cobradvm

Hi all - I'm mostly a lurker on these boards. Like a couple of the recent posters in this forum, I am ready to make the leap from DE's in my daily driver (M4 with track tires/pads/brake fluid) to a dedicated track car, possibly progressing to racing at some point. I have 10 years of intermittent DE's in a Mustang, M3/M4s, and my Factory Five cobra replica. I've noticed a suggestion from those threads that appeals to me as my first step, which is to sign up with an entry level arrive and drive team. I'm hoping that I can get some suggestions for California or Nevada based teams that would be a good option for me.

I currently live in the Seattle area, but I've sold my businesses and retired early (52), and I'm moving to Las Vegas. So I have the time and a fund set aside for the track stuff. I also have a truck and enclosed 24' trailer, so when the time comes, I have no problem heading off for long weekends probably to Socal, but Norcal would work fine as well. I'm mostly looking for experienced teams that I can learn from, pick their brains etc, without jumping straight into buying something too soon, and then regretting it. It will also take me some time to learn all the facets of making this transition. I'm probably most interested in SPC with PDK but I'm still learning all about the different classes - there is a lot to learn! Also I'd be interested in hearing what are the most popular Porsche racing classes that are in the Socal/Norcal region. I'll probably head over at some point next year just as a spectator to check it all out.

I really appreciate any help and advice you can provide.

Howard.

Frank 993 C4S

My suggestion is that you start with a race school that also runs an arrive and drive race series like Lucas Oil, Bertil Roos and gets you a license. Porsche Sport Driving School in Birmingham is excellent also but much more expensive. Not sure what is available on the West Coast.

If you are interested in racing with PCA, check the Club Racing website and look for the results for races in your area. That gives you an idea what the popular classes and cars are in your area. There is also SCCA and NASA.

There is no SPC with PDK. SPC cars are all manual. Most PDK cars run in the Stock classes (I, J, K).

bkovac

Come on out to the Porsche Owners Club http://porscheclub.com, we frequent quite a few venues anually including some near Las Vegas. We have a very comprehensive DE program with coaching that has lead many to our Cup Schools and racing. PM me and I will get you some additional information. The thing you will find in SoCal is numerous tracks within a 2 hour drive and year round weather ideal for track days.

BRracing

This is Bruce from BRracing in Los Gatos CA (Silicon Valley area, or SF Bay Area).
We have a whole variety of "arrive and drive" programs for our customers, including full race.

Example, this coming week, we have a private day at Thunderhill (due to our very fast customers and their cars, we often rent tracks to ourselves, as we are this coming week), and these are the customer cars we are taking and supporting:
- Porsche 997.1 Cup Car
- Porsche 997.2 Cup Car
- Porsche 991.2 Cup Car
- Audi RS3 LMS TCR touring car
- Ferrari F458 Challenge car
- Ferrari F488 Challenge car
- Ligier LMP3 prototype (2017)
- Porsche 991.1 GT3RS street car
- Spec Boxsters (heck, we have about 15 under support)
- Audi R8 LMS GT4 cars

Last weekend, there was a Porsche Club of America club race at Sonoma / Sears Point / Infineon, and we had five race cars that we were supporting under an "arrive and drive" program (storage at our shops (one in Los Gatos, one in Campbell), transport (we have 3 full SEMI trailers, a 2 car stacker, and a 1 car enclosed trailer), and full track support. We can offer the full suite of track support (crew, data engineer, suspension engineer, hospitality and more).

We have another Porsche Club of America club race this next weekend at Buttonwillow, and again, we will have 5 customers that we are supporting in the "arrive and drive" program. We have customers who do the arrive and drive that do NOT race, yet have either highly modified street cars, or full race cars, and then we have customers who do the "arrive and drive" w race cars (for either DE or private events, or race events).

We have competed and won almost all the normal series out here on the West coast (Pirelli Cup, Pirelli GT4 Cup, Porsche Club of America, Porsche Owners Club, Porsche Racing Clug (PRC), NASA, Ferrari Challenge and more.

Would be happy to talk about the transition from normal DE events, to some form (race or non-race) "arrive and drive".
We have over 500 active DE customers, but most do their own support, so we can offer the local service, maintenance, custom alignment, track prep, race prep, or whatever you need.

Let us know what questions you have.
email = brracing@gmail.com
phone = 408-356-1515

Bruce
BRracing

fatbillybob

Not a Porsche but SpecCorvette is growing fast in Socal to NorCal and spotty East of rockies. The class might not have had 1 full year of racing yet? The build cost is $20k car included. So there are about 10k in parts/cage and 10K for the donor. We are talking cheap for good level of speed. The prep is cheap because SC has negotiated sponsor discounts on parts and the cage build is a spec build but you can spend more and have someone else build the cage too. The SpecCorvette can run in SCCA T1 for a national class and NASA ST2 if you want to win a national title in those classes. Some SC races are with regional SCCA as SpecCorvette and Speedventures as SpecCorvette. At a SCCA majors or Runoffs you would be classed in T1. Vette parts are cheap and NAPA autoparts close for many items. A used Z06 motor is $3k and a rebuild to stock spec is about $3k.

fatbillybob

Oh...go to calclub.com which is the local Socal SCCA chapter. They have 3 day raceschool and you can be in the classroom on Thursday and have your 1st provisional licensing race on sunday. It is cheap too. The 2019 socal race calendar is up too. The SanFrancisco SCCA region https://www.sfrscca.org/ has the norcal schedule and a school too.

cobradvm

Thanks so much for the replies - it looks like there are a ton of options.

tgsmith4845

autosea

I also live in Seattle. I cant say enough good things about the GGR Porsche Club. Its my home group. I have a SP1 944 and fairly new to Club Racing.
I would say that The Spec Boxter is the car of choice. I have rented a garage at Thunderhill and used it as a home base. They treat me like family.
i have meet many drivers from BR racing If you are still in Seattle let me know and I can show you Spec Boxter build

audipwr1

Spec Boxster / use BRR

Done

Pruettfan

I'm a firm believer in getting professional level instruction, I don't know if you have invested in a reputable school but that is what I would do first. HPDE is entry point and my experience is that many experienced HPDE drivers think they are more prepared than they really are. Frankly you can learn more in a couple of days of a good driving school than several years of driving HPDE (generalization so, HPDE guys don't lose it). Porsche has a great program that will not only educate you but prepare you for a racing license, of course there are other schools that do the same. Be prepared to invest time and money but I believe the return on investment from schools is very high. There are plenty of great arrive and drive options, I recently met a guy who is a member at spring mountain near Vegas and he spoke very highly of the Radical racing series they run out there. Please report back on what you decide to do and your experience because I am sure many are interested in your journey

cobradvm

Thanks - do you have a link to the Porsche program? I'm not sure if you are referring to POC, PCA or something else? I took a look at the Radical racing series at Spring Mountain - it looks like it would be a good learning experience - they offer two schools - a Radical 2 day course, and the Ron Fellows Racing school in Corvettes. I'm not sure if they lead to getting a racing license or not - it would seem to make more sense to spend the money on a school that would end up with that qualification which is what I think the POC courses do? I'm assuming for any racing series like Spec Boxster or anything else, a racing license from a sanctioning body like PCA or SCCA is required?

bkovac

The Radicals are a high down force car compared to low down force cars such as a boxster. You will need seat time before earning your license. This will take a little time, you will need to walk before you can run. But once you have good car control and earned your license, you will battle W2W with much better ability and confidence.

BRracing

We have had two customers enter the SpecBox world in the last two months.
Can talk about their progression, getting a rookie license, and going racing.
Nothing beats seat time in anything.

If you decide to go racing, there are several other learning curves other than learning how to drive xxx car fast.
As mention, there is also a big difference in learning how to drive a downforce car vs a sports car. Nothing hard, just different.

The learning for racing, and the confidence in running close w others, understanding strategy, non-racing lines, etc
That comes w more racing seat time, and instruction.

We had one of our new customers participate in his SpecBox at Sonoma / Sears Point / Infineon in only his second Porsche PCA race.
We had him spend over 6 hours in our simulator with our instruction. Amazing the difference in confidence and ability to work on small items.

Many options...the good news, is that they are all fun.

Bruce
BRracing

ckkrause

I agree with Audipwr1, Bruce and the BRRacing group are a class act!

-Chuck