The perfect way to bond that doesn’t require a sweat lodge or sunrise yoga.

Corporate Team Building: The Bertil Roos Way

By Jenna Marie Bostock

We’re nearing the end of another year, and morale is down. 2009 was tough on us, and we’re all shuddering in anticipation of what 2010 will be. Will we begin to bounce back, or sink lower into this ennui of corporate depression?

Bertil Roos (53)
The Bertil Roos Formula 2000 Racecar

No one likes a mopey mailroom or a weary sales team. So how to boost the office spirits?  Not another trip to Vegas.  Think outside the box. Use those end of year budgets and treat the boys to an unbelievable experience at the racetrack.

Bertil Roos Racing School, the renowned racing school founded by Bertil Roos and currently run by the legendary Dennis Macchio, offers Team Building courses for companies to reinforce team efficency and client rapport. It’s the perfect way to bond that doesn’t require a sweat lodge or sunrise yoga.

The classroom becomes a room full of incredibly excited overgrown boys disguised as CEO’s and VP’s, sweaty, smelly, and exhilarated after a day on the open track.

The concept behind team building is actually the intimacy gained between you and your peers, like that guy Gary you haven’t talked to since last years Holiday Party (he’s in Accounts Payable, say hi next time you see him).

Nothing says "Team Building" quite like 0-60 in 4.2 seconds
Nothing says "Team Building" quite like 0-60 in 4.2 seconds

Think about it.  You’re crunching through the gears.  Adrenaline pumping.  The stress level is soaring.  You’re doing your best to stay calm and make it through the next turn at a hundred miles an hour.  All the while your colleagues are going through the same situations.  Think Band of Brothers meets Formula One.

The learning process translates into how effectively you work as a team.  The faster you improve your racing skills you improve communication and efficency as a cohesive group, which translates directly back to the office.

The beauty of taking the team to race Formula Cars instead of that mosquito infested camp-outing?  Almost everyone can drive.  Racing is an activity that virtually everyone can participate in–and still be extreme.

No exclusions.  Nowhere to go wrong.

The Half Day and Full Day Programs give you a taste for the track and let you get to speeds of 125+, with significant driving time leaving you hungering for more.

The programs typically run from March through October at Pocono International Raceway, New Jersey Motorsports Park and Virginia International Raceway.

Think end of year 2009 budget, 2010 tax deduction and the experience of a lifetime.

*Tried & Tested. Alister & Paine practices old-school journalistic integrity. We only write from experience–never press releases. If we haven’t tried it and loved it you won’t find it in our magazine.