For 2023 we are proud to offer an advanced course for our more experienced drivers, which focuses on tandem driving and preparation for competition.

The majority of our school's days are beginner-intermediate. You can find out which ones are beginner by looking at the specific event page.

However, the beginner days are accomodating to all skill levels. We frequently have intermediate and advanced level drivers attend the beginner days. The instructors will assess your skill and modify the level of instruction to suit. The only technique that is not taught in the beginner course (time and skill dependent) is tandem driving, where you are driving in close proximity with another car. 

I am very proud to say we have unlocked Toronto Motorsports Park for the 2023 season! However, we are still mainly hosting the school at Shanonville. We are looking to add even more excting venues as the drift school gains relevance and trust in the motorsports community.

In September 2021, we attended a Drift Jam event at Gamebridge GoKarts with a rental customer driving the 240SX. This customer, who has driven the 240SX several times now on skidpad, had NEVER driven on a track before. However, because I was confident in his driving ability and knew his values were aligned with those of STRAND TYPE, I suggested we should attend the event. The event was a success, the customer had an amazing time for his first time driving on any track ever, and he made a positive first impression on the drift community. I really like this story and I would like for this to to happen again and again and again.

In the summer of 2022, we hosted a private event at Gamebridge GoKarts alongside the Drift Jam organizers for a small group of 10 trusted drivers. While this was just a test, I hope to come back to this venue in the future and open it up to customer driving.

This is conditional, but unlike other drift schools, the short answer is YES. Contrary to what self-proclaimed "driving experts" or other drift schools will tell you, driving manual is not rocket science, especially when you're on the Skidpad. You just need to get the car into second gear and not stall when you spin out. This isn't a stop and go traffic simulator, it's not as hard as people make it out to be.

On the other hand, something I always tell people is: don't ever set yourself up for failure if you don't have to. Showing up to a drifting school not knowing how to drive manual is considered setting yourself up for failure. However, If you're a quick study or just need a refresher, I can probably teach you how to drive manual in 10 minutes. I'm happy to do so at the start of the day, but please tell me before you show up, and don't be late. If you're NOT as quick a learner, you can even come out to the shop, and I will teach you there on the 240sx quickly. If you're a quick study and have at least some general idea of how it all works beforehand, then I can guarantee it will be a 10-15 minute lesson and you will be up to speed.  

No, and I apologize. My personal opinion on drifting automatics is that it's a serious waste of time. Imagine brushing your teeth with no toothpaste or showering with your clothes on. Crazy, right? So is drifting automatics.

Long story short, it's not worth anyone's time or money to learn how to drift on an automatic unless you have some injury preventing you from doing so on a manual transmission car. Please email me if you are in this specific situation and we can talk about an idea car for you to learn on. 

Great question, I'm glad you asked. The cost of everything has gone up significantly. Gas is the most expensive it has ever been, and the cost to import tires and parts has more than doubled in the last few years, pricing more and more people out of the sport.

Assuming you don't have an absolute trash can of a vehicle, assuming you are using tires that don't come from the scrap pile, and you are towing the car to and from the track, you can typically expect to spend anywhere between to $800 - $1400 per day to run a respectable medium power car. Don't believe me? Here's the breakdown:

- Gas for tow vehicle 100L for 5 hours of driving: ~$240

- Gas for drift vehicle 60L 94octane: $120

- 1 pair of new tires for drift vehicle (although this can easily be more tires per day): $360

- Entry fee: $150ish depending where you go

- Chances are you did some maintenance to the vehicle right before the event, let's say an oil+filter change and you replaced a couple small parts: $200

At this point you're almost over $1100 for the weekend. This also assumes you've spent close to $15,00+ building a respectable vehicle which you own and store and maintain regularly, and you have a truck and trailer $$$, or the car is registered and you're paying insurance $$. It also takes into account that you have some kind of paddock setup, tools and equipment $$$$.

Please take my word for it that you will spend less money in the long run and have a much better experience starting out your journey into drifting if you start with us at STRAND TYPE.

We have cars that already work and are reliable. We have the tools, knowledge and space to maintain them and run them efficiently at events. This leaves you with a stress-free experience where all you focus on is driving the car. You are not part of the prep or the teardown, the least enjoyable part of motorsports!

Another amazing question. I have experienced the same feeling at other racing schools. It always seems to take 3-4 hours before you're actually driving the car. Why make everyone show up at 7:15 if we're not going to drive till 11:30? And even if the driving does start early, the sessions are so few and far between. Seems like the instructors are more interested in chatting. 

For Shannonville Events:

My aim is to get you in the car no later than 10:30am. Registration is at 8:45, Shannonville will unlock the gate to the Skipdpad at 9am at which time we can start to set up the cones for the day's layout. Everyone typically helps out here so we can get going as fast as possible. Once the course is set, we do a trackwalk, have a quick classroom session and briefing, do an introduction to the cars, and then we're on the track. So in theory, you are in the car in less than 2 hours from the time you show up, potentially even less. I want to keep you driving for as long as possible. You are probably coming because you want to drive, so I want you to get the most out seat time for your money. 

Toronto Motorsports Park:

These events are new so we're not entirely set on the timing and schedule of the day. However, we are expecting to arrive at the track around 7AM to set up. Drivers should show up no later than 8:30AM for drivers meeeting, briefing and first lesson. 9:30AM will be the start of the first session on track.

Absolutely, and only the best. This is not your average trackside coffee experience. When we do our full paddock setup, the Breville Barista Express espresso machine will always make an appearance. I buy freshly roasted whole beans from Vereda Central Cafe in Oakville. You are also welcome to bring your own whole beans too if you happen to be an enthusiast and would like to share. As a student, your first cup is free. My favourite milk will also be provided while it lasts. The Starbucks Barista Oat milk and 2% lactose free 50/50 combo is my go-to for lattes at the time of writing, both iced and hot.

No, unless it is otherwise stated, we do not provide lunch. We usually have some light snacks to munch on throughout the day, but please prepare your own lunch, or you can always purchase food at the event. The Shannonville food stand is always open. 

(This is an important one so please read the whole thing)

People outside of drifting always ask me: "Hey, is drifting expensive?" And that's kind of a hard question to answer because "expensive" is subjective. The short answer is:

NO, drifting is not that expensive, but

CRASHING IS EXPENSIVE. CRASHING IS VERY EXPENSIVE.

Rule #1: Do not crash the car.

Over the years, I have been given the opportunity to drive A LOT of cars in motorsport scenario, and often these are other people's cars I am driving. The number 1 rule I always repeat to myself before and during driving other people's cars is: "DO NOT F*****G CRASH, DO NOT F*****G BREAK IT"

That is me talking to myself as I insert myself into the driver's seat of other people's cars, expensive or not. That should be you as well.​

Think about it this way: I do not build into the rental price the cost of someone crashing or breaking the car. It should be fairly obvious who will be footing the bill if something does happen: the renter.

HOWEVER, if there is a mechanical failure due to general wear and tear, neglect or lack of maintenance on our part, STRAND TYPE will accept FULL RESPONSIBILITY for the damages. Our team has built and maintained these cars and we drive them often. I know how much abuse they can handle. I drive the absolute bejesus out of all of them. I can tell when someone is going to break the car before it breaks.

Furthermore, the skidpad at Shannonville provides an almost entirely risk-free area to drift a car. There are practically zero walls, concrete barriers, fences, or bodies of water. The biggest risk of damage at Shannonville Skidpad is in two places. There is a rock garden near the main road which we always intentionally build the course layout away from. I have seen people at other events go off here. It is not fatal to the car, but you do risk damaging the bodywork (bumpers etc which are not cheap). The second place of concern is a fire station level water hose stand by the entrance to the skidpad. I have NEVER seen anyone hit this, but it's possible to smash into this thing if you were to fly off into the grass near it. On any track, or skidpad, when driving normally, racing or drifting, it is important to recognize all areas of potential risk to you and the car, and come up with a plan to avoid them at all costs. We talk about this in the drivers meeting at the start of the day. 

I have always been a huge advocate for sim drifting. In fact, it's where I started out. I spent 2 years playing Gran Turismo 5 on my Logitech G27 before I even had a car going sideways in real life. Yes, it is very similar to real life IN SOME INSTANCES. However, it is very easy to get caught up with the wrong car packs with poor physics, not having your wheel set up correctly, or you're flat out just trying to drift in iRacing (iRacing thinks drifting is the devil and has built their physics engine accordingly). Being able to drift in sim does not mean you can automatically drift in real life, but you most definitely will pick it up quicker than someone who hasn't . If you have questions about a specific car pack or mod on Assetto Corsa or RFactor, or which version of Gran Turismo has the most realistic physics engine, please send me an email. 

Send me an email, I'd be happy to work out a plan with you. I can be of major benefit to anyone of any driver skill level, ranging from beginner to pro