October - December
All the more fun: Driving with safety, precision, and awareness
Porsche Sport Driving School celebrates 40th anniversary
Stuttgart.
. A simple driving workshop 40 years ago laid the foundation for today’s
The idea met with success. Today Dr. Ing. h.c. F.
See the exclusive feature story from the
Sound swells from the boxer engines on the track. Brakes squeal. The air smells of rubber, oil, and gasoline at the Hockenheimring in early August of 1974. The drivers racing their 911s around the track are following not the stopwatch, but rather the ideal line. They are calm, commanding, and conducted. Off to the side a few sports cars are weaving through a lane of cones, drifting on wet circular tracks, and evading
obstacles that suddenly arise. Nothing is unusual. What is out of the ordinary, however, is the people behind the wheels. They are not professional racers but everyday drivers-students at the newly founded
What started forty years ago as a workshop for a few car fans has now developed into the international
The “we” in that statement are the driving instructors and trainers. One of approximately one hundred instructors worldwide is Carsten Dreses. The 43-year-old steps back from a session to describe the objective: “We want to instill an instinctive feel for driving and with it the art of reading and understanding the car better. When drivers sense the harmony in their cars, they’re automatically more secure- and also faster as a result.” He returns to shouting instructions to his drivers. Dreses knows what he’s talking about. A full-time development engineer for
“It’s just as important now as it was forty years ago-not to concentrate on lifeless theory but rather on driving pleasure,” says Dreses’s colleague, Klaus-Peter Krüger. An engineer, the 57-year-old Krüger joined
“It’s still a matter of teaching the right way to sit, steer, and brake,” he notes. “But with ABS,
Krüger reminds his colleague, “You couldn’t rely on driver assistance systems in the past. You had to know beforehand what would happen in certain situations.” For example, consider the first 911
The
Aware of its responsibility to non-racing drivers,
The instructors are experienced, having come directly from the “Test Course University” or the “Training Lab” in Zuffenhausen or Weissach. They are
The structure of today’s courses has not changed much since the start. The instructors explain the correct seating position with a steeper backrest and the importance of warming the engine. The exercises are solid and challenging, and allow drivers to try out very different maneuvers than they otherwise could on public roads, such as how to respond correctly to obstacles that suddenly arise or to curves that are tighter than they appear, how to drive through slalom courses or chicanes, how to react to skidding on a slippery surface, and how to find the ideal line. At the end, technique and style are evaluated. “Then as now, our aims have always been to train the right responses to critical situations and to familiarize drivers with the limits,” says Krüger.
While the very first courses were based on the improvisational talent of the instructors, today they are clearly structured and organized and the content is conveyed in a more compact form. At the same time, there is a greater emphasis on driving pleasure. The courses can last from one to three days, depending on what customers select. “Today we offer courses suitable for everyone, from beginners to racing drivers. We didn’t do this forty years ago, or even twenty,” says Krüger. In addition to classical sessions on safety and racing tracks, there are also off-road and winter courses.
Compared to the early days, the demands placed on the participants have changed. “The customers come with an ever greater degree of interest and ambition,” observes Dreses, while Krüger nods in assent. “They don’t just want to drive better and more safely, they also want to understand when and how the cars do what they do.” The professionals are precisely aware of the differences and fine points of the
The courses concentrate on safe, precise, and far-sighted driving and on speed. “Many drivers steer in too abrupt a manner; they’re too nervous. Their driving automatically becomes more commanding when they’re calm and composed,” says Dreses. And when you’re driving well and safely, then you’re also having more fun. As he explains, “That’s why our Precision and Performance courses start by concentrating on correct braking and safe vehicle control.”
Drivers with racing ambitions can hone their skills in master courses, and those who have completed the “Training Master RS” receive the A license from the German Racing Federation (DMSB). The range of courses includes special winter sessions in Finland, where participants learn the physics of driving on ice and snow. “To redefine your limits you first have to know what they are,” says Dreses. These exercises are ideal for that. “Our customers already have the perfect cars,” Dreses says, “so we focus on using these tools in the best possible way.”
History: Milestones from 40 years at the
1974: The
1977: First international courses (Belgium, France, Austria)
1986: Special driving events for women are added to the program
1990: The first safety courses on snow and ice are held in Austria
1996:
2002: The test and practice track at
2004: Launch of special courses (for example, the “g-force” drift)
2005: Students may now use rented
2007: International activities are standardized, and the “
2010: The first courses are offered specifically for classic cars
2012:
2014: The
Additional information and bookings: www.porsche.com/sportdrivingschool and
www.porsche.com/driving-experience-winter
Note: Photos related to the
GO
08.10.2014