High Performance Driving Clinic

Potomac, The Founder’s Region, hosts two High Performance Driving Clinics per year. One in the spring and one in the fall. 

This is a great opportunity for you, your spouse or even your children at least 18 years of age to participate in an event where you will learn car control skills.

High Performance Driving Clinics (HPDC) are instructional sessions tailored to members with no previous driving experience beyond the "normal" daily commute.  HPDC provides a safe, controlled environment to learn and practice advanced defensive driving techniques and car control.  Drivers can practice car control on a skid pad and many participants say that experience alone is worth the day!

The HPDC is designed to enhance members driving knowledge so they feel safer in all driving situations.  The HPDC improves driving skills and increases awareness of how the car handles in different situations.  The HPDC provides the ideal start for those who may want to participate in Driver Education (DE) events.

A Potomac HPDC consists of two sessions.  The morning session focuses on low speed car control skills.  You’ll work on low speed slalom exercises, threshold braking and skid pad.  You’ll have several class room sessions to provide instruction on car control.  The afternoon session consists of non mandatory lapping sessions.  During these sessions, you and your instructor can apply the skills practiced during the morning sessions at higher speeds.

There are no special requirements to participate in a HPDC.  As for all Potomac driving events, you must possess a valid unrestricted driver’s license, be at least 18 years young.  You will need a car, but unlike other Porsche club events, HPDC allows any make or model automobile. Trucks, SUVs, or other unsuitable vehicles are prohibited.  No special tires or brakes or other car modifications are suggested.  Learn more about your car just as it sits!  Simply make sure the existing tires and brakes and other mechanical equipment are in good condition.  The HPDC does not require a tech inspection prior to the event but we will perform an inspection at the track in the morning of the event.

The HPDC day begins with an EARLY arrival at Summit Point, WV.  Try to arrive by 6:30 AM!  We hold our HPDCs at the Jefferson Circuit and the gate will direct you to the track.  When you arrive at the "paddock" (parking lot), find an empty parking space and unload all loose items.  Bring a tarp or some other type of cover and place what you remove from your car on the cover to protect them from the elements.   Then go to Registration at the only building in sight.  Get your schedule, nametag, car number and place a lunch order.  We provide the lunch for you.  Now drive your car to the tech inspection line; just follow the signs or the line in the paddock.  After tech inspection, park again and go to the classroom for some coffee.

The HPDC proper begins with a classroom briefing on the day's activities.  After the briefing until lunch, you will rotate between classroom, driving exercises, and skid pad driving exercises.  No special clothing besides closed toe rubber soled shoes is required for the morning portion of the HPDC.  No helmet is required for the morning exercises.

The afternoon is devoted to lapping sessions where you can apply the skills you learned earlier in the day.  This often the most exciting and rewarding part of the event, but it is optional.  The lapping sessions are very similar to a Drivers' Education event and to participate you must have a helmet.  Helmet rentals are not available at the track, but OG Racing, Potomac’s DE Sponsor, is the best place to rent helmets.  For those participating in the afternoon lapping sessions who drive a cabriolet, your car must either have factory-installed pop roll bars or an actual roll bar.  You must also dress in accordance with DE requirements, which means long pants and long sleeves of natural fibers.

The Potomac Region hosts two HPDCs per year.  One in the spring, usually late March or early April; and one in the fall, usually September.  Each event is one day in duration.  You can register at http://www.motorsportreg.com.  Registration preference is given to those who have NOT previously driven on a track or those novice drivers who have not had the opportunity to attend a HPDC.

For more information, contact the Potomac DE Registrar HERE!-- at DERegistrar@pcapotomac.org//--> or visit the Potomac registration site at pcapotomac.motorsportreg.com.