Ok. The attention grabbing title was just clickbait. The title for this blog should be, “How to Avoid Screwing Up at Your Next HPDE.” But I had to get your attention somehow. And now that you’re here, let’s get started.

First, a little background: Before the pandemic, I had attended only a handful of “high performance drivers education,” or HPDE, events over the span of 25 years. Most of them were so long ago, I don’t think anyone called them HPDEs. 

I started racing with SCCA in 1995. At that time, the ability to get on track with others without a racing license was pretty limited. I used the few open track days that I could find as practice days so I could sort out an issue with a racecar or stay sharp for the racing season. 

To be perfectly honest, I never thought much about how to approach an HPDE event as a non-racer until recently. But as I’ve learned after regularly attending HPDEs over the past 12 months, it takes a different mindset to avoid problems on track, preserve your equipment, and keep yourself in the game.

One of the most surprising things about the past 12 months of HPDE events was the number of cars that managed to find walls. And hitting a wall isn’t the only way to screw up your weekend. Spinning on track, or going off and shooting back across the track can be equally problematic if you contact another car. Breaking your car or wearing out consumables (brake pads, tires, etc.) can also ruin the experience. But all of these scenarios can be avoided by following a few simple rules.

Rule #1: Check your ego at the door. Ego is one of the main causes of overdriving and on track mistakes. Be humble. Focus on having fun, not showing up the other drivers. If you must compete, compete only with yourself. Focus on your lap times (and the consistency of your lap times), not the lap times of other drivers.

Rule #2: Start out slow and gradually work your way up to speed. Unlike in a wheel-to-wheel race, you don’t have to start out at full speed. Use that to your advantage. Start out at 7/10ths and work your way up. 

Rule #3: Don’t drive at 10/10ths. Keep it somewhere between 7/10ths and 9/10ths, depending on your experience level. Pushing the car harder increases the risk of ruining your weekend by on track mistakes or breaking the car/wearing out consumables. (If this sounds lame, go back to Rule #1.) 

Rule #4: Use instructors/coaches to refine your line. This has two benefits. First, it will make you a safer driver. Second, you should be able to see real improvement in your lap times without overdriving your car.

Rule #5: Give a point-by – as soon as safely possible – to anyone who catches you from behind. When you don’t give point-bys, one of two things has gone wrong. Either you weren’t paying attention or you were intentionally holding up the driver behind you. Neither is good. When you aren’t paying attention, you are more likely to make mistakes on track. If you are intentionally keeping a faster car/driver combo behind you, the distraction from a car filling your mirrors may cause you to overdrive the car and/or make mistakes. In addition, by keeping that driver behind you, you are missing a valuable opportunity to learn by following them through the next several corners. (If another driver won’t give you a point-by, just go into the hot pits briefly and then back on track.)

Rule #6: If you feel the red mist coming on, come back into the pits. Red mist results in overdriving the car, which can lead to mistakes and often produces lower lap times.

For the record, I broke rules 1 and 3 at one event this past year when I was having trouble getting the car balanced after installing a new suspension. That combination led to some frustration (i.e., it wasn’t fun), exhaustion (i.e., worked harder than I needed), and premature tire wear.

I’ve also found that my “six rules for not screwing up your next HPDE” help keep me in the game for longer. If I’ve checked my ego at the door, I’m more likely to have fun and actually enjoy the event. If I’m not overdriving the car, I feel better physically and I can put up more consistent lap times. I can also drive longer stints and more sessions, with less fatigue. 

One last idea for “not screwing up your next HPDE” is this. Be a student of the art of high performance driving. The work you do off track is just as valuable as your work on track. Being a true student of high performance driving will ensure that you are well prepared, more likely to have fun, and better able to make the most of the learning experience. Here are a few links to books that can help you master the art.

The Lost Art of High Performance Driving, by Ross Bentley

Bob Bondurant on High Performance Driving, by Bob Bondurant

Going Faster, by Skip Barber