Summit Point Taste of the Track

My First Experience at Speed

By David Newton, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

If you haven’t heard of the PCA RTR “Taste of the Track” (TOTT) program, you owe it to yourself to check it out. This is your opportunity to ride safely at track speeds with a qualified instructor. Driving fast isn’t just having the car, the opportunity and a stretch of blacktop. In fact, street driving and racing have a unidirectional relationship. Practically applying racing concepts to daily driving develops driving skills, but employing the habits we’ve accumulated to racing on a track, is at the very least dangerous and potentially deadly.

I signed up for the TOTT in October at Summit Point in scenic West Virginia. My wife and I came down Friday afternoon to enjoy the ride and to be there early Saturday. We are new PCA/RTR members, and the thought of getting my 2009 Cayman out on a track was tempting, but also terrifying. I just wasn’t sure it’s something I wanted to commit to, and I needed an opportunity to find out. TOTT seemed to be a great alternative, and I can attest it was all that and more.

We arrived Saturday morning fully 90 minutes before the classroom event, and took the opportunity to wander around looking at the array of cars; talking to enthusiasts from all over the region. I’m a gear head of the muscle-car variety, but I’ve always been in awe of Porsche ever since my dad’s boss pulled up in a new 1972 911 Targa when I was 13 (story for another day). It turns out that many started out like me, which was encouraging as by now I’d seen (and heard) some serious machinery wailing around the track, and I was feeling a bit intimidated.

Ten o’clock finally came around and a group of us gathered in the training room for a discussion about racing concepts, control and vehicle dynamics as presented by veteran instructor Brian Minkin. He emphasized smoothness; don’t stab the gas and brakes, or jerk the wheel. Steady, controlled input from the driver results in a comparable response from your car. We learned about the racing “line”; the theoretical path to travel through a turn, and the importance of completing the braking process before the turn to maximize tire contact with the road surface.

Afterward, we staged our cars for “parade” laps. The very sound of this is a bit boring, right? Mere highway speeds around a track like Summit Point? But we carefully followed Brian’s lead, noting the different reference points on the track to help us through the ideal line. Not as easy as it first appeared. I was all over the place, and being the immediate car behind the instructor, this wasn’t very helpful to the others that followed me. By lap three, I was getting more comfortable, and by the time we “pit in”, I hadn’t embarrassed myself too badly. Now I was pretty juiced up.

Finally the time arrived; hot laps with a qualified instructor. After being fitted with a loaner helmet, we paired off. I was fortunate enough to ride with Brian, so introductions were out of the way and we got right to it. I was strapped into the passenger racing seat; a little snug I thought, but I was thankful later. We cruised over to the staging area and in seconds went blasting down the straight. Each turn came alarmingly fast, and I was immediately stunned by the staggering forces at work on the car (and me). I’d crossed my arms and gripped the harness as instructed, which kept me from smacking Brian in the face as we ripped through each turn. On the approach to the pit area, I got the Brian’s “thumbs up” sign and signaled my approval. For those of us who tend toward motion sickness, “thumbs down” gives you the chance to stop; the instructor will slow down and “pit in” at the earliest opportunity. No one wants you to have a bad experience after all.

I cannot describe the astonishing speed followed by the pressure of sudden and immediate deceleration as we approached the first turn for the second lap. You can only prepare yourself so much for the oh-my-God velocity and astounding handling. The grip these cars in the corners is nothing short of impossible. As we rumbled back to Brian’s trailer 15 minutes later, I was shaking from the rush. I climbed out of the car and landed on rubber legs. My wife approached with a little concern as I removed my helmet and babbled off several ill-constructed sentences. I could not put words together…

I’ve spent my whole life wondering what something like this could be like, when all I had to do was plunk down $25 and commit a Saturday. Don’t wait as long as I did. You owe it to yourself to try it once. Wander around; talk to the enthusiasts who love nothing more than to share their experiences with you, and listen to yours as well. The racing bug may bite you; it may not. I can guarantee you won’t regret it however. If you decide to take the next step, drivers are divided into colored run-groups and there is no pressure, and no preset pace. No one was standing there at the end of my run with a contract and a cattle prod. What better chance are you going to get? After all, this is what Taste of the Track is all about.

Autocrossing – Why you should do it.

By Larry Herman

I hear the disparaging comments from racers, “Autocrossing, isn’t that for wannabe racers?” Alternatively, many hard core DE drivers groan, “Why do I want to hang around a hot, dusty parking lot all day for three or four 60 second runs when I can go to the track for four 20 minute sessions? Well class, silence your cell phones and put down your laptops because the lecture on why you should autocross is about to begin.

Autocrossing is THE single most, best way to develop car control skills than any other venue. Yeah, I know that some of you will be thinking Karting is better, and that does teach control but in the very specific range of ultra light and overly stiff vehicle dynamics. If you plan to go straight into formula cars, maybe this will work, but since most of you start with 3000 pound+ cars, the high speed dynamics are just not the same. Ever see how far a Kart goes when you lose it in an average turn? Maybe about 30 feet. Ever see how far a 3000 pound 911 goes? Maybe about 300 yards, or until it hits something very hard. The principles are the same, but in practice it is very different.

What about skid pad training? Yeah, what about it? It teaches about car balance and how the throttle affects the weight distribution and therefore the grip of the front and rear tires. Anyone who has done half a dozen autocrosses knows all about this already. That is the beginning basics of the skills required to autocross. Baby steps. Take that balance, and apply it to sliding the car on the brakes going into a corner and wait for the back to come around. When it does, you pin the back with the gas and rocket off towards the next turn. It is practical application of balancing the car on the brakes and on the throttle.

But autocrossing gives you so much more. By carefully walking the course, you learn first-hand about the corners, and how to analyze the proper line. Early apex? Late apex? Which is appropriate for each turn is right in front of your face. You can plan your path, and then see if you can execute it. You learn how to get that perfect heel-toe downshift in a split second, not in the eternity that you have on the race track. You learn how to brake without upsetting the car, or use the brakes to purposely change the balance. Same goes for the throttle. Your butt will become tuned into the slightest movements of the car, and I guarantee that you will learn how to properly countersteer and catch that skid. And probably most important of all, it teaches you how to find the limit at a pace that you can learn at, without being afraid of wrecking the car.

This is car control that transfers easily to the track. Every time I get into a car with a novice driver who came from autocrossing, I know it immediately. They have that control, and are immediately comfortable with the car at higher speeds. Once they learn the line and adjust to the size of the corners, they are usually flying. If you will indulge a little self-promotion, I started autocrossing at 18 and competed regionally and very successfully for 10 years. When I took to the track, the adjustment was quick, and my progress was meteoric. I was moved to the uninstructed group after 5 events and begun winning in time trails against my instructors. I became an instructor after 11 events and was always known for having amazing car control. There is no way that I could have made that kind of progress without the sound fundamentals that I gained through autocrossing.

Finally, there is the competition. Unlike the track, every turn has to be perfect, every touch of the gas or brake has to be exactly right, because when you are running against the clock in such a little bull ring, time-wise there is no margin for error. You will not make up for a mistake somewhere down the course. You will not be able to gather it back up and run down your competition, or wait for his tires to go off. It is a pressure packed 60 seconds right on the edge that you have to get right. I know of more than a few drivers that go to DE’s to play, but go to autocrosses to race and win. Motivation, concentration, aggression and smoothness all in a compressed, intensive package. To me, that is worth waiting around a hot, dusty parking lot for.