Assessment of Porsche Monitor Experiences 2 Day Grasp Racecar Course Held at Spa Francorchamps on September 4-5, 2024
Final week, on September 4 and 5 at Spa Francorchamps in Belgium, I attended the Porsche Monitor Experiences Grasp Racecar 2 Day Course, which is run by Manthey Racing.
SUMMARY: Merely put, it was an impressive program, offering extraordinarily prime quality one-on-one instruction as to the way to drive or enhance your driving of a race automobile on an F1 observe, tons of observe time in a Porsche racecar that’s your individual for your entire course (I drove over 700 kilometers at Spa) and nice worth for the enrollment value, which is about $25,000. If you wish to learn to drive a Porsche racecar on an F1 observe, that is the course for you. Footage from the course are beneath. The automobile that I used was the quantity 12 718 GT4RS Membership Sport. All different pictured automobiles had been utilized by others.
When you have by no means pushed a race automobile on observe earlier than, it’s an unimaginable expertise. The G forces and speeds of a race automobile on slicks are a lot higher than a avenue automobile. With these sorts of capabilities on a curler coaster of a observe like Spa Francorchamps you actually need to kick your sense of concern to the curb and persuade your self that the automobile can, actually, nook and brake THAT FAST. When you have by no means skilled going 150-160 miles per hour on a straight after which standing on the brakes with 200 plus kilos of drive and braking all the way down to 40 miles per hour in 150 meters whereas getting thrown into your harness, downshifting and cornering, or going round corners at speeds you by no means thought attainable, prepare. Additionally, carrying nomex fire-resistant tops and bottoms, a balaclava, gloves, racing boots, a firesuit and a helmet in a automobile that has no air-con and no actual air flow you’ll sweat greater than you ever thought attainable. That’s all what you’ll expertise on the Grasp Racecar course.
COURSE SUMMARY: The Grasp Racecar course is an intensive, two day course whose sole focus is instructing its individuals the way to drive or bettering its individuals' abilities in driving a racecar. There are solely 5 individuals within the course.
DEDICATED RACECAR, INSTRUCTOR AND MECHANIC FOR EACH PARTICIPANT: Every participant will get their very own racecar, driving instructors (all of whom have vital racing expertise) and mechanic. Accordingly, there isn’t a sharing of your racecar. My teacher, Stefan Schmucker, was excellent. He had vital prior Porsche racing expertise and knew his stuff. His steerage was invaluable and he’s an actual skilled and an important particular person besides. Extremely beneficial.
MASSIVE TIME ON TRACK – OVER 700 KILOMETERS DRIVING – AND LOTS OF SETS OF TIRES: On account of the undivided time in my racecar, I drove ten 45 minute stints within the automobile, driving over 110 laps at Spa or over 700 kilometers — virtually three lengths of the Belgian Grand Prix — on the observe. Three stints had been within the rain on rain tires, one was in combined circumstances on rain tires and 6 had been on a dry observe with slicks. They usually gave me not less than three new units of slicks throughout the 3 days in addition to a set of rain tires at no further value. There are SO many periods that an teacher instructed me that some individuals decide out of driving the final stint of the day. After all, after flying 8 hours from New York after which driving to Spa, I soaked in each minute of the expertise and drove each out there minute.
SMALL CLASS SIZE: The course solely consists of 5 individuals. That is so that every participant will get the help of a full mini-race workforce. The course was solely held three different occasions this 12 months at different tracks.
THE PORSCHE RACECARS: The course got here commonplace with a 718 GT4RS Membership Sport. As a result of it was my first time with Manthey Racing, they required me to make use of this automobile. The reason being though it’s nearly as highly effective because the 992 GT3 Cup Automobile, it’s mid engine versus rear engine and isn’t practically as liable to snap oversteer because the Cup automobile. It additionally has much less downforce than the Cup automobile so its cornering speeds are decrease. For 3,000 Euros extra, individuals may use a 992 GT3 Cup automobile as an alternative. Most individuals opted for that. As anticipated, the automobiles had been glowing clear after they arrived, this 12 months's automobiles and meticulously maintained by Manthey Racing. Manthey Racing is. for individuals who don't know, one of many high GT racing groups in Europe in addition to the main efficiency/racing package deal provider for Porsche, which is almost all proprietor of the corporate.
VIRTUALLY ALL OF THE RISK OF LOSS OF THE CAR REMAINS ON MANTHEY RACING/PORSCHE AND NOT ON THE PARTICIPANT: In contrast to personal racecar leases, the chance of lack of these automobiles for collision harm (though not for legal responsibility for harming others) is NOT on the individuals however stays with Porsche/Manthey Racing apart from a modest deductible in relation to the worth of the automobile – 10,000 Euros for the GT4RS and 25,000 Euros for the GT3 Cup Automobile. Because of this, not like personal racecar leases, you don’t want to purchase observe insurance coverage, which may be very costly.
THE INSTRUCTION METHOD – HOW THEY TEACH YOU: After an preliminary security briefing, this 2 day course consisted of ten 45 minute driving stints on observe, separated by 45 minute intervals the place every individuals reviewed the info and video from their automobile and the teacher's automobile with their teacher (the road/highway automobile observe periods had been held throughout these intervals). Throughout these periods, my teacher gave me pointers as to what I used to be doing unsuitable and the way I may enhance in addition to what our improvement objectives had been for the following stint.
Throughout the first day, the participant follows the teacher across the observe. You be taught the racing line, braking factors, braking strategies, flip in factors, correct nook exists and also you progressively get quicker. The second day is a mix of the participant main the teacher and the participant driving alone. Throughout the driving, your teacher is ceaselessly in communication with you, giving your driving suggestions in addition to holding you knowledgeable of security and observe points reminiscent of overtaking, yellow and purple flags.
THE RACING GEAR: Manthey Racing gives individuals with racing gear in the event that they want it together with the helmet, HANS machine, firesuit, gloves, boots, balaclava, in ear headphones, and so on. I introduced all of my very own gear as did many however not all the individuals.
SUPPORT FROM YOUR DEDICATED MECHANIC: My devoted mechanic, Patrick, was superior. Not solely did he guarantee my racecar was operating in tiptop form, however he helped me strap into the automobile in order that the harness was very tight and correctly positioned over the HANS machine (if the shoulder harness straps usually are not correctly positioned, the HANS is not going to work and shield you) in addition to helped to attach my helmet communication methods to the automobile's radio. He additionally assisted with entry and exit, eradicating the steering wheel and placing it again on.
THE RISK LEVEL: Driving race automobiles on observe isn’t with out threat. Particularly at one of many world's hardest tracks like Spa with its frequent rain, frequent crashes, its infamous and its thrilling Eau Rouge/Radillion nook advanced, the place a number of drivers within the junior method classes have perished within the final 5 years.
Throughout these two days, Spa lived as much as its thrilling however difficult popularity. Throughout our ten stints – the place we shared the observe with many different racecars not taking part in our Grasp Racecar course – there have been eight offs/crashes, resulting in eight purple flags. Not all had been Manthey Racing automobiles. To my information, not less than two of the numerous Manthey Racing Porsche GT3 Cup automobiles had been broken too extensively to place again on observe (by the identical participant). One other participant had a minor off and acquired caught within the gravel. One other teacher's automobile went into the wall (not at excessive pace on the Brussels nook) as a result of obvious failure of an ABS sensor or pc, the place the pc controlling the ABS system thought the rear ABS was turned off when it truth it was set to setting ABS 7 (about 70 p.c on) so when the teacher hit the brakes arduous as you do approaching Brussels, the rear brakes locked, spinning the automobile round. Outdoors our group, one of many racers not driving a Manthey racecar crashed a 991 GT3 Cup automobile at excessive pace into the wall at Eau Rouge and flipped over a number of occasions, ensuing within the ambulance being known as.
As for me, I had no offs, spins or crashes. I had a number of moments the place my rear finish began to oversteer (probably the most critical one at Eau Rouge at very excessive pace the place I entered the nook advanced a bit too late) however I used to be all the time in a position to right it by coming off the fuel, steering in the identical path because the rear finish was going after which getting again on the fuel when the rear finish had regained traction.
GROUP MEALS AND GIFTING: Porsche provided very nice hospitality and catering for the occasion in a devoted very massive tent, supplying a really high-end, breakfast, lunch and dinner the place individuals of this program and the numerous different Manthey applications in addition to instructors, may eat, discuss and mingle. On the finish of this program, every participant within the Grasp Racecar course obtained a model new set of Puma nomex hearth resistant tops and bottoms, a balaclava and gloves in addition to a mannequin of the primary 930 Turbo. A pleasant contact.
ONE NEGATIVE ABOUT THE PROGRAM: There was just one factor I didn’t like about this system – which was shared by different program individuals. Porsche Monitor Experiences/Manthey Racing did NOT lease out the observe completely, which was not disclosed to us previous to coming. Certainly, to my shock, on the finish of the primary day of the course, dozens of race trailers laden with 992 GT3 Cup race automobiles from race groups throughout Europe confirmed up within the paddock. They had been there for the primary ever 12 hour 992 GT3 Cup Automobile endurance race, which is being held as I write this on Saturday, September 7. And naturally, this meant that over TWENTY FIVE GT3 Cup racecars pushed by professional and am drivers had been out in drive on the second day of our course testing on the observe throughout our periods. This meant that they had been continuously overtaking us. Consequently, not one of many course individuals I spoke to (together with me) was in a position to get in a single clear lap on the second lap with out getting blue flagged or instructed by our instructors to decelerate and transfer over to let the racers cross. Furthermore, even after we indicated with the flip sign that we had been transferring to at least one facet of the observe, the racers would generally overtake us on that facet anyway.
I don't blame the racers. They had been there to push their automobiles, get knowledge and prepare for at the moment's race. To me, this was Manthey's/Porsche Monitor Experiences' fault for not renting the observe on an unique foundation.
Sharing the observe with dozens of quicker race automobiles was not secure for both the race automobiles or us due to the large delta in expertise and pace between the racers and a number of the Manthey/Porsche Monitor Experiences individuals. And it considerably pissed off the aim of the course on the second day as I couldn’t get in a single clear lap (I used to be driving a slower automobile than the 992 GT3 Cup Automobile and I lack that stage of racing expertise) or focus on my method on the second day. As a substitute, a lot of my consideration on observe on the second day was devoted to site visitors administration and continuously pulling to the facet and slowing down. Completely unacceptable. A number of the different individuals additionally complained as did I and a few ceased their involvement and stopped driving on observe for both security or the truth that they may not get a clear lap and had been continuously pulling to the facet and slowing down as ordered to by their instructors.
After I complained to Manthey administration, they assured me that this may not be repeated once I return in a month to Pink Bull Ring for 4 extra days of instruction (totally different programs). Don't get me unsuitable – I nonetheless cherished the course however this actually diminished the standard of the expertise on the second day and was terribly disappointing. I’ve many observe days on the AMG Driving Academy at COTA and Lime Rock Park and so they all the time rented COTA and Lime Rock completely. However the AMG Driving Academy within the USA doesn’t provide any racecar driving/ instruction experiences to my information. Identical with Porsche within the US.
To me, there was no excuse for them not having completely rented the observe. They’d an enormous variety of individuals within the quite a few avenue automobile programs and applications occurring and being carried out on the identical time – like GT Trackday and Grasp GT3RS – far outnumbering the race automobile individuals. They drove the observe on the street automobile periods. And Manthey/Porsche had loads of race automobile individuals as they had been operating the GT Trackday Racecar program (the place you’ll be able to lease from them or drive your individual Porsche racecar on observe) along with the Grasp Racecar program.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED: Regardless of the one damaging above, this was a improbable program and I extremely advocate it. I stay up for rejoining Manthey Racing and Porsche Monitor Experiences and my GT Trackday Racecar and my Grasp GT3RS programs at Pink Bull Ring in October.
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