Driver's School

[John Straub]

Thanks to you guys that put on the school...my student loved it!!! Good Job!

John

[jenniferreinhardt]

The students had a blast and really improved. We'll have some good competition joining our ranks!

It was a huge effort by everyone especially the CDI's, Support Crew, Instructors - another success!

[Jackie C]

Good school, but....WHERE WERE ALL THE INSTRUCTORS?!!! (Don't blame it on the economy)

[Amail]

Thank you to the CDI's who put me in as an instructor. I got so much mileage out of this! A ton of firsts for me:
1 - First time for me at the PDS, so I sort of got a freebie there
2 - Drove a newish 911 C4S, Cayman S, Boxster, 911 SC - previously my only experience driving Porsches has been 944's
3 - Instructed my first student

I was really happy to drive my student's Boxster way beyond where he was driving it so he could see what it was capable of. I remember in my first days at A/X being really stunned what my instructors could do in their cars, but not know what was possible in the car I was driving. I really wished someone could drive it for me so I could see what it could do earlier on. For my student to get a taste of that at his first performance driving event was a real eye-opener for him! There's nothing like having your passenger's eyes bug out while simultaneously giggling like a school kid and yelling "Holy C**p!".

Again, a big thanks to the CDI's for giving me this opportunity, thanks to whoever it was that originally thought of doing these PDS events, and thanks to those that are continuing them.

What a blast.

[Don Middleton]

Nicely done, CDIs. Everything ran on schedule - even Friday night's chalk-talk!

Also, congrats to all the instructors and other volunteers helping out. My student was as impressed with the people in this club as he was with the school and performance driving experience.

[Don Middleton]

Good school, but....WHERE WERE ALL THE INSTRUCTORS?!!! (Don't blame it on the economy)

Jackie, just a thought, but perhaps we just put too much into this month. Two AXs, and PDS and a TT all in a matter of 4 weeks might have been just too much. We should probably watch for that with the Spring PDS.

[Don Middleton]

Good school, but....WHERE WERE ALL THE INSTRUCTORS?!!! (Don't blame it on the economy)

Jackie, just a thought, but perhaps we just put too much into this month. Two AXs, and PDS and a TT all in a matter of 4 weeks might have been just too much. We should probably watch for that with the Spring PDS.

I forgot to mention the Coronado DE. That is 5 weeks in a row with Driving events. That has to be a large part of what happened to our instructor attendance.

[MTrotter]

Thats exactly the point I was going to make Don. I also drive with other clubs, sometimes doing double duty in different cars with different clubs in the same day. Dont get me wrong... I like driving, but its tough when one of your clubs has 3 events in a 4 week period. I still have to find time to fix the broken things at the house... cars, roof, mow the lawn... ect.
so I had to pass. Besides, PCAOCR also had an instructors clinic and an autox this weekend as well.

I would have loved to made it to the PDS.

Maybe we can plan around the other events the club is hosting for sure when planning the spring PDS.

Sounds like I missed a great time though. I know I missed out on some great food!

[Erik K]

I would also like to thank the CDI's and other volunteer's for making this event run so smooth! its always a pleasure to help out at such a well organized event.

On a side note there was some pretty sweet driving going on in the instructor sessions!!! Mainly the first instructor group.
Does anyone remember the awesome performance by Jerry in his stock 944 S Never seen so much smoke Billowing off a 944's tires haha. There has got to be some one out there with pictures of this??? I know Dan C. remembers this.

[John Straub]

I think Don has a good point...just too much. For me I could only help one day, other things to take care of.

I'm sure both Mark and Chuck are fried after the Coronado DE then the Coronado Hospitality Tent Weekend which they helped big time.

Thanks to all of you CDI guys!

John

[Jackie C]

Valid points, I'm over it. Back to Jerry, "Did you actually drive home to Escondido on those tires?" Amazing NASCAR burnouts. Wowed every student and most instructors speechless. BTW the school was a blast. Hopefully we can recruit a few new AXers, like the boys in the Cayman. (Great 944 candidates and Jerry B followers for sure!)

[mrondeau]

On a side note there was some pretty sweet driving going on in the instructor sessions!!! Mainly the first instructor group.
Does anyone remember the awesome performance by Jerry in his stock 944 S Never seen so much smoke Billowing off a 944's tires haha. There has got to be some one out there with pictures of this??? I know Dan C. remembers this.

Jerry, I've got some 420 treadwear rated tires that would be perfect for your driving style. Seriously. BIG THANKS to all of the instructors and volunteers who showed up and helped make this another wonderful PDS.

I know that we have a lot of events going on right now. 6 weeks in a row between the Coronado Vintage Races and the San Diego Concourse. I know that this taxes our volunteers and instructors and that's why I appreciate those who stepped up even more. The students had a great time and I'm very proud of the fact that our driving instructors are so good that every student was happy with the instructor that they had for the day and that the feedback I got was 100% positive. Great job everyone.

We are looking for feedback from instructors, volunteers and students regarding this event. Please email us at cdi@pcasdr.org and let us know your thoughts. All of your emails will be confidential unless you tell us otherwise.

A special thanks to the following people who worked their a$$e$ off this past weekend. Andy Mail and Jerry Bumpus who showed up at 0'dark thirty each day and helped unload the trailer and then load it back up in the evening and actually were able to drive home on some of the most abused tires I've ever seen (short of any tires owned by Chuck Sharp ). Debby Sharp for handling all of the last minute details and just for putting up with all of us. Keith Verlaque, Bob Schang, Joel Bowman and Jim Duncan for your extra efforts. Dan Chambers and Chuck Sharp for showing me the ropes.

If you are an instructor who didn't make it to one of the PDS's this year, you missed out on a lot of fun. There is nothing more satisfiying than watching a student as they go through all of the "oh wow" moments that happen all day Saturday and Sunday at a PDS.

I added up the hours it takes to put on this event. This is just from Friday night to Sunday night. 920 Hours!! Wow! Ok, I'm ready for a cold one.

[Dan Chambers]

+1 to what Mark R. and everyone else has said.

I've been involved with ... oh, I don't know ... a couple of these schools now ... ... and I have to say this one was really great, and really unique. The people who showed up really put forth a remarkable effort in making it all happen. It's one thing to show up, lean on tables and chairs and "bench-volunteer" until it's time to drive. It's another thing to come out and give your all. This weekend showed me that 50 + people can give up their weekend, give +100% selflessly, and smile while doing so. To all of you who helped out, thank you so much. You have my undying gratitude.

And how 'bout those students. With the great help of the in-car Instruction, I saw more smiles and heard more "WooHoo's" than ever. With over two hours of seat time (that's 2 hours of driving time plus passenger time with the Instructors) the students really had a massive amount of experience behind the windshield. That experience showed in their utter delight.

We had some formidable hurdles to overcome this year, and with the great efforts of Chuck sharp, Mark Rondeau, and all the other volunteers who stepped up when the skies turned a bit gray, we turned a somewhat cloudy year of busy schedules and down-turned economy into one of the greatest PDS experiences I can remember.

Way to go, everyone! You guys and gals rule!

[ttweed]

We are looking for feedback from instructors, volunteers and students regarding this event. Please email us at cdi@pcasdr.org and let us know your thoughts. All of your emails will be confidential unless you tell us otherwise.

I have no reason to keep this confidential, and would actually like to illicit a broader discussion of it among the instructor/volunteer cadre. I am wondering if it isn't time to review/alter the "traditional" course layout for the "mock autox" on Sunday. I understand from past discussions with various CDIs that maintaining an identical (or at least a very similar) course for each school has been desirable, from the standpoint that the instructors are all familiar with it and will be able to begin coaching the students immediately regarding the nuances of its elements. For various reasons, I think it's time to re-evaluate this strategy.

Firstly, the condition of the west lot is ever-changing. The surface is getting sketchy in more places all the time, and the addition of obstacles like the "Budweiser Pavilion" has already forced us to alter the course substantially at times. Even though the slalom section at the south end of the course was reconfigured this time to try to avoid the worst surface conditions, it was HELLACIOUSLY bumpy and rough coming out of it and trying to set up the following righthander. You either had to back off on charging the next corner or abuse the car's suspension pretty badly, and deal with it hopping sideways over the swale and bumps, etc.

Secondly, I really don't like staging the event from the north end of the lot. There is so much more shelter, shade, and room beneath the trolley tracks at the south end that I can't help but wonder why we continue to hang on to this tradition and bake in the sun (or sit out in the rain) under the Budweiser sign. I would much prefer to be pitted under the trolley tracks.

At normal autocrosses, the instructors must learn a new course and get up to speed quickly to help the student master it, so shouldn't they be able to do this at the school? Is there some other reason for maintaining the traditional course that I am missing? Couldn't we at least establish a "new norm" for a school course staging from the south end (which would also have to be altered depending on prevailing surfaces/obstacles each time), or perhaps allow the instructors to have a few parade laps for familiarization before the start, if that is a desirable teaching condition?

That's my $0.02, and I'd like to hear what others think.
TT

[Amail]

Having never attended one of these before, I didn't know the layout is the same used year in and year out. But, I stuck around after the track was thrown on Saturday and got familiar with it pretty quickly! I was up to speed immediately on Sunday morning with my student. If we want to change the layout and instructors want to be familiar with it before going on with their student, they should stay late on Saturday and drive it a few times. Otherwise, it's just as Tom says - deal with the fact that you will have to learn the track from scratch with a student in the car. It's not like you've never done that before! Besides, the student gets to see how the instructor learns the track.