PCA Chesapeake Region Patter - March 2018

Chesapeake Region
Ron’s Ramblings — Ron Farb
Today’s ramblings are going to sound like a 30-
minute infomercial because I’m going to be pushing
“high performance driving” instruction at Summit
Point West Virginia. This is the perfect time to talk
about this because the registration for their “Friday
at the Track” (FATT) program just opened on 1
March and spots can go quickly. If you have never
taken your Porsche to one of these events, you need
to! Driving fast on the highways and back roads
around here is not the same thing as performance
driving. This area is just too congested plus if the police
catch you going over 100 MPH, you’re probably
going to lose your license. I saw it happen once in
traffic court when the judge refused to give a young
man his license back and literally started yelling at
him after he was caught going over 100 MPH.
“Performance driving” to me is when you are pushing
your car close to its limits and you still have the
confidence that it’s going to hold on during a turn
when you are going way faster than should be possible.
At the same time, the tires are squealing madly
and your body is falling over. And then 5 seconds
later do it again in the other direction. This is fun
and this is what everyone should experience at least
once in a safe and controlled environment!
I am only
going to talk
about Summit
Point in
this article
because that
is the only track I’ve been to since it is closest to my
home. However, there are other tracks or programs
that also provide instruction in the near-Baltimore
area that I will mention at the end of the article.
The FATT program at Summit Point is a great program
where an instructor goes with you in your car
for four (4) 20-minute sessions around their 10 turn
track. This is enough time to do 11 to 13 loops depending
on your speed. You will also get two instructional
sessions in the classroom and a chance to use
their cars on a skid pad (bring Dramamine). The
FATT program is divided into four different experience
groups ranging from “novice” to “advanced
solo” and if you have never done this before, you
will most likely be put on the track with other
“novice” drivers in their cars. Typically there will be
about 20ish cars going around the 2.0 mile track at a
time from your group. Once on the track, just listen
to your instructor and they will talk you thru where
you should be on the track for the best line, and
when to brake and accelerate. I have always had
great instructors and most of the ones who want to
help you have Porsches themselves so they know
what they’re talking about. The key thing is to go at
a pace you’re comfortable with because you are
NOT, I repeat – NOT, racing anyone. You simply are
learning how to drive on a complicated track as fast
as you and your car are comfortable with and everyone’s
goal is to drive their car home at the end of
the day. Passing other cars is strictly controlled via a
hand wave and I have never seen a problem.
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