Getting Started with GGR: Driver's Ed/Time Trialing

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.

How To Participate (Summary)

Just want the bottom line* on how to participate? Here you go:

0. You 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.)

1. You First time with GGR? Register for our Ground School.
We recommend that you sign up for email announcements too.

2. Your car We will assign you a car number. If you want to influence that, contact the Registrar.
If you're going to be a Time Trial participant, classify your car.

3. You Register for the Event. Find the event on the calendar and follow the link to the online registration system. Registration usually opens about six weeks prior to an event. Questions? See the online registration FAQ.

4. Your car Obtain an Annual Tech or an Event Tech for your car. Use this form in either case and see this list for suitable Annual Tech sites. For more info, see car preparation below.

5. You Attend Ground School (if applicable)
6. You and your car Attend the event and have fun!

7. You and your car Repeat steps 3, 4 and 6!

What are the events like?

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. Read about past events here.

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 and consequently it is easier to accept instruction. Run groups range in size from 20 to 30 cars and enter the track at scheduled times for their run session which typically ranges in length from 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! What has been described so far is called the Driver's Education or DE portion of the weekend. Near the end of the last day of the event there is a special session or two during which 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 at track and parts of it are reviewed during drivers' meetings at the event. Additional rules regarding car and driver preparation apply to Time Trial participants.

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 —a 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. Time Trial participants need some additional safety equipment (see Car Preparation below)

If you're ready to go, click here for a check list of what you'll need to do to attend your first event. Want to find out more before committing? Read about past events here and read below...

How do I begin?

First, check the GGR schedule of events on this web site, or the Nugget newsletter for the date of the next Driver's Education/Time Trial event. (You can sign up for email announcements

of upcoming events). Online Registration is available by following a link from this web site; when you decide to do an event, register and pay as soon as possible. Be sure to indicate that you will be a student at the event.

Ground School

Check the calendar for the date, time and place of a "Ground School" before the event you want to attend. Ground Schools are usually held on the Saturday two weeks before the big weekend 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.

Car Preparation & Tech Inspection

Find the inspection site nearest you. You must take your car to one of these mechanics to be safety checked, to be sure that it's ready for the track. The following list of what you and your car need is just a summary. For a complete definition of what you need, see the rulebook which outlines what is required for Driver's Education and Time Trial prepared cars.

A helmet with a Snell2000 or later sticker (full face if you don't have a windshield).

Long-sleeve cotton shirt, long cotton pants, closed shoes of natural (non-synthetic) material. Note: by the third event you will normally no longer be a student and then Time Trial participants must have a fire-retardant driving suit.

Fire-resistant driving gloves, non-synthetic socks.

Time Trial cars require five-point (or greater) racing harnesses, for both seats, properly installed, and a 10BC fire bottle within reach when you are strapped in the car.

Your car number (assigned by the registrar, but you can negotiate) and class (visit GGR's Car Classification System to classify your car) displayed on the car.

If you have a car that is modified beyond 250 modification points or is a convertible, you need a rollbar. (Factory rollover protection in Boxsters and 996 or newer cabriolets with 250 or fewer modification points is considered to meet this requirement.)

Fill out the self-tech form and bring it with you to the event for registration.

Should I autocross first?

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.

Worker Fee

Look for the spot on the application where you will need to fill in your "Worker Exemption". Everyone who attends a weekend event either has a job they do, or pays a worker fee. Since, at your first event, you won't yet have found a job you can do to help make the series run, you need to pay the worker fee.

The Big Day Arrives!
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 finalize your registration. 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!

Bring your completed tech form and driver's license to registration and the Registrar will give you an envelope and have you sign an insurance wavier/release. Inside the envelope you will find a weekend schedule as well as information about who your instructors will be for the weekend. Look for your name on the driver roster. Students are usually in the Yellow Run Group, unless they have previous track driving experience and have been approved by the Chief Instructor to run in a different run group.

After completing registration at the track you should finish preparing your car (e.g. put the numbers on it, empty out the trunk) and take it to the final, at-track tech inspection line along with your personal safety gear and completed event self-tech form. The tech inspectors there will do a final inspection of you and your car and issue you stickers for your car windshield indicating your run group and that you have passed tech. These stickers are required for you to be allowed on track so don't skip this step.

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!

How do I Find Out More About Track Driving & Time Trialing?

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.