>>151337065
Went through a course in Italy that specialises in Motorsport (sorta like the FFSA Academy you have in France, just shorter and it doesn't replace regular high school education), then got an internship in a team and went from there. I was a regular mechanic before that.
It was seriously disappointing as far as what they taught us, but what we were really after was the paid internship that came with the price tag. My first ever race was Silverstone WEC from forever ago, which isn't really a place where you expect to find many interns, and that's where I got hooked up on the endurance drug.
From what I heard, FFSA has a good curriculum and it's an actual school, plus they have their own racing team in F4 and they send interns every year to a lot of teams during the 24h of Le Mans, which is great. I know the UK has a bunch of Motorsport courses too. I'm sure every country with a decent Motorsport following have their own version of what I did.

>>151337640
Hell yeah I did. I always try to sneak in some tourism whenever an early retirement happens.
If there's one thing I love about US Motorsport is the spectator experience, which is waaaaay better than what we get in Europe.