Cris Brady

Hey it's already August, man this year has gone by fast! And that means fall is coming. And with fall arriving is the annual Delaware region Drivers Ed event at Thunderbolt raceway at New Jersey Motorsports Park.

Delaware is one of the smaller regions in PCA, so we only do one DE event a year, but we strive to be the best DE event you will do each year. This year the dates are Fri thru Sun, Oct 5th - 7th. No conflicts with Yom Kippor this year, so everybody's calendar should be free.

Our format for the 3 day weekend is a bit different than most. Friday is reserved for advanced group (solo) drivers only. We run 30 minute sessions all day long with only 2 groups. Black/Red drivers with open (pointby) passing and White. At 30 minutes we throw the checker and send the next group out. If you do all the sessions you could have up to 4 hours of track time just on Friday. Hope your tires last...

While we know you love the all-u-can-drive format, we have an ulterior motive for this. Friday is a treat for our instructor corps so they can get their track addiction satisfied, so when Sat & Sun rolls in they can devote their full attention to their students without worrying about their own track time. Of course instructors get their own track sessions as normal on those days too.

Before you ask, Friday is only available as part of a 3 day package. Sorry no single Friday signups. Remember it's to have our instructors 100 % focused on their students when Sat & Sun roll around. Advanced non-instructors get to tag along and enjoy. You can also sign up just for Sat & Sunday.

And as they used to say on late night tv, But Wait, There's More!

Nick Hatalski will be back to provide his usual great classroom instruction.

A Saturday night banquet at the NJMP Officers Club is included (FREE) for every driver. Extra tickets are available for crew, friends and family.

The local Hunter rep will be on hand. Hunter makes the tire and alignment equipment used by high-end shops. He will be available to talk tires and alignments and bringing his equipment. And we are working to have him do more than talk - hint: possible free tire mounting and balancing for attendees. No promises but we're working on it.

We've negotiated a discount rate at one of the local hotels for you. Plus don't forget NJMP has suites and garages available at the track to rent, plus camping and electricity will also be available.

Porsche of Delaware is our sponsor and also picking up the tab for the banquet. They will have free refreshments and cars on display like the Panamerica all day long. They will be also be flogging them on the track so don't be surprised if you need to give a point by to a fast moving SUV (Cayenne).

We'll be doing Laps for Charity at lunchtimes, so your SO or family and friends can get a taste of the track.

And I'm sure there's stuff I'm forgetting, but the point is we only do 1 event a year, and we do it right.

What is the cost?

If you are an instructor, do we have a deal for you. $200 for all 3 days. That includes the 'run to you drop Friday', Sat & Sun plus the banquet. If you can't attend Friday, it's only $100 for both Sat & Sunday. Solo (White/Black/Red) is $450 for 3 days, $300 for 2. Instructed groups are $400 for the weekend.

Our green group is wait-listed, and our blue group is almost full, but there's still plenty of room in white and above.

We need instructors! We have had a perfect fall weekend every year at one of the best track in Northeast. Make this the event to close out your season.

Any questions, shoot me an email or just sign up. Thanks!

>>> Registration link <<<

Dave DE

I've attended this event the last few years and have always had a great time. It's very well run with lots of track time and a really nice banquet. Looking forward to it again this year!

VaSteve

This is a great event, i wish i could attend.

rhargy

I'm from a neighboring region and have done this event for the last couple of years and have to say Delaware does a really nice job with this event. Well run, good control without being nitpicky. I'll be there again this year.

dunlopnick

I'll be there .... different car should be fun again... signed up early to make sure I had a slot

Cris Brady

We just have been offered special rates on the Trackside VIP Suites by NJMP, but you would need to reserve them next week. Here's the scoop:

TRACKSIDE VIP SUITE SPECIAL!!!!

We are offering a Limited Time Special Offer to our Private Track Day Partners!!

For all future suites reserved between now and November 15, 2012 we are offering a special rate of:

$70 Sunday – Wednesday
$99 Thursday – Saturday

Reservations MUST be made between Monday, August 20, 2012 and Friday August 24, 2012 by calling (856) 327-7202. This Limited Offer will expire on August 24, 2012 at 4:00pm. This Limited Offer is not available for on-line reservations.

Our standard cancellation and check-in policies apply. This offer is for new reservations only, excluding September 7 – 9, 2012 and September 21 – 23, 2012 dates.

Please call Guest Services, 1-856-327-7202 to stay trackside during your visit!

mhm993

Does this mean that there are no instructor run groups on Sat/Sun?
-- Mindy

Phokaioglaukos

Mindy!

From the OP: "While we know you love the all-u-can-drive format, we have an ulterior motive for this. Friday is a treat for our instructor corps so they can get their track addiction satisfied, so when Sat & Sun rolls in they can devote their full attention to their students without worrying about their own track time. Of course instructors get their own track sessions as normal on those days too."

This has got to be one of the very best announcements of a DE and a great structure of the event. I've never driven with this group, but I like the track and the format of this event and the care with which this announcement has been prepared makes it very tempting.

Well done!

Cris Brady

Of course there are run groups for instructors on the weekend.

We have a typical DE schedule with all run groups on Sat/Sun. We just figure if you ran 4 hours on Friday, you wont be such a hurry with your student, so if you lose 5 minutes of a Sat session because you're doing an extended session analysis with your student, it's no big deal.

As an instructor myself, I know that we have to juggle our weekends. We want to spend time with our students but we also want to drive ourselves. We hope by providing lots of track time on Friday, it lowers the stress on the instructor by removing that need to have to make the choice between their student's instruction and their own track time. And by removing that stress, we hope it promotes a better experience for both instructors and students.

And if you do every session available to you and make your student happy (and smarter), excellent! win, win for everybody.

Cris Brady

Please sign up, we need instructors.

As a small region (around 200) we depend on outside region instructors to help us out. We have a good core of instructors and racers who will all be participating, but that still leaves us short. The number of instructors we have limits the number of students we can have. Right now we are waitlisting Green and Blue drivers due to lack of instructors. I'm a huge fan of 1 student per instructor and we have always run our DE's like that.

Getting enough instructors is like herding cats. Its a chore every year, because a lot of them wait until the last moment to sign up which causes us to scramble to work out the logistics. Don't get me wrong, I understand the reasons they do. All we can do is ask instructors to sign up early and don't delay.

I'd rather have too many instructors (at the discounted rate) than not enough. If I have more instructors than students we can put them out among the white solo drivers

mhm993

OK, Chris, Cris...
I'm an idiot but you know that! Unfortunately my car will be upstate at that time, in-between NASA and the Last Chance. Don't love the 2 student format as there is never enough time for both, but otherwise the event sounds great. Fab folks in the Delaware Region.
-- Mindy

Cris Brady

Hey Mindy, never said 2 student format, in fact I said quite the opposite:

We have never put 2 students with an out of region instructor unless it was by special request of the students and the instructor.

mhm993

Sorry can't make it this year. Every time I write incorrect stuff the event gets better. I hope that you have a great time. Ever think of posting this on HPDE Junkies re:Facebook? Just started that nonsense but seems to have at least a few good instructors on it. As the event gets closer, and if you still need instructors, let me know. I may have some people you can reach out too that helped me w/the FCA event that were just fantastic.
-- Mindy

Cris Brady

Here's an update on our Lodging specials for our event. We have booked a suite of rooms at the Country Inn & Suite in Millville. Rate is $63/night plus tax.
1-800-830-5222 Register using Delaware Porsche Club

* * * * *

and we also have an updated special from the track for the VIP Suites:

TRACKSIDE VIP SUITE SPECIAL!!!!

We are offering a Limited Time Special Offer to our Private Track Day Partners!!

For all future suites reserved between now and November 15, 2012 we are offering a special rate of:

$70 Sunday – Wednesday
$99 Thursday – Saturday
(plus applicable taxes)

Reservations MUST be made between Monday, August 27, 2012 and Friday August 31, 2012 by calling (856) 327-7202. This Limited Offer will expire on August 31, 2012 at 4:00pm. This Limited Offer is not available for on-line reservations.

Our standard cancellation and check-in policies apply. This offer is for new reservations only, excluding September 7 – 9, 2012 and September 21 – 23, 2012 dates.

Please call Guest Services, 1-856-327-7202 to stay trackside during your visit!

TAI2

Just signed up. Thanks.