2024 HPDE Drivers Skills Seminar
By Jeff Woodward
When the idea for this event was suggested, we thought that forty or fifty people in the area might be interested in attending. I was truly surprised when we ended up with over one hundred drivers registered for the seminar. Thanks to each of you for supporting the event and our program. We do hope that each of you went away with a better understanding of driving at speed specifically driving Mid-Ohio.
A huge thank you to Dr. Sammarco, the Hamilton County Coroner for offering the facility for our Drivers Skills Seminar. It is an exceptional facility, and we were privileged to be able to hold our event there. We were also pleased that Brian Till agreed to be our presenter. He spoke for an hour before lunch providing a basis for details that would be discussed later. Following the break, he went much deeper, going through the Mid-Ohio course turn by turn. Everyone from the driver considering their first drive at Mid-Ohio to the seasoned instructor left the seminar with more than one approach to testing during their next visit to our beloved track.
Our entire HPDE team was on hand to answer any questions that might come up. I want to thank Dennis Okin, John O’Brien, Bill Altvater, Matt Griffin, and our classroom instructors Mike Keslosky and Jeff Bauer. Jeff opened our presentation going over the basics with our novice drivers to prepare them for their first event. We attempted to get everything on video, but that effort didn’t pan out, maybe next time. Thank you also to Patti and Alan Godofsky who were instrumental in getting things set up, getting everyone checked in, and cleaning up afterwards. There were several others that jumped in and a thank you to each of you.
Brian Till has already agreed to return so we will be doing this again next year with a slight change or two to the format. We will publish details on the first of next year and with the success of this event expect to see a record crowd.
As announced, we will be adding the “Track Experience” program to our schedule in June. This will be limited to 9 individuals on Saturday and 9 individuals on Sunday. Anyone who registers can only participate once on Saturday and once on Sunday. The program is for an individual who is considering driving in our HPDE Program. They want to look closer at what we do and get a feel for what it is like on track without themselves driving at the event . We will be designating 3 instructors who will each take 3 pre-registered individuals out in the novice group during each scheduled run, on Saturday and Sunday. Anyone wanting to participate can only do so once each day.
To participate you will need to contact me directly. We will schedule you as you contact me so you can know exactly when you will be going on track. The fee is $50 if you want to go out with an instructor for just one day. If you want to go out once on Saturday and again on Sunday, your total fee for both days is $85. This will also include one of the gifts that each driver receives at registration. If you are interested, please email me at hpde.chair@ovepca.org .
Our June weekend will be May 31st through June 2nd. The Jerry Wolf June Classic is named after our long-time chief driving instructor and co-founder of the Ohio Valley Region of Porsche Club. We were honored to have Jerry involved with our HPDE program for some 31 years.
For the event, we currently have 16 openings in our advanced group, 14 openings in our intermediate group, 13 openings in our lower intermediate group, and just 8 openings in our novice group. I fully expect all our groups to be full and on a waitlist in the next few weeks. Please do yourself a favor and do not wait to register.
The old phrase “I’ll see you when I see you” rings true as a driver, always keep your “eyes up”!
