Driver’s Education
Driver Education events are an opportunity to learn to drive your car on a real racetrack. You will drive in a run group of similarly skilled drivers and an instructor will be assigned to guide you through the entire process. Participating in a DE event will allow you to acquire the knowledge and develop the skills needed to drive safely at a high rate of speed. The goal is to have safe, high- speed fun.
When you participate in DEs, you become a different, better and safer driver. You develop a set of skills and reflexes that are useable in your daily driving on city streets, country roads, and highways. It is the type of experience that is invaluable for any driver.
Don’t be selfish! DEs are good for the whole family! Don’t leave your significant other and/or children out of all the fun!
Each DE is also a social event at the track. We drive on the track for 1-2 hours a day (instructors drive with a student, so their track time is double that), but the rest of the time is ours to wander through the parking area (paddock) and socialize with other Porsche enthusiasts and their nice cars. It’s an enjoyable day filled with friends that have a common interest. This alone makes DEs worth going to. Even if you are not driving in the DE you are welcome to come out and spend the day with us. At the end of a DE most of us are pretty tired but it takes days to get the grins off of our faces.
Your First Event
Initially, you will need to sign up for the event at clubregistration.net or motorsportreg.com and pay the applicable fee. Now would also be a good time to download the track map and flag definitions to review before the event. These are available on our website.
The morning of your first DE can be a real nail-biter. With any luck, this overview will help you take some of the angst out of what will likely be one of the most thrilling days of your driving life!
For starters, prior to the event, review your schedule. The schedule is usually provided by email a week or two before the event. This information will provide you with a basic understanding of your schedule for the weekend.
It is also a good idea to review the flags at this time. You will typically receive the flags at the same time you receive the schedule. Flags are the means by which the tower and corner workers communicate with you while you’re on track. It is absolutely essential that you memorize the flags and know what they mean.
Make sure to have your car “teched” before you arrive on the day of your DE event. Use the map below to locate your nearest tech station. Dont forget to download, print and take the PCA Minimum Standard Drivers Education Technical Inspection Form from the “Additional Files” section below. The Tech Stations will check for tire wear, brake pad wear and fluid leakage among other items. All items must be repaired (if necessary) before you come to the track so make sure you go for your tech a week or two before the event so that you have enough time. The Tech Station will provide you with a tech form (the one you brought with you from the website!) indicating that you passed the inspection. Be sure to bring the form to tech in the morning as you will need it.
On the morning of your DE event, arrive early. The driver meeting is usually at 8:00 a.m. Prior to that time you will need to register and go through tech (again). At tech you will need to provide the form you received from the Tech Station. In addition, you will need to show the people at tech that you have a helmet that is SA 2015 or newer. A helmet is required and there are no loaners available.
Now head over to the driver meeting which usually starts at 8:00 a.m. There you will be given track and safety information. You will then be paired up with your instructor for a fun-filled day of driving!
Instructor School
Instructors: Fellowship of the Fearless
It is not every day that one becomes a PCA instructor. In fact, for many, it never happens at all! Instructor School happens typically only once a year. Some instructors are born that way but most of the rest of us need a little school to make us instructors. Instructor School is offered once or twice per year at various tracks in the region. It is usually a two day event meant to teach instructors how to be instructors. Needless to say, it isn’t all fun and games! Or is it?
Without getting into the nitty gritty of the inner workings of Instructor School, there is the typical class room instruction. In addition, there is often a “track walk” that gives potential instructors a view of the track that many never see – one while walking on the track that you’ve driven at high speed. While walking the track, potential instructors learn things that can only be learned from this view point – things that they will hopefully pass on to their intrepid students. You’ll have to attend the school to learn these finer points!
The most fun and interesting part of Instructor School includes the in-car teaching sessions. This is where current instructors “pretend” to be students in an effort to educate potential instructors on how to deal with common problems associated with beginner and intermediate drivers. There is something about the “practical” section of the school that lends itself to “pretend” students becoming quite a handful!
After two days of instruction, unfortunately, not everyone makes the cut. Only the best and the brightest are fleeted up to the Fellowship of the Fearless!
Being an instructor is both challenging and rewarding. Instructors’ hard work and dedication to the sport are much appreciated and absolutely necessary to keep DE going.
If you are interested in becoming an instructor, please contact the DE Chairperson or the DE Registrar. Instructor school only happens once or twice per year so stay tuned!
Driver Education Requirements & Rules
To participate you’ll need the following items and to follow the rules below:
- A SA 2015 or newer helmet. The club does not provide loaner helmets.
- Your car must be tech inspected at an approved Tech Station.
- Drivers Ed Technical Inspection Form. Tech forms can be found on our website.
- Participants MUST be 18 years or older and MUST have a valid driver’s license.
- Open wheels cars are not permitted. All cars must have fenders attached to the chassis.
- All passing in any run group is done with hand signals. This includes the Expanded Passing group.
Open Cars (convertibles): Any make of car delivered with factory installed roll over protection meets the minimum standards for PCA DE events. In these cars the soft-top must be in the up position or the hard top installed. If the top is in the down position, an SFI and/or FIA approved arm restraint system must be used.
If a car does not have factory installed roll over protection, a roll bar or roll cage must be installed, which meets the “broomstick” rule (the driver’s helmeted head is below a bar placed on top of the roll bar and windshield). Design, installation and materials of roll bars or cages and their installation must meet PCA Club Racing specifications, contained in Appendix A-Roll Cage Specifications of the PCA Club Racing Rules. All Targa tops must be installed unless there is additional roll over protection. All sunroofs must be in the closed position. The windshield alone is not considered to be factory roll over protection.
Flag Signals
Probably the single most import thing you need to know (after where the brake is!) while on the track is your flags and where the flag stations are located. Flags are the only way the corner workers can communicate with you and knowing what the flags mean is paramount in terms of your safety and the safety of everyone else on the track. Below is a brief summary of our flags:
Please take the time to study and memorize these flags. You’ll need to know them to advance from one group to another (for instance green/beginner group to blue/intermediate group) and you must know them “cold” before you advance to the solo group.
Click here to download the Flag Signals