STAR Pro School Overview

Why the Pro School?

• Motorcyclist named us the “Best Place to Go Fast”.

• We have helped thousands of students since 1998. Some become AMA Superbike stars; all become more proficient, more confident riders.

• Our professional instructors cover thousands of miles, working with hundreds of students a year. They win local, regional, National, and World Championships. They are motorcycle industry veterans with roles small and large: proprietors of multi-line dealerships, engineers of motorcycle performance parts, Factory AMA Superbike Crew Chiefs and Team Managers. They have worked for the Big Four, and tested and developed tires for Dunlop and other manufacturers. They are television commentators, Sport Rider Editors, and Motorcyclist and Roadracing World contributors. In short, they have more experience, and more invested in the sport of motorcycling, than all the others combined.

• Professionals like Jeremy McGrath, Buddy Antunez, Ben Spies, Mike Metzger, Danny Eslick, Jake Holden, Jessica Zalusky and countless others have all honed their skills at STAR.

The STAR Pro School is limited to 20 students, placing the student to instructor ratio at approximately 3:1. This allows for more on-track instruction with our staff, including Jason. We limit the size of the class, increase the amount of track time, and offer even more instruction.

The venue we have chosen, Thunderhill, is one of the best teaching tracks in the country. It is safe, fun, and the often discussed mix of technical and fast. The added value for the Pro School is the ability to break the track up into two separate (and shorter) racetracks. Group A can be on the North track working on an advanced downshifting drill with Jason, while Group B is on the South track, working on a passing drill with 3-time AFM Club Champion David Stanton or 1998 AMA Supersport Champion Richie Alexander. We have found that drills executed on a shorter track also allow for less distraction and quicker feedback. (What was I working on again?)

STAR had a revelation in 2004 while at Thunderhill: the track can be run backwards without compromising safety. This is pretty exciting when applied to the Pro School, as it essentially offers twice the reinforcement for the price of setting up one drill. It also forces the student who rides in fifty track days a year at Thill (and there are many) to actually execute the drills, instead of riding around on autopilot.

For 2008 we will have multiple GSXR camera bikes, and each student will be followed for a number of laps. We have a monitor system setup in the school truck that allows us to quickly provide feedback to the student. We’ve had good feedback from this. We have also introduced a more structured approach to motorcycle setup, including making changes on the pit wall (as demonstrated in a race weekend). This will help our students who have a fear of the screwdriver get over that fear. And it will allow our more advanced students a peak inside what type of input Jason gives his crew during a race weekend, and the steps the crew takes to improve the motorcycle. 

In addition to the Pro Schools advanced braking, downshifting, steering, and visual drills, we tailor the curriculum to the students real-time needs. For instance, we’ve had racers who were interested in perfecting their starting techniques. The hotpit at Thunderhill lends itself to safe practice starts, so we set up a starting line drill there.

If you sign up for the Pro School, it’s your school; you paid for it. If there is something you want to work on specifically, give us some advanced notice. If it works for us, we’ll fit it in.

Pro Schools are for returning students only. You must have attended a standard STAR school prior to attending a Pro School.ol.