Left-Foot Braking at its Best! by Mary Medo
Finally! It was cold enough. The ice was thick enough. The Audi Badger Chapter’s Ice Driving School was on! Early in February, a couple dozen drivers gathered at the Rock River Bar and Grille in Hustisford, WI for donuts, coffee, and a brief orientation to driving on ice with no grip! Our instructors – ice racers from the Wisconsin Autosports Group – explained the exercises, the racecourse, and some car control techniques. We were ready to head to the frozen lake.
Dave Parps reviewed the day’s schedule, divided drivers into groups, and assigned an instructor or two to each group. We had right and left J-turns, slalom, and braking. We also had a skid pad that was like none we had ever seen. It consisted of various surfaces, from snow packed with a little grip to glassy ice with no grip. Amazing teens, adventurous women, and a bunch of hot-shoe guys set out for the exercise areas. This was going to be FUN!
We proceeded to our exercises and lined up for… WAIT! Is that Russ Maki’s Ford on the skid pad? You bettcha!! We had all kinds of cars…a Dodge Neon driven by 16-year old Ben, a BMW, an SUV driven by ##-year old Brad from Minnesota, a Volkswagen, and other renegade autos. This eclectic mix of machines made for an exhilarating morning doing exercises on ice. What a great place to practice what our instructors tell us… “Eyes up! Don’t lift!! Be smooth; be smooth! Try a little left-foot braking!!” The more experienced drivers grabbed the chance to balance the car by deftly applying a little throttle and just the right amount of left-foot braking.
For a good two hours in the morning, we rotated among the exercises and got great coaching from our instructors whenever we needed it. At lunchtime, we headed back to the bar for hot food and a break from the snow that fell gently all morning.
After lunch, we headed back to the frozen lake to drive the racecourse in three segments. The snow continued to fall and added to the fun. It might have made it difficult to find our way, but we had instructors in our cars who coached us and guided us through the tricky course. By the time we hooked the three segments together, we were anxious and ready to drive the whole racecourse. This was our chance to show our stuff and to catch rides with our ice racing instructors. Wow! It couldn’t get much better!!
For me, one of the best parts was practicing my left-foot braking. I heard my voice in my head. ‘Ready now…straight-line brake – left foot – gentle, gentle. Turn and squeeze on the gas.’ Then I got ready for the left-hand sweeper. I knew I’d need more weight in the front and the best way to get it there was with proper left foot braking. With ease and confidence, my left-foot braking got better and better. There was no worry about making an embarrassing mistake or spinning out – nobody cared. There was nothing to hit but fresh, fluffy snow!
Just take a look at this gallery of drivers. Pretty impressive, I’d say!
Vladan Hegen, from Chicago, makes a great run in his Avant!
Bill Erdmann drove his Buick from Shawano just to come to the Ice Driving School!
A little snow didn’t stop Sherry Wank.
Henry Bakemeyer is happy that he had a chance to drive his
convertible in a Club event!
Do you think Jay Gould is having fun? Never mind that he’s driving a VW!
Ben Coopland, in his Neon, took his dad, Alan, for a spin. Really! Notice Alan’s big smile. He must have been having a grand time!
And here’s our own Ken Newman checking out the line of cars waiting to get out to the racecourse. That’s Ted Snyder in his TT at the front! He’s followed by a teen driver, some Audis, and some non-Audis. We were all comrades in the snow and on the ice. We’ll be back. It’s well worth doing again.