Did pocono a few years back and had an excellent instructor.......made me keep pushing the car and pushing the car, was a really nice guy...so nice I sent him a gift in the mail a few days later. Made the entire weekend a great one.

 

Dang, you are my kind of student!!!

 

It was a guy who had a 911 and owned a machine shop in brooklyn....anyone know him it was a couple years back?? Love to get back in touch with him. Fantastic guy. He was a MetroPCA instructor. How would I find out if hes still around?

 

My friend Dennis has claimed that he gets tips! Supposedly last weekend he made $400! Now I know why he's always requesting Corvettes. Hmph. My Porsche student didn't give me a gift or a tip, but she and her husband both signed up for our next track event.

 

I believe that's called Karma Jim....

 

In my experience, PCA has it's share of good, fun loving instructors as well as obnoxious, socially tone deaf misfits. Get another right away if you get the wrong catagory. The very issue you mention is what turns so many people off on some of the PCA events.

 

I just make certain I get hooked up with the student with the big portable grill, etc. in the paddock (and full cooler for after the track closes). If the food is good and the beer cold, I remind them that they can request specific instructors when they sign-up. I almost never have a "randomly" assigned student any longer.

 

Lol, Bob. Well, I usually let the organizer hook me up, only to have two or three folks walk up to me and request me as their instructor. I even recently had a guy with a Ferrari 430 in the advanced group request me. That was a VERY busy (and LOUD) day.

 

The guy sounds like a ********-deluxe ,get another instructor next session, otherwise you're wasting your time and money.

 

So, how often do you hear that, Steve???
Just kidding. Steve's a very safe drover.

 

Ha...

Still hard at work on that Power-to-weight ratio, eh?

See you Saturday?

 

FTY asks about a certain instructor.

Was he an older guy, a German?

 

I've been lucky enough to have the same instructor for BMW and Porsche events at different tracks. Both times he had NO CAR, so a ride along never happened. He's big on asking me questions and telling me I'm wrong no matter what the answer is. "What does a red flag mean?" -- "It means I'll need to stop" -- "NO, it means check your mirrors and THEN stop". Same with a black flag, blue flag, red/yellow flag, etc. Didn't matter what I answered if I didn't give him the whole procedure, I was wrong.

He's also the only instructor to never sign me off in almost 50 track days. You'd think after hearing "that was a perfect run" 3 or 4 times in a weekend that you might see some solo action.

 

50 track days? WTF? That's absolutely rediculous. I think you need to go to the organizer or the lead instructor and ask for a check-off ride (from a different instructor) and go solo. Shoot -- I know some RACERS with less seat time. Good luck!

 

Hey John, good to hear from you, Smart ***! Just trying to continue to give you guys a chance with the power-to-weight ratio.

I should likely know what is happening Saturday, but don't. I'll be arriving at Watkins Glen on Sunday for the Schattenbaum event Monday and Tuesday. You?