Steven Williamson
Interview By: Nicholas Pascarella
I've had the fortune of knowing Steven Williamson for a few years now, ripping around Bear Mountain and shooting Machinelush events together. We connected initially over cars; he was the first person to let me sit in an 86, and being around my height, I didn’t even need to adjust his seat. If you know me, you know where that story went; I got the Subaru variant, also in blue. Now we match…kinda.
I had the misfortune, however, of being unable to attend his Skip Barber open-wheel racing school event at Lime Rock, which I really wanted to shoot. Alas, we were fortunate to get a few photos back from his experience, but more importantly, we were able to ask him a few questions about his time there and he was kind enough to give us some of his thoughts and tell us about his incredible experience at a track I hold dear to my heart. I'll let him do the rest of the talking.
My dude! Before we get into your experience, I want to know what led you to sign up and follow through, was it a no-brainer for you?
As a kid growing up, I always had a passion for motorsports and cars in general. As a Black kid growing up in Queens, racing wasn't something that was accessible to me. Nobody in my family was into cars to the level that I am (nor are we wealthy) and when I would turn the TV on to watch a race, nobody looked like me. Besides people such as Lewis Hamilton and Bill Lester, the lack of representation in motorsports was uninspiring. It wasn't until I attended Sebring in 2019 that I knew what had to be done. I was already participating in track days with my car but that race weekend let me know I had to change my trajectory a little bit. A few years back, when I originally made the decision to pursue racing, I knew that I only wanted to race karts for a few years before working on the transition into cars. Well, that time has come. It was important for me to receive quality coaching. My goal is to be a great driver. I understand that I’m starting later in life than many of my competitors, but I'm up for the challenge. I knew that my main options were between Lucas Oil and Skip Barber. I aspire to race formula cars and Skip has a program that allows the public to drive F4 cars. That part was easy to choose but it was still a bit of a pill to swallow when time to pay. It's not cheap, but nothing in racing is. Honestly, I'm not sure you can drive a F4 car for much cheaper. It was a lot of money, but it was absolutely worth it!
Along those lines…of course my burning question is: how was it?! Lime Rock in an open wheel car must have been incredible!
Absolutely! It was sensational. I have been fortunate enough to participate in a few track days at Lime Rock with my 86, but it's different when you're doing it in a thoroughbred race car. I actually think I like the track even more now! The track brings its own challenges of course but you see it differently when you're in the F4 car. The car is so visceral, and does everything you ask it to. I have been fortunate enough to drive and ride in some cool street cars. The F4 car though is different gravy. It starts from the time that you sit in the car. As with the classic formula car seating position, it's like you're sitting in a bathtub with your feet above your butt. The pedal box is a bit tight because there's a clutch pedal. They had to actually give me a half size smaller shoe due to my normal size rubbing the top of the tub. The clutch being there meant I had to have my foot at a bit of an angle to hit the brakes. Before the session the crew comes and straps you in tightly to the seat. When it's time to start the session, you hit the switches to wake up the car. As the screen on the steering wheel turns on you hear the fuel pump working behind you. As soon as you hit the start button you're greeted by an almost overwhelming amount of vibration. You push the race clutch in to get rolling just like a street car. It is a bit heavy, with short travel but once you're rolling you don't need it until you return to a stop. You can't help but grin like when you were a kid on Christmas day! You're not even going fast but you're experiencing sensory overload. Until you start going fast, the shifts are brutal. It's like getting hit in the back with a shovel. At speed the sequential is silky smooth. Each pull of the paddle slams the next gear home. The next thing to tackle is the brake pedal. A formula car brake pedal is like stepping on a wall, that's how stiff it is. It's like this because it's unassisted, and it allows you to better modulate the brake pressure. Initially we were all using about 30% of the braking performance. Then gradually everybody is able to get closer to the threshold. The faster you drive, the more sense it all makes. The car is so nimble that it requires you to be precise with your inputs. It's hard to replicate the feeling of low weight. There's so much cornering performance, it's crazy. Even though the car is low power relative to a street car, it has a nice consistent pull through the rpm range. It moves for something with under 200hp! The ecoboost isn’t that loud but you do get some cool turbo noises and a lot of authentic pops and cracks from the exhaust on the overrun. Burble tune users would be envious. For everything that I've experienced, a day out in the F4 car around Lime Rock is about as good as driving gets.
Those of us who know you know you’re a GT86 guy with kart experience, how did this situation compare to your more familiar rides?
I know it's very cliche for people to suggest that their street cars “drive like a go-kart”. Cars don't really drive like go-karts. The similarities between the go-kart and the F4 car mainly is the nimbleness and the requirement to be smooth. That feeling of light weight is unmatched. The 86 is a small light car for a street car but it's still noticeably behind the kart and F4 car in terms of agility. 86 is pretty agile in its own right (arguably more so than majority of the cars on the market) but not on the level of the kart and racecar. The 86 and F4 car feel more natural to me because of the diff. Karts being the equivalent of an open diff requires a different style of driving than you would a car to a certain degree. The karts brakes are the worst of the 3. The 86 is decently raw for a street car but again it's nothing compared to the kart or F4 car. After a day of driving either, the 86 might as well be an S class! The chassis of the 86 is very good & can cover up your mistakes. A mistake in the kart or F4 car can bite you.
What was the day like; was there a lot of class work before you got started? How was it structured?
There was a good mix of both along with drills in street cars to practice some concepts. The classroom activity would explain various concepts then we would go out on track and participate in drills such as working on braking and being evaluated on our racing lines. We also would travel to specific corners with an instructor to see the other groups drive & learn from others. We also did things in street cars such as oversteer/understeer drills. The very last session of the school was open laps on our own.
What are the specs on the cars they set you up in?
The car weighs about 1200lb, & makes 160hp from a Ford ecoboost boosted 4 banger. The sequential is a 6-speed. It is a full carbon fiber tub with wings just as you envision with a formula car.
I saw some of your time was wet weather driving, how was that?
It was a great learning experience. Racing happens in the rain and if you want to be great, you need to know how to handle it. The beautiful conditions of day 1 and 2 allowed me to get comfortable. The rain initially brought anxiety because you don't know what to expect. Lime Rock is notoriously slick in the wet. The instructors talked to us about driving the rain line as well as provided other tips. Then they showed us the line with lead follow. I was surprised at the amount of performance the car has in the wet. The main thing to get used to is the visibility (or lack thereof). The cars eject a lot of water and it can be difficult to see where you are on track, if you're following close behind. The conditions were changing all day and at the end of the day the track was dry but it was still raining. Other than a quick 3 seconds of “wtf am I doing”, it was great.
What did you take away from this experience? What did you learn that sticks out?
The main thing that I took away is that I need more of this! It is worth the money for quality coaching and I feel like this was a great step in the right direction. I left the 3 days feeling like I can do this.
What was the most fun part of the experience?
The most fun part was the open lap session right at the end of the school. It was great to be able to put into practice all that we learned. Having Lime Rock almost to myself in changing conditions where the track is dry but it's raining, in a F4 car was just magic.
That’s awesome! Do you have advice for anyone else considering going down this path?
I think if you're on the fence about trying Skip, you should do it. If you're not planning to do it as seriously as I am, maybe don't do the 3-day school. There's a 1 day option that may be perfect for you. It still is expensive but hey, it's an experience. Don't underestimate the value of quality coaching.
Thanks for doing this, dude! One last thing, how can the good people find and follow you on socials?
You can find me in IG @swivmotorsports & on Twitter at @stevefrost21. I also have a podcast that you can find on Youtube, Apple podcast, & Spotify called the “Pit Box Podcast”. You can follow that IG @pitboxpod
