Drive on a Racetrack
Expand your car control skills and explore the capabilities of your Porsche on a racetrack with no speed limits.
AZPCA’s HPDE & TT program (that’s short for High Performance Driver Education and Time Trials) is all about experiencing your Porsche on a road circuit. If you’re new at this, AZPCA will provide personal driving instructors to help you navigate circuit and teach you the fundamentals of driving at track
speeds. They’ll keep you in your comfort zone, so you have a good time. There are flaggers on track, just like at a real racing event, and an ambulance and tow truck for emergencies.
For the HPDE events, we form four groups of approximately 10-25 drivers based on experience: Beginner, Intermediate, Experienced, and Advanced. You can advance to the next group based on your instructor’s evaluation, whether after one day or several events. A higher run group typically means more speed but with a better skill set to handle the speed safely.
While this is definitely not racing, you may want to compare your performance with others’. For that, we offer an optional timed “Time Trials” session. They’re an optional add-on at registration, with two timed sessions, one in the morning, one in the afternoon. You’ll get three clean laps on track by yourself to set a time and to see how you stack up against your competitors.
The day’s schedule
A track day starts around 6:30 -7:00am. You’ll check-in and get your car safety inspected. A drivers’ meeting kicks off around 7:45 am, and the first car goes on track around 8:30am. A 40-minute lunch break splits the day. The club provides lunch or offers one for sale on site. And the event is usually over around 4pm. You can expect five 20-minute sessions (100 minutes total) of track time each day, although some events are structured with four 25-minute sessions instead. The beginner group will have a classroom discussion after each session to discuss car control and vehicle dynamics.
What do you need to bring?
You don’t need to use your Porsche on the track. There’s usually a variety of cars there.
We provide a required checklist of things to inspect on your car before coming to a track day. You can do this yourself or you can take it to your mechanic (and we can recommend one). Main points of interest are good tires, brakes, brake fluid, no leaking fluids, We conduct a final, brief safety inspection on your vehicle the morning of the event.
Helmets are typically available to rent when you register so you can try the sport before you commit to purchasing a helmet. There are more things to bring, including chairs and cameras.
Most important: don’t forget to bring a desire to have a good time and willingness to learn!