DelVal & Boston BMW CCA Palmer Motorsports Park

 

The Delaware Valley  and Boston Chapter are joining together for a visit to Palmer Motorsports Park's Whiskey Hill Raceway for another exciting High Performance Driving School. This weekend event is open to students of all levels. This event format will be familiar to the Boston chapter folks and in some cases a new experience for the folks coming up from the Delaware Valley.

What is a Driving School?

The purpose of a driving school is quite simple: to improve your driving skills. We will emphasize the relationship of driver and machine, making them function in unison and giving you, as a student, the opportunity to learn your limitations and expand your capabilities, thus creating safe driving skills and habits in a controlled situation.

We conduct the school on a racetrack under the close supervision of experienced and trained instructors. You will learn how to handle and control your vehicle at speeds not normally attained on public roads. This will help to prepare you for emergencies in normal driving. It will also allow you to explore your capabilities as a driver and those of your vehicle.

At no time will you be pushed or encouraged to go any faster than is comfortable for you. All participants will be organized into run groups in accordance with experience, skill, and type of vehicle.

What you learn on the track depends on your driving skill. Beginners are taught driving style (smoothness, consistency, the ability to read the track), more experienced participants continue to work on consistency, while developing new skills such as trail braking, and threshold braking. Every time you are on the track, you will have an experienced instructor in the passenger seat.

 

For the most experienced drivers, you can be “signed off” and drive solo when you have proven to your instructor and the Chief Instructor that you understand the basics of high speed driving, you can consistently drive the correct line, and you show proper etiquette on track. Maturity, good judgment, skill and significant experience will lead to being signed off for solo driving. Even if you are a solo student, you are still highly encouraged to learn new skills from your instructor. In fact, National BMW Club rules require an instructor be in-car for at least part of the event for all students.

Classroom

Your day is divided between driving on the track, classroom sessions, or free time. Yes, this is a school, and there is mandatory classroom time. All participants are required to attend classroom sessions to learn vehicle dynamics and driving techniques. Failure to attend will result in loss of driving privileges.

These sessions will continue throughout the day to help you understand the fine art of high speed driving. In the classroom, you learn high speed driving theory. You learn everything from 'why low-profile tires are better', to what is the difference between an early and late apex. Car physics, such as what is really happening when I brake or why my car understeers or oversteers is also discussed. Each classroom normally has a question and answer session.

What is a Driving School NOT?

Though you are on a racetrack, with 20-30 other drivers of similar driving skills, it is not a race. Passing in corners is not allowed, and you are not expected to shift at redline, or go screaming through each corner with the tires squealing.

Safety of the event is of the utmost importance. Driver conduct will be diligently monitored throughout the day by the staff, instructors, and corner workers. Infractions of the rules will not be tolerated, and will likely result in dismissal from the school.

Registration Fees

This is a two day event. You will register for both Saturday and Sunday. Saturday and Sunday are not available as standalone days. You must provide information on your experience at the time of registration.

The student registration fees for this event are as follows:

Signup before 4/4/16 for the early bird price of $449

Signup between 4/4/16 and 5/6/16 for the regular price of $485

ISG Drivers:

Signup before 4/4/16 for the early bird price of $495

Signup between 4/4/16 and 5/6/16 for the regular price of $531

First-timers and Young drivers (25 and under):

Signup before 4/4/16 for the early bird price of $399

Signup between 4/4/16 and 5/6/16 for the regular price of $435

(Young drivers must be able to prove their age to qualify for this price)

Wait-List Rules

Due to the limited number of student slots available for Boston and Delaware Valley Chapter driving events, it is common for us to receive more registrations than we can admit, hence a Wait-List will be created. Applications will be admitted from the Wait-List on a first come, first serve basis. 

Questions?

For questions regarding registration or Driving Schools in general, please email the registrar using the "Contact Host" button on the right side of this page.

NOTE: Single event insurance is not available for Palmer Motorsports Park from Lockton. If you're interested in purchasing HPDE insurance for this event, please contact Lockton about bundling this event with other events you may be attending this year, or contact one of the other HPDE insurance providers, such as OnTrack Insurance