Driver's Education
INWR 2023 Driver's Education Program
2023 Closed Course Program Schedule
Driver's Education Program
The purpose of Driver’s Education is to make each PCA member a more skilled and safer driver and to provide them with the opportunity to learn about their Porsche(s) and to experience “driving in its purest form”.
Driver Skills is a one-day course in the fundamentals of driving your Porsche, regardless of model, at safe limits on streets and highways. You’ll get seat time on a closed course, perfecting your technique with exercises designed to focus on essential high performance driving skills: looking ahead, weight balance, smooth inputs, threshold braking, and more. Coaching with trained instructors ensures that Driver Skills has something to offer drivers at any experience level, from total novice to experienced track drivers.
Autocross consists of a one car at a time making runs against the clock on a closed course marked by cones. Each run takes about one minute. Speeds are low to medium, generally driven in second gear. Time penalties are added for disturbing cones or skipping gates.
Driver’s Education track events follow the guidelines and training made available to each region by the PCA National DE program. All drivers attend mandatory track-side meetings where they will learn key objectives of driving on a track with other vehicles. While at the track, novices will have an instructor until ready to go on the track solo. There are different run groups for different experience levels and each participant will be driving with others at the same experience level.
Registration To join an INWR PCA close course event, register in advance of the event and have their vehicle inspected (DE only, not for Autocross or Driver Skills). Participants need to open an account, register, and pay through MotorsportReg (motorsportreg.com). There is no fee to open an account on MotorsportReg and it provides a path to sign up and pay for most INWR PCA events.
Qlispé Racing Park (qrpracing.com). INWR’s “home track”, formerly the Spokane County Raceway, is now owned and operated by the Kalispel Tribe of Indians. QRP is only 9 miles from downtown Spokane, adjacent to the City of Airway Heights, next to the Northern Quest Resort & Casino. There’s easy access to I-90 and Hwy 2, nearby restaurants, lodging, stores, and gas stations.
Volunteers are always needed to put on these events. We need technical inspectors, instructors, flaggers, and registration workers. No job is too small and all jobs are critical to our effort to enjoy our Porsches. IT’S NOT JUST THE CARS, IT’S THE PEOPLE. Consider volunteering to support your driver.
Requirements for DE Track Events
Pre-Event Vehicle Inspection
All cars must be certified by the owner that it is safe to run on the track and the car has been inspected by a regionally approved person or shop within 30 days prior to participating at a Track DE. The Skills event doesn’t require an inspection. The inspection form can be read, downloaded and printed by using the link.
- Technical Inspection Form
- Free Inspection Porsche Spokane offers a free check of your Porsche by their certified Porsche mechanics; however, the participant must schedule the inspection through their service department during their normal hours.
Final Inspection
A final safety inspection will be conducted at the events. If you fail an inspection and a deficiency cannot be corrected FEES WILL NOT BE REFUNDED.
Brakes
The brake pads must be 50% or more of original thickness. The brake fluid in the car must have been flushed within 12 months of the inspection – proof will be required to pass this requirement.
Tires
The tires on the car must be the correct speed rating specified by the manufacturer. An inspection of your tires will be made prior to each event.
Helmets
Snell rated SA2015, or newer are required.
Attire
Wear a cotton T-Shirt, Long Cotton pants, closed shoes, Driving gloves and shoes are suggested
Drivers License
Minimum age 18 with a valid, non-restricted driver’s license.
Preamble to Track Driving
Prior to an on-track event, it is recommended that drivers new to Porsches and other capable makes attend a Driver Skills course to learn your car’s dynamics. A good method to familiarize yourself to driving on a track is to review videos of other drivers. This link will be helpful for the long course at Qlispé Raceway Park: https://youtu.be/tnOrBYgDCNM.
Instruction
Novice drivers will run in a separate run group and drive on the track under instruction. Instruction can be in car or by Lead-Follow techniques described below.
PCA Restraint Requirements
Equal Restraints
Both the driver and passenger must have the same restraint system, and both the driver and the passenger must use the same restraint system.
Harness Systems
A vehicles three-point seat belt system is an acceptable restraint for DEs in non-racing modified cars. For cars modified for racing, a harness system is required. Because of the high vehicle speeds modern Porsches and other performance vehicles are capable of, a harness system may be a safety feature to consider. However, there are many associated requirements if a harness system is installed.
If the participant chooses to install a five-, six-, or seven-point driving harness, several changes to the automobile must be made to create a safe occupant restraint system. Harnesses must:
- Include an antisubmarine strap.
- Five-, six- or seven-point SFI or FIA approved competition harnesses are required and must be properly mounted in accordance with the manufacturer’s specifications. Belts must be replaced no later than five years after the date of manufacture. It is left to the owner’s discretion as to whether the belts should be replaced more frequently than required.
- Have all harness attachment points secured/mounted in an approved manner consistent with the manufacturer’s instructions.
- Be used in conjunction with a seat that has the supplied routing holes for the shoulder and antisubmarine belts.
- Have the shoulder straps mounted in an approved manner consistent with the manufacturer’s instructions.
- The participant should be aware the addition of such a seat and harness system results in the occupant being fastened upright in the vehicle. Therefore, in order to have a COMPLETE SYSTEM, a properly padded roll bar or roll cage is recommended, and an approved head and neck restraint device is required. The head and neck restraint device must be certified to either SFI 38.1 or FIA 8858 or successor standards. The use of such a harness system without roll protection and a head and neck restraint device may result in an unsafe environment and is not a COMPLETE SYSTEM. Roll bars or cages and their installation must meet PCA Club Racing Standards.
When using a head and neck restraint device, it is recommended that one follow the SFI Recertification process for the head and neck restraint device. The instructions for this can be found on the device. Additionally, it is recommended that the straps be replaced every five years.
The SFI standard requires seat belt to be replaced every two years based on date of manufacture. The FIA standard requires the seat belt to be replaced every five years based on date of manufacture. It is left to the driver’s discretion as to whether the belts should be replaced more frequently than required.
Four-point systems are not allowed, EXCEPT as noted below, in Porsches because of the integrated headrest supplied by the factory. In addition to the standard SFI and/or FIA-approved five- and/or six-point system, a four-point system is allowed in non-Porsches that meet the following requirements:
- Meets the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 209.
- Attaches to the factory seat belt mounting points.
- Each belt is designed to work in a specific vehicle and that vehicle tag must be attached to the belt system.
Four Point Belt Exception: Schroth has developed a four-point harness for specific newer Porsche models only. These models are the 918 Spyder, 2015 GT3, 2016 Cayman GT4, 2016 Boxster Spyder, and 2015 GT3RS, and these models must also be fitted with the Full Bucket Seat Option P11 as provided by Porsche. The belts are Federal Motor Vehicle Standard 209, and as such they are deemed street legal and approved by federal seat belt safety regulations. These belts also have labeling confirming the intended use for these specified Porsche models.
Skills Event Car finish Protection
The venue for this event is a large, 10 acre parking lot, located in the south part of the Spokane County Fairgrounds on the north side of the railroad tracks. The asphalt surface of the lot is old and has areas of cracks with grass stalks sticking through. The segments used in the Skills event are laid out to avoid as much of the cracking as possible but complete avoidance is impossible. Pieces of loose asphalt and small rocks get loosely trapped in the cracks and the motion of vehicles across them sometimes breaks the stones loose which in turn may impact the lower surfaces over your vehicle. Clear bra or blue painters tape as shown in the adjacent figure is effective as a deterrent to the “pings” left by the rocks. The latter can be easily removed promptly after the event.
