So… Are you on the fence about taking your dream car to the track to see what it can do?  After acquiring my first Porsche, a 2008 Cayman S, I attended FSR’s breakfast meets where I met many wonderful members and heard more about DE’s.  With some encouragement from Craig Weber, a fellow Cayman driver, I signed up for the November DE with the Carolinas Region at VIR.  Helmet, driving gloves, tech inspection, car number, hotel reservation – all were arranged well in advance.  I was ready, or so I thought.

I’d never been to VIR or any major racetrack facility, for that matter.  The closest to a road course for me had been staying up watching SPEED coverage of the Formula 1 races, so this was a whole new experience.  Registration and tech inspection was in-and-out; quick if you arrived early.  After a short drivers’ briefing, I met up with my assigned instructor, Don Salisbury, from NC.  We talked briefly before heading for the first of several classroom sessions where various topics like signal flags, passing zones, turn-ins, apexes, and track-outs were discussed.  Being the nerdy engineer, this part was easy.  Heck, I can probably derive the differential equations that describe the vehicle dynamics for under-steer and over-steer.  The hard part was going to be executing on the track when split-second reactions and a cool-head under stress really count.  On exiting the first classroom session, we learned a GTO had gone off track on Turn 1.  Hmmm… what am I doing here with my 5-month-old car with merely 3.5K miles? 

Soon enough, it was show time.  After strapping-in and hooking up the intercom with the instructor, we were in the false grid with 27 other cars in the green group.  Wait, what’s that in my tummy?  Oh… this must be the proverbial knot in the stomach.  So off we went, around the track.  I was completely disoriented as to where we were.  Don was practically inaudible over the intercom whenever we sped up on the straights.  Not that it would have mattered since I had my hands full and my brain had tuned him out since leaving the pit lane.  Oh shoot, another car is on my tail… how do I do the pointing-thing again?  Which side?  When?  And nobody told me about those hills!  Hello!  What’s the deal with coming around South Bend, suddenly light in your seat and staring at the tops of the pine trees half a mile away?  The countless glimpses of all those red clay ruts just beyond the track-outs served as a constant reminder for Newton’s first law.  After wandering around the track several times, and seeing a black Carrera stuck off the track, it was a huge relief to finally see the checkered flag at the famous Oak Tree.  Thank God, the 30-min session was shortened by the earlier GTO mishap.

During the cool down lap, the corner workers were pointed out to me.  Jeez!  Where did they come from?  They were there all this time?  Oh, boy, I’m in way over my head!  Parked the car, and sat down with my instructor to have a good talk.  We had to simplify our communication.  He was talking, but I definitely was not listening.  So we worked out a couple of hand signals for the later sessions.  Oh, by the way, where was the bridge?  I knew we must have gone under it several times, but I sure don’t recall ever seeing it!  Can you say tunnel vision on top of total sensory overload?  Don was incredibly patient to assure me the experience was normal, and offered to take me out to run in the blue group in his SCCA GT3 VW so I could learn the track without the workload of driving.  Now, that was a treat, and I learned more while serving as a two-legged ballast than I did in the first session behind the wheel.  Whoever will be assigned as my DE instructor for the May event, you know I will be hounding you for ride-alongs!

Prior to the event, I’d studied the track maps and reviewed videos on YouTube, but nothing could have prepared me for the sights, sounds, and smells.  The distinct odor of rich high-octane exhaust in the paddock area… the percussion of a 911 on wide-open throttle zinging by on the back straight even though we were already well into triple-digit speed… staying on the gas while fighting the urge to slow down watching the braking zone count down 5-4-3- BRAKE!  Between the bravado in the paddock area, mixed in with the false grid anxiety, followed by the adrenaline rush coasting into the pit lane, all make for a unique experience.  If anything, one 30-minute session gave me a whole new appreciation for what a modern off-the-shelf Porsche can do, and how much more I have to learn as a driver.

Having our communication improved, and becoming familiar with the track, I started to feel more comfortable during the second session.  Don signaled and I executed, and we began to go faster, passing other cars instead of being passed.  Now I could hear the Michelin PS2’s talking.  Hey… this is not as difficult as I thought!  And I started to get increasingly aggressive… until the back end of the Cayman took an unexpected hop on me at the top of the climbing esses.  The panic counter-steer I jerked into the car only induced another skip.  Only got it to settle after getting on the brakes.  Needless to say, every ounce of confidence was scared out of this speed racer wannabe, and I was never that fast again for the remainder of the weekend.

The subsequent sessions were uneventful, but I could definitely feel the loss of concentration brought on by physical and mental fatigue as the weekend progressed.  On more than one occasion I resorted to having my instructor talk me through the last two laps when my concentration waned.  In fact I chose to sit out the last session on Sunday simply because I had had enough.  After the four-hour drive home I was exhausted, but glad to have returned with all four wheels still attached.  Feeling certain there were no more DE’s in my future, falling asleep that evening was by far the easiest task of the entire weekend.  Little did I know the poison had already set-in.  By next morning, I woke up with vivid memories of every inch of the track.  The sights, the sounds, and the smells.  I was ready to go again! 

Group Dynamics

Attending a DE is more than just learning to drive fast.  I came to realize the people I met were friendly, helpful and supportive.  It was cool to hang out with Craig Weber most of Saturday, but it wasn’t until Sunday when we finally located the rest of the FSR contingent.  With abundant food and drinks (non-alcoholic for obvious reasons), we had a tailgate of our own!  The weather was gorgeous and the conversations were relaxing and almost therapeutic - a stark contrast to the intensity felt during the prior run sessions.  Wish we had found Bud Syme and the FSR gang sooner so we didn’t feel like two lone Cayman orphans banished to the far corner of the paddock. 

So for you veteran DE participants, I hope you had a few chuckles at this newbie’s expense.  Perhaps one of our instructors will offer an article specifically on preparing newcomers to the sport from the instructor’s perspective.  I walked away with several driving skills I want to develop off the track, like heel-toe downshifts, shuffle steering, and constant scanning to avoid visual fixation.  And you guessed it - I am already registered for the next DE in May at VIR. 

If you’ve never tried DE, it can only be summarized as 100 times more exhilarating than a roller coaster ride.  Yes, it does come with certain risks and can be as addictive as nicotine. It’s certainly not cheap when adding up the costs of registration, travel, hotel, tech inspection, helmet, and possibly racking up spousal demerits.  But this is how our beloved Porsches are designed to play.  If nothing else, it’ll buy you bragging rights at the office the following Monday.  Oh - almost forgot to mention there were track photographers capturing priceless action photos like this one at various locations along the track.  So smile, even if you think you’re about to wet your pants!

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