that would have been nice. While I'm on value, the website makes a lot of claims that while technically true, aren't fully realized in the class. Like: - "open lapping on the first day" - _not true_. Stop-box only. - "data debriefing" - true, but the website shows a full-featured data reveiw with throttle and brake position, gear selection and rpm, and instead we only reviewed speed vs. position. The instructors can guess at some of the other data by the shape of this curve, but the explanation we were given was that the cars simply didn't have sensors (which is odd given what's shown on the website - this is very basic stuff). How well are we trail braking? How many G's are we pulling in the turns? What line did we drive vs. faster drivers/what turn-in and track-out points did we use? Who can say? (technically I suppose we could review the helmet cam video for things like turn-in points, but it's not captured or displayed in synchronized fashion with the other data) - "ability to pass" - true, but only in one place on the track, mediated by track staff; I can understand this, since the mirrors on the cars are awful, and it's hard to tell when someone's behind you and yield via point-by. Not the biggest issue, I suppose, since all the cars are all the same power, and speeds aren't super mis-matched like they are in DEs. Even so, I read "ability to pass" and immediately thought it would be more extensive than it was. - "top speed 130 mph" and "cornering force 2.0g" under car performance data; I'm skeptical those cars are geared to reach 130 mph, and there's no way they're reaching that speed at Laguna. Maybe 105 or 110 with a tailwind at the bottom the front straight just before braking? I hit 90 at best, but I am heavy and don't carry a lot of speed onto the front straight. Not that I'm complaining much, since 90 in the cockpit of one of these is pretty thrilling. Regarding 2.0g's of cornering force, I suppose it's possible, but color me skeptical any student will experience close to this - maybe summertime in turn 5 or turn 10? I would love to feel it though! - "training from an F1 driver" - Allen was only available for introductory classroom work and had to leave for other commitments, and to be honest, I value his contribution mostly in getting the best staff he can to run the event, and I give him 5 stars for that. In summary, for anyone who hasn't driven before, I'd say 5 stars. I do wish they offered a faster path to the full experience.

Allen Berg Racing School. I attended Wednesday 5-8 the best racing school I have attended.
Jason B.

Allen Berg Racing School Great Experience I attended the lapping session Wednesday 5-8-13 and must say this is the best racing school I have attended to date. I have attended several others and must make it known how Very professional Allen's staff is, the cars are top notch, and the data system and review after each session exceeded my expectation. I traveled from Tampa to attend the lapping day session and recommend anyone looking at attending a racing school to go to Allen Berg and experience this for your self.

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Ask the Community - Allen Berg Racing Schools

Review Highlights - Allen Berg Racing Schools

“I guess the best accolade i can give is that each time i went on the track for our sessions my time improved..”

Mentioned in 27 reviews

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Skip Barber Racing School - www.skipbarber.com

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3.6(70 reviews)
0.2 mi

Looks like everyone's experience was similar to mine. I did a 3 day F4 class and it was miserable…read morefor the most part. Everytime a student driver made even the slightest of mistakes the head guy/owner of SB would yell so loud that his face would turn red. He made my entire experience horrible and I paid $10k! Everything he said and told us to do and not do was lead with intimidation and anger and threats....wasn't encouraging or helpful at all. Seemed like most of the instructors were also scared of him so they didn't encourage us to improve. I asked my instructor about him and he said yeah we are all scared to do something wrong. What a horrible way to run a business! I would've done more f4 classes but not here, EVER! There are much better run race classes. Run from Skip Barber and never look back!!

From the arrival at the track to the finish of the session it was a bad experience. Upon arrival at…read morethe track it was controlled chaos to get everyone registered to race. We started 25 minutes late. The staff seemed like it was their first day there. Skip Barber describes their courses as "lead and follow". Let me describe that for you. The instructor leads and you follow. This is not a bad concept as long as the lead car is capable of the same speed as the student. The "lead" car on the day of my session was a completely stock Toyota Camry. If that sounds bad, it was. Now add 4 students in the "lead" car every session receiving "instruction" while you are driving a car capable of 150 mph and the result is a lap speed of well under 70 MPH. The same lap car was used for all cars that day. Therefore, Formula 4 cars and GT cars were restricted to the same speed behind the lap car. If driving an exceptional car well below it's potential is appealing to you, I highly recommend Skip Barber.

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A-Z Driving School

A-Z Driving School

4.8(101 reviews)
55.3 mi•Metro/Airport, North San Jose, Newhall
Certified professionals
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Our family had a 5-Star experience with A-Z Driving School and highly recommend their services. My…read morethen 16-year-old son initially had 3 - 2-hour intensive driving training sessions and took their thorough on-line training course, which positioned him to pass the written DMV examine. More recently we signed him up for their Drive Test Package which included a 1-hour pre-drivers test lesson with an experienced ex-DMV examiner and followed by a successful driving test at the DMV. Our first interaction with A-Z Driving School was with Erin, she was very helpful and thoroughly went over all the options of service they provide. The prices are fair, they offer continuously flexible session times, and their cars are clean and recent models. A-Z's driving instructors are professional, patient and exude great communication and experience to teach effectively. We'd like to extend special thanks to Erin, Dillion and Anita. They helped us through this necessary but stressful life event and are terrific people.

When I first contacted A-Z for my son's driving lessons, Erin was very helpful and answered all my…read morequestions and helped get my son set up for 3 lessons (6 hours). His first lesson was with Natalie. She was great. He was very nervous and she helped ease his nerves. After the lesson, she had wrote down the areas he needed to focus on. She went over it with both my son and me. He also got a checklist to prepare for the driving test. His next two lessons were with Steve, who was very professional and got him on the freeway and helped him with preparing for the exam including backing up. A few months later, we got two more lessons (4 hours). Erin again was a great help in helping schedule. He had another lesson with Steve. He also had another instructor Katie, also professional and helped him with parking and other areas he requested more practice with. My son passed his driving exam today on the first try. The foundations provided to him definitely helped. I've recommended A-Z to other parents looking for lessons.

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Yana Passed her Driving Test on First Attempt

Allen Berg Racing Schools - driving_schools - Updated October 2026

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