Hey,

well I think I want to go to HPDE sometime soon - within a month. What are good schools you recommend, that don't charge Skip Barber rates? And were can I find out schedules?

cheers

 

HPDE? High performance drivers education. If you really want to go to school, I know Infineon has a pretty well respected school.

 

HPDE's are different than school schools.
skip barber's a good school (laguna)
and jim russell at sears is also good.
i also think bondurant in az is a great school.
as for hpde's, you can go to them without having prior training. good clubs/hpde events will provide instructors for you to go out with you and teach you the basics.
in the next month, there are tons of events going on, but i recommend unlimitedlaps.
check out information at:
www.unlimitedlaps.com
the event is oct 4
they provide instructors and generally provide a safe environment for learning.

 

cool thanks. unlimitedlaps always gets good feedback, and couple of my friends went with them before so i think ama gonna sign up.

 

HPDE is technically a NASA Pro-Racing term, meaning High Performance Driving Experience. If you sign up for Group 1, you have an instructor assigned to you and should get all the help you need.

I would check out NASA's HPDE page for general info: http://www.nasaproracing.com/hpde/index.html

And the NorCal Regional page for event calendars and such: http://www.nasaproracing.com/norcal/index.html

Good luck, and get out there. Just remember that track driving is VERY different from street driving, and it's a good idea to take what the instructors say seriously.

-Jacob

 

while lookng around I found this

http://www.thunderhill.com/school.html

The cost seems right ~200 and they will have one in November.

are they good? or is NASA HPDE better?

 

I have no experience with them, I'm prolly gonna go to the one in november though. My friend who races actual race cars is an instructor through them, and thinks NASA isn't very good. If/when I go, he'll be my instructor which is kinda awesome for me, but he says they are better, and have less accidents than NASA. I went to a NASA HPDE, the one at the end of August, and had a great time. It was my first ever track day, so I have no reference. But there were a ton of accidents (granted it was sears point so its a more dangerous track than thunderhill, but still) In fact a suby crashed as you may recall.

So if you believe my friend, its better than NASA HPDE, but I have no firsthand experience.

Hope that helped and didn't just waste your time/ confuse you. You'll have fun with whatever you do.

Good Luck

 

Oh yea, I believe you'd go on the waiting list, but you should check https://www.i-club.com/forums/meetings-events-donuts-91/thunderhill-subaru-track-day-10-04-04-a-65084/ I guess its through unlimited laps, but it should be mostly (like 30) suby's which is kinda cool. Just another thought. GL

 

personally i am not a fan of NASA either because of the number of accidents coupled with not as much track time.

here's a list of events going on in oct/nov: (i've deleted non-cali stuph)

October 2004
Date(s) Host Track Type Price
2-3 Speed Ventures Buttonwillow Raceway Time Trial TBD
8 Checkered Flag Racing Association Thunderhill Motorsports Park Club Race See website
8-10 BMWCCA - Club Racing Thunderhill Motorsports Park Club Race TBD
8-10 Northern California Racing Club Reno-Fernley Raceway Driver School TBD
9-10 NASA - California- Southern Region Buttonwillow Raceway HPDE/Race
15 TrackMasters Racing Thunderhill Motorsports Park Driver School $225
22 Redline Track Events Streets of Willow Springs Open Track $100 Day
23 BMWCCA - Golden Gate Chapter - Car Control Clinic Candlestick Park Car Control Clinic Info & Online Registration!
23-24 NABR Infineon Raceway Club Race http://www.nasaproracing.com/r
23-24 NABR Summit Point Club Race http://www.nasaproracing.com/r
23-24 NASA - California- Northern Region Infineon Raceway HPDE/Race
29-31 BMWCCA - Club Racing California Speedway Club Race TBD
30-31 NASA - California- Northern Region Infineon Raceway HPDE/Race

November 2004
Date(s) Host Track Type Price
6-7 BMWCCA - Golden Gate Chapter - HPDE Infineon Raceway Driver School Info & Online Registration!
6-7 NASA - California- Southern Region Las Vegas HPDE/Race
11 Club Z Thunderhill Motorsports Park Driver School $200 early + $15 memb. *TBD*
12 Speed Ventures Streets of Willow Springs Time Trial TBD
13-14 NABR Buttonwillow Raceway Club Race http://www.nasaproracing.com/r
13-14 NASA - California- Northern Region Thunderhill Raceway Park HPDE/Race
13-14 NASA - California- Southern Region Buttonwillow Raceway HPDE/Race
14 TrackMasters Racing Infineon Raceway Open Track TBD
15 Northern California Racing Club Thunderhill Motorsports Park Driver School TBD
18 PDC Racing Thunderhill Motorsports Park Open Track Info & Online Registration!
19 Redline Track Events Streets of Willow Springs Open Track $100 Day
26 Checkered Flag Racing Association Infineon Raceway Club Race See website
27-28 Northern California Racing Club Willow Springs Int'l Raceway Driver School TBD
27-28 SpeedTrialUSA Streets of Willow Springs Driver School $120 per day $200 both days
29 Northern California Racing Club Infineon Raceway Driver School TBD
30 NASA - California- Northern Region Laguna Seca Raceway HPDE/Race


of these: i'd say trackmasters is the best to run with for beginnings. it's probably the most tame and provides instructors.
and of course unlimitedlaps again. speedventures is also a good club... and audi/bmw days are great.

 

wow thats a nice list!

thanks a lot

 

I have a few friends who get track time through trackmasters www.trackmasters-racing.com and say they're really good. They have an event coming up in November at Infineon that I'll probably attend. I can also personally vouch for unlimitedlaps... can't wait for THill this monday!

 

no problem
just be careful you don't get too hooked on tracking
or you may end up like me...... muhahahahahaha

 

man that could be a distinct possibilty ... but thank god I am going to be broke modding the WRX for the next ~ 3month. ;-)

 

i'm going to this one (Nov 21), but i'm in the B group. i did the A group in my SE-R and they paired with an instructor with the same car. it was fun and very informative. it was my first track day and got me hooked.