Driver's Education/Time Trial is a weekend all-Porsche event at a local road-racing track. We emphasize learning to be a better driver and getting in touch with the high performance side of your Porsche's personality. Safety is emphasized throughout the events from beginning to end.
Just want the bottom line on how to participate? Here you go:
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Join PCA. (Your PCA membership region must be GGR or you will need to become a dual member which is done by paying a nominal annual fee -- see the event application for details.) |
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Sign up for our e-mail announcements to get the latest on events and schedules. |
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If this is your first time driving with us, sign up for our Ground School before your first event. This will introduce you to our Driver's Ed events, and what to expect when you attend one. They are held throughout the year, and sometimes the Friday before one of our weekend events. You can see the calendar here. |
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We will assign you a car number before your first event. If you want to influence that, Here is the list of numbers already taken. If you plan on participating in our time trials, classify your car. |
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Find the event you want to attend and follow the link to the online registration system. Registration usually opens about six weeks prior to an event. |
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Once you're registered (and have attended the ground school), a few days prior to the event, the registrar will send you an email with links to information about the event. Print out tech form, fill it out and bring it to the track with you. You'll probably want to also print out the schedule, your instructor assignment (if applicable) and a track map. |
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Attend the event and have fun! |
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If you have questions, you can always check out our member forum. |
Our Porsche-only events are a chance for you to check out the high performance side of your car. Our weekends are family-oriented, with husbands, wives, fathers, sons and daughters sharing cars. The weekends are a chance to meet fellow Porsche owners, bench-race, and push your car without the worrying about the CHP.
A key element of our program is the excellent instruction available to participants. As a new participant you will be given an instructor who will ride in the car with you to help you learn not just your way around the track but the techniques of driving well.
Participants are assigned to color-coded run groups according to speed and experience. New drivers are typically placed in the "Yellow" run group where speeds are lower. Run groups range in size from 20 to 30 cars and enter the track at scheduled times for their run session. Run sessions are typically 20 to 30 minutes. Each run group goes in turn and then the cycle repeats several times to fill the whole day. Of course there is a lunch and worker breaks in there too!
On Sunday of a weekend event, there is a special session where Time Trial participants may have their laps timed for competition purposes. In these timed runs sessions, cars are allowed onto the track only a very few at a time in approximate order of speed with sufficient gap between them that they are not expected to encounter each other during their warm up lap, two timed laps or cool down lap. No passing is allowed during timed runs. If that seems like a lot to remember, don't worry, this is all detailed in a schedule that is contained in the information packet you receive when you complete your registration
One of the key things that enhances safety for everyone while the track is being shared by 20 to 30 cars is the fact that there are simple but firm rules for passing. Passing is allowed only on the straight sections of the track and then only with a point -- specific gesture from the driver of the car being overtaken. At a minimum, DE participants require a helmet, long-sleeved cotton shirt and long cotton pants.
First, check the schedule of events for the date of the next Driver's Education/Time Trial event. (Sign up for our e-mail announcements to get the latest on events and schedules.) Online Registration is available by following a link on the calendar; when you decide to do an event, register and pay as soon as possible and be sure to indicate that you will be a student at the event.
Check the ground school calendar for the date, time and place of our orientation before the event you want to attend. Ground Schools are usually held on the Saturday two weeks before the big weekend, or the Friday before the event, but there is no need to attend the one immediately before your event. As long as you participate in a track event within two years of the date of the Ground School you complete we will consider your Ground School requirement fulfilled.
The ground school takes about five hours and covers all aspects of driver's education and time trialing, with a special emphasis on what happens at the events and the driving rules that we must follow. There will be a video of the track as seen from the inside of a Porsche turning laps. Pre-registration and attendance are mandatory. More details and how to register for the ground school are available here.
Here's the equipment you'll need for an event:
2. Long-sleeve cotton shirt, long cotton pants, closed shoes of natural (non-synthetic) material.
3. Your car number displayed on the car. ( for a number if you don't have one. Here is the list of numbers already taken.)
Yes, autocrossing first is very good idea. It's the environment in which you can learn car control very quickly and safely. If you make a mistake, they put the cones back. In track driving, if you make a real mistake ... well, never mind what happens. Since there's little room for error, it's a much slower process to really learn car control at driver's ed/time trials. So, our recommendation is to attend an autocross school and a dozen events or so before time trialing, because we think you will be safer and learn more quickly. However, you are welcome to attend our events without autocross experience.
The very first thing you must do upon arriving at the track late the afternoon before or early the first morning of the event is to locate registration and tech. Don't be afraid to ask, you'll find the people you talk to will be happy to help you get started. They all still remember their first time at the track!
Empty the trunk of your car and remove any loose objects from the inside. Put on your car numbers. Then bring your completed tech form, driver's license, helmet and car to registration/tech. There you'll sign an insurance wavier/release, have your tech form collected, and get an event wrist band and car sticker. The car sticker is color coded for your run group.
Early in the morning on the first day of the event there is a mandatory drivers' meeting. Attend this meeting and you will learn late-breaking news about the conduct of the event as well as have a chance to review event procedures and meet some of the officials that run the event. Afterwards, an instructor will take you for a ride around the track to get you familiar with the turn numbers, the worker stations and how the course flows. After the drive-around, the practice sessions begin. You will have an instructor in your car for all of Saturday and perhaps a session or two on Sunday as well. If you're a Time Trial participant make sure you participate in the timed runs at the end of the event!
Be sure to drive safely and to enjoy yourself during the weekend, attend the group dinner Saturday evening and socialize as much as possible - if there's anything you need help with, just speak up and a friendly, helpful fellow club member will probably help you get it sorted out pronto. Remember to drive responsibly on the way home and once you get there, watch for the application for the next event!
See our Driver's Handbook. Also try Henry Watt's book, Secrets of Solo Racing: Expert Techniques for Autocrossing and Time Trials. It's available from Amazon.