Ford to Offer Complimentary ST Octane Academy Driving Experience for Ford Fiesta ST Owners

[CivicAssassin]

Thank you for registering to receive updates on the progress of the exciting new ST Octane Academy program from Ford Motor Company for owners of Focus ST and Fiesta ST and their guests.
This is the first in a series of monthly updates we’ll be sending out to provide you a digital backstage pass as we develop the program and prepare for the first school in Spring 2014. We’ll share photos and videos of testing as the program is developed. You’ll also meet some of the folks at Ford who made the program possible, along with some of the folks at the Ford Racing School who are working hard to create a once-in-a-lifetime experience for you.
This program is going to blow you away!

An evening reception for every school will be held at Ken Block's infamous Hoonigan Racing Headquarters in Park City. This facility is not open to the general public, but Ken has agreed to open his amazing facility to ST Octane Academy. You'll enjoy a behind-the-scenes peek into his race shop and see his wild and crazy office. Click the link below for more shots of the facility. Be prepared to be amazed.

Last week, 10 Tangerine Scream Focus STs arrived at Miller Motorsports Park, official home of the Ford Racing School. As soon as they were unloaded we began working; our design team began designing graphics while the race shop started the process of testing and development. We expect to take delivery of 10 Molten Orange Fiesta STs in a few weeks. We'll keep you posted as cars arrive.

Miller Motorsports Park is a state-of-the-art road racing facility located 35 minutes from downtown Salt Lake City in Tooele, Utah. Opened in 2006, the 511-acre facility is considered one of the finest and most versatile motorsports facilities in North America. There are six different racing surfaces:
4.5-mile road course, the longest in North America
1.1-mile, national-caliber motocross course
0.9-mile paved karting circuit, one of the finest in the country
8-acre rock-crawling course
22-acre high-speed off-road racing circuit
900-acre desert racing course

Miller Motorsports Park is the official home of the Ford Racing School – the first and only high-performance driving school to carry the Ford Racing name. Our school has not only been entrusted with Ford Racing’s name and reputation, but we have been called upon to work with Ford Motor Company on a variety of initiatives, including the Boss Track Attack owner-training program, the Raptor Assault off-road driving school and newest Ford Racing School program, the ST Octane Academy.

We look forward to seeing
you here in 2014!

 

[rodmoe]

Yup got same thing ... Now we just have to talk about it till the "First" class in Spring !!!!

 

[CivicAssassin]

Just hope I'm off work for it! I work two weeks on, two weeks off, per month. So, I guess there's a 50/50 shot. *crosses fingers*

 

[rodmoe]

Yup bout how my shift work goes though I have the option of vacation ...

 

[CivicAssassin]

We have the "option" of vacation. But, it's never approved, unless it's an emergency. Just ends up being a one month paycheck, a year, to cash in.

 

[lessard.dcj]

sucks to be you.

 

[rodmoe]

This is the second in a series of monthly updates we’ll be sending out to provide you a digital backstage pass as we develop the program and prepare for the first school in Spring 2014. We’ll share photos and videos of testing as the program is developed. You’ll also meet some of the folks at Ford who made the program possible, along with some of the folks at the Ford Racing School who are working hard to create a once-in-a-lifetime experience for you.

Testing, testing...






Lead Instructor Brian Smith has been pounding out the miles putting our newly-acquired Focus STs and Fiesta STs through their paces. He and Ford Racing School Director Cindi Lux have been seeing what they’ll do and using that data to put together a curriculum for the ST Octane Academy that will be fun and educational for you (and note that we said “fun” before “educational”). We’re still putting the final touches on the curriculum, but what we can tell you now is that it will include the following: Skid Car exercises; ABS braking technique, “extreme handling” exercises, on-track lead-and-follow drills, and a program that is as-yet unnamed but for now we’ll just call it “Autocross Plus” (feel free to use your imagination). We can also tell you that this school will be unlike any other driving school in the industry. We’re pretty sure you’re going to love it!


Building, building...






Over in the Race Shop here at Miller Motorsports Park, our technicians have been busy prepping the cars and making a few little modifications to get them ready for the abuse they’re going to be subjected to. Roll cages, racing harnesses and other safety items are being installed, plus we’re raiding the Ford Racing parts catalog for a few little goodies to make your school car go faster, stop quicker and handle even better.


Oh, yeah: then there's this...






Those of you who know what that is are already smiling. Those of you who don’t will find out soon enough. This little item isn’t available in the Ford Racing parts catalog, but you’re going to need it and you’ll learn how to use it.


On The Road...





We know you’re anxious for 2014 to get here, and so are we. We can’t wait to see the smiles on your faces when you’re heading for the airport to go home after attending the ST Octane Academy. In the meantime, however, we’re taking the show on the road, so to speak. If you’re in the Las Vegas area on November 5-8, be sure to stop by the SEMA Show. We’ll be part of the “Ford Out Front” display at the Las Vegas Convention Center, and we’ll be showing off our Focus ST and Fiesta ST school cars. Come out and meet the staff, check out the cars and whet your appetite even more! We hope to see you there.


Schedule Update

We are very close to finalizing the class schedule that we know you're all waiting on. At a major racing facility, putting together an annual schedule is like a jigsaw puzzle with lots of pieces such as racing events, track days, maintenance and our various schools. We promise we'll have the schedule in your next monthly update. Thanks for your patience!

 

[MKVIIST]

Ah thanks for the reminder, I just went and register now that I have my VIN.

 

[MKVIIST]

Anyone get anymore updates on this? I've registered but have not received any updates.

 

[CivicAssassin]

Last I heard about it, was from a magazine that showed up to my house. "My Ford" did a whole article on the FiST and the Performance Driving School.

 

[MKVIIST]

Last I heard about it, was from a magazine that showed up to my house. "My Ford" did a whole article on the FiST and the Performance Driving School.

Ok thanks. Just wanted to make sure I wasn't the only one as I really want to do this.

 

[CivicAssassin]

NOVEMBER 2013 NEWS




Thank you for registering to receive updates on the progress of the exciting new ST Octane Academy program from Ford Motor Company for owners of Focus ST and Fiesta ST and their guests.
This is the third in a series of monthly updates we’ll be sending out to provide you a digital backstage pass as we develop the program and prepare for the first school in Spring 2014. We’ll share photos and videos of testing as the program is developed. You’ll also meet some of the folks at Ford who made the program possible, along with some of the folks at the Ford Racing School who are working hard to create a once-in-a-lifetime experience for you.
This program is going to blow you away!


Trial Run for our Friends from Ford

On October 23-24, we welcomed a group of visitors from Ford Racing and Team Detroit (Ford’s marketing division), as well as program advisor Tanner Foust, to Miller Motorsports Park for a “sneak peek” of our new ST Octane Academy program. The idea was for them to experience everything that you Focus ST and Fiesta ST owners will do when you attend the school. After the welcome reception at Ken Block’s Hoonigan Racing Division in nearby Park City, we assembled our fleet of school cars on the MMP start/finish line for the obligatory “fleet shot.” Shown above (left to right) are Dan McKeever - VP of Operations, Miller Performance; Mickey Matus - Marketing Communication Manager, Ford Racing; Amy Marentic - Group Marketing Manager, Global Small and Medium Car, Ford Motor Company; Jamie Allison - Director, Ford Racing; and John Larson - General Manager, Miller Performance. The cars you see in this photo represent many, many hours of hard work by our outstanding crew of technicians in the MMP Race Shop to get them prepped for school duty. They looked great, and ran even better.



Hangin' With Hoonigans

As mentioned above, the event kicked off with a welcome reception and dinner at Ken Block’s Hoonigan Racing Division. This is a very trick facility, custom-designed by Ken to be “recyclable” using shipping containers as storage and office space inside an already-constructed office-building complex. Lots of priceless mementos from Ken’s amazing career, and the perfect place to kick off the ST Octane Academy. You’re going to love this!



On to the Good Stuff

The following morning, after the Fleet Shot, our guests were immersed right into the STOA program. Following a brief classroom session, the group was broken down into two subgroups for the morning training program. One subgroup practiced braking techniques, while the others learned how to do Reverse 180s (also known as the “bootleg turn”) and a little exercise using the rally handbrake we teased you with in the last eblast. Following lunch in the classroom and a quick debrief, the subgroups split up between doing lead-and-follow runs on the racetrack and practicing on our unique autocross course which is now known as “UrbanX,” which brings together all the lessons learned earlier in the day.



Checkered Flag

At the end of the day, everyone went for their timed runs on the UrbanX course to see who, other than Tanner, was fastest (and gets lifelong bragging rights). Then, in a departure from the regular STOA schedule, they got to sample the Mustang Experience and Raptor Experience that will be an extra-cost option for STOA students and their guests. There were lots of smiling faces, and a little bit of constructive feedback that we will use to fine-tune the curriculum for you when the real STOA classes start in the spring.
Tanner was very complimentary of the program. "I was happy to be able to come out and take part along with everyone from Ford," he said. "I've done a lot of driving schools, and I have to say I was very impressed. The ST Octane Academy is different from other schools, and it's very well thought-out. The Focus ST and Fiesta ST owners who participate in this program are going to have a blast, and they're going to learn a lot!"



Schedule Update
In the last issue we promised we would have STOA schedule dates for you this month, but we have not quite finalized the schedule yet. As we explained previously, there are lots of moving parts that go into creating the track's schedule, including pro and amateur racing events, track rentals, track maintenance and our various schools, and a few of those moving parts are still moving. We can tell you that we will have classes from April until October, but the exact number of classes and exact dates are still being determined. We apologize for not being able to provide the dates yet, but we will get them to you as soon as is humanly possible. Thank you for your patience!

More About Us
For those who might not be familiar with Miller Motorsports Park or the Ford Racing School, here’s some background.



Milller Motorsports Park
Miller Motorsports Park is a state-of-the-art road racing facility located 35 minutes from downtown Salt Lake City in Tooele, Utah. Opened in 2006, the 511-acre facility is considered one of the finest and most versatile motorsports facilities in North America. There are six different racing surfaces:
4.5-mile road course, the longest in North America
1.1-mile, national-caliber motocross course
0.9-mile paved karting circuit, one of the finest in the country
8-acre rock-crawling course
22-acre high-speed off-road racing circuit
900-acre desert racing course


Ford Racing School
Miller Motorsports Park is the official home of the Ford Racing School – the first and only high-performance driving school to carry the Ford Racing name. Our school has not only been entrusted with Ford Racing’s name and reputation, but we have been called upon to work with Ford Motor Company on a variety of initiatives, including the Boss Track Attack owner-training program, the Raptor Assault off-road driving school and newest Ford Racing School program, the ST Octane Academy.
We look forward to seeing
you here in 2014!


More Info
Learn more about
ST Octane Academy

More Info
Learn more about
Miller Motorsports Park

More Info
Learn more about the
Ford Racing School
? 2013 ST Octane Academy. All Rights Reserved.
info@stoctanceacademy.com

 

[rodmoe]

Yes petty much what mine said.. like that class's run from April until Oct. next yr giving a few choices of dates to make this ...

 

[Bullzeye308]

Wonder why my dealer didn't mention this in the sales pitch?

 

[rodmoe]

Wonder why my dealer didn't mention this in the sales pitch?

I don't think they have a clue when it comes to racing or anything other that F 150's ... lol

If you missed it Sign up here with your VIN and you will be on their mailing list
ST OCTANE ACADEMY

 

[rooSTer]

I don't think they have a clue when it comes to racing or anything other that F 150's ... lol

If you missed it Sign up here with your VIN and you will be on their mailing list
ST OCTANE ACADEMY

This

 

[rodmoe]

Looks like it is open to Reg. Registration is Open for Fords ST Octane Academy

 

[MKVIIST]

Awesome, we should pick a day where we can all go together.

I'm thinking late May - early June?

 

[MKVIIST]

June 12-13 has quite a few open spots.

 

[ileftthestoveon]

Awesome, we should pick a day where we can all go together.

I'm thinking late May - early June?

I'd be up for this!