der Bayerische September/October 2020 - 17

J
weekend, I also registered for the
Friday skidpad session not only to
have ample time to work on my car
control skills, but also to get more
familiar with my new car. My
investment in the Friday skid pad
session paid off handsomely, and by
the end of the day I got better at
controlling oversteer and started
learning to drift a little bit. I was very
excited and happy about my
progress, and this was a confidence
builder for Saturday and Sunday.
I will definitely be coming back to the
Friday skidpad sessions to take
advantage of the additional practice
time there.
On Saturday morning, the
drivers' meeting was held on the
paddock to enable social distancing.
During the meeting, the basic rules of
the lead-follow method were
explained to the students. After the
drivers' meeting, I met with my
instructor and my fellow student in
our three car lead-follow group. Our
instructor went over the new
methodology in more detail and
explained
how
he
would
communicate using hand signals. He
also established the goals for the first
session of the day. Finally, we were
on the track for the first time. Things
were under control and we settled into
a comfortable pace. Once our first
session ended, our instructor
debriefed us on how the session
went and what we needed to pay
more attention to in terms of hand
signals and situational awareness.
As the day progressed, I was very
comfortable with the teaching method
and my car, and therefore, I was able
to focus more on my line and my
driving inputs to the car. After every
session, my instructor gave his
feedback and set goals for
improvements for the next session.
Sunday started with early
morning showers and then the sun
showed its face. Although it was not
raining anymore, before our first
session we were warned about the
wet spots on the track. For me, the
change in the track conditions was a
welcome learning opportunity. After

September I October

(Above) Many thanks to our sponsors. Photo by Jack Raymond.
the first session, the track was
completely dry and we continued to
pick up our pace as the day

progressed. The goal of the last
session of the weekend was to put
together everything that we had

learned during the two days.
I dialed down my speed a little bit and
focused on running a consistent line,
lap after lap, to end the weekend on a
high note.
Despite the challenges of
running a group event in the face of a
pandemic, I believe the weekend was
a success. The lead-follow format
was new to all instructors and
students, but was very well executed.
Our event was incident-free and
everybody went home safe and
sound. I would like to thank all of the
instructors who were willing to learn
and implement this new method of
teaching, which made this weekend
possible. It was great to be back on
the track after a long time. My hope
is that these difficult days will be over
soon and we will be able to meet at
our two remaining HPDE events in
September and October.

For NCC's upcoming HPDE events, see https://www.nccbmwcca.org/driving-events/high-performance-driving-schools/
or https://ncc.motorsportreg.com/calendar/.
(Below) Many thanks to Craftsman Auto Care for providing auto disinfection services. From left to right are
Judy Curry, Kyle Beers, Asha Boone, and Slayton Speer. Photo by Fraser Dachille.

https://www.craftsmanautocare.com/ http://www.howard-hoffman.com/ https://www.facebook.com/tiercarcare https://radialtirecompany.com/ https://www.gcomotorsports.com/ https://www.bimmerworld.com/ https://www.blipshift.com/ https://www.bmwoffairfax.com/ https://www.nccbmwcca.org/driving-events/high-performance-driving-schools/ https://ncc.motorsportreg.com/calendar/ https://www.craftsmanautocare.com/

der Bayerische September/October 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of der Bayerische September/October 2020