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High Performance Driver Education (HPDE) refers to driving schools held on dedicated race tracks designed to teach drivers proper high-speed driving techniques. HPDE events are held by various automobile enthusiasts' clubs at some of the most renowned road-course tracks around the world. Participants include both students and instructors. Students are grouped according to their ability and experience, with "Novice Group" students being the least experienced, "Intermediate Group" being more experienced and "Advanced Group" drivers being the most experienced. Some organizations permit advanced students to drive the racetrack without a ride-along instructor. Mandatory classroom instruction contributes to the overall learning experience and allows peer-group discussions of event logistics, on-track performance and track characteristics.
HPDE events are not racing. Cars on-track operate under strict "rules of engagement" which minimize the likelihood of dangerous encounters with other cars. Occasional off-track excursions into the grass are normally controlled stops, with track personnel and on-board instructors supervising a safe re-entry onto the track. Passing [1] among participants is facilitated only within defined "passing zones", and then only with clear hand signals and instructor confirmation. Many organizations increase the number of passing zones or eliminate the requirement for signals in groups with more experienced students to reduce traffic on track.
HPDEs encourage participants to drive within their ability [2] and improve their car-control skills with each event. Instructors and staff evaluate each student's progress throughout the weekend, and make recommendations on the student's advancement through successively higher skilled driver groups. It is extremely important for Novice drivers to learn the basic safety measures of the sport first such as entering the track, flags, corner worker functions and emergency procedures. It is also important to master basic car control skills and the racing line before worrying about how fast you are going.
Some basic things for all novice drivers to learn include:
Although the majority of participants utilize a performance vehicle, students are allowed to drive virtually any vehicle that has been deemed safe by a qualified mechanic [3] and is known to have adequate handling characteristics for track use. Most schools require convertibles to have an approved rollbar. Some factory installed rollbars are not approved for track use. Factory-installed 3-point seatbelts and approved helmets are the minimum safety restraint system allowed. Safety Helmets with a Snell Memorial Foundation rating of "M" (motorcycle - not fire retardant) are required for some schools but most will require "SA" (speciality application - fire retardant) ratings, with the helmet specification being no older than 10 years (example: Rating SA-2000 helmets would normally be valid for HPDE events through the year 2010). The Snell Foundation normally releases upgraded helmet standards every five years.
Some HPDE events also include a "Time Trial" segment where experienced students who have been "signed off" to drive without an instructor compete for fastest lap times. Time Trials are also conducted under strict rules which maximize safety and in many cases require additional safety equipment such as roll bars or fire extinguishers.
Requirements for HPDE events vary greatly from organization to organization. Some being more strict than others regarding safety equipment, evaluation of driver skill and vehicles allowed to participate.
The Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) is a non-profit American automobile club and sanctioning body supporting road racing, rallying, and autocross in the United States. Formed in 1944, it runs many programs for both amateur and professional racers.
Kart racing or karting is a motorsport discipline using open-wheel, four-wheeled vehicles known as go-karts or shifter karts. They are usually raced on scaled-down circuits, although some professional kart races are also held on full-size motorsport circuits. Karting is commonly perceived as the stepping stone to the higher ranks of motorsports, with most drivers of the Formula One—including Sebastian Vettel, Nico Rosberg, Ayrton Senna, Max Verstappen, Lewis Hamilton, Michael Schumacher, Kimi Räikkönen, and Fernando Alonso—having begun their careers in karting.
Autocross is a timed competition in which drivers navigate one at a time through a defined course on either a sealed or an unsealed surface. It is a form of motorsports that emphasizes safe competition and active participation. Autocross differs from road racing and oval racing in that generally there is only one car on the track, driving against the clock rather than other cars. As an entry-level motorsport it provides a stepping stone for drivers looking to move into other more competitive and possibly expensive forms of racing.
In many racing sports, an athlete will compete in a time trial against the clock to secure the fastest time. The format of a time trial can vary, but usually follow a format where each athlete or team sets off at a predetermined interval to set the fastest time on a course.
Mercedes-Benz World is a facility open to the public at the historic Brooklands motor racing circuit in Weybridge, Surrey, UK. It is owned and operated by the Mercedes-Benz Group and opened in October 2006. Since then over 3 million people have visited.
Graduated driver licensing systems (GDLS) are designed to provide new drivers of motor vehicles with driving experience and skills gradually over time in low-risk environments. There are typically three steps or stages through which new drivers pass. They begin by acquiring a learner's permit, progress to a restricted, probationary or provisional license, followed by receipt of a full driver's license. Graduated drivers' licensing generally restricts nighttime, expressway, and unsupervised driving during initial stages, but lifts these restrictions with time and further testing of the individual, eventually concluding with the individual attaining a full driver's license.
Driver's education, driver education, driving education, driver's training, driver's ed, driving tuition or driving lessons is a formal class or program that prepares a new driver to obtain a learner's permit or driver's license. The formal class program may also prepare existing license holders for an overseas license conversion or medical assessment driving test or refresher course. It may take place in a classroom, in a vehicle, online, or a combination of the above. Topics of instruction include traffic code or laws and vehicle operation. Typically, instruction will warn of dangerous conditions in driving such as road conditions, driver impairments, and hazardous weather. Instructional videos may also be shown, demonstrating proper driving strategies and the consequences for not observing the rules.
The Nürburgring Endurance Series is an organisation of motorsport clubs of which each hosts one event of a nine-race series held on the Nürburgring Nordschleife.
The National Auto Sport Association (NASA) is an American motorsports organization promoting road racing and high-performance driver education.
Motorsport marshals are mainly volunteer workers responsible for the safety of motor racing competitors. They are stationed at various points of danger around race tracks to assist them in case of any collisions, accidents or track problems. Marshals are also known as course workers, corner workers, corner crews, turn marshals, corner marshals, track safety workers, or rally marshals.
Open-road racing is a form of regularity rally carried out at high speeds on closed public highways, most commonly in sparsely populated parts of the Southwestern United States. Competitors attempt to set specified average speeds which can range from 80 to 150 mph or higher along courses ranging between 50 and 110 miles in length. At the lower speeds, unmodified production cars can be used, while straightforward safety modifications can permit powerful sports cars to reach speeds of 165 mph (266 km/h).
A track day is an organised event in which non-members are allowed to drive or ride around established motor racing circuits, or alternatively on closed or disused airfields. Most race tracks around the world now provide this facility, where a road legal or track prepared car or motorcycle can be used without speed restriction by members of the public. Criteria for being eligible to participate is usually the holding of a driving licence for the vehicle in question or the appropriate racing license for the event can also be used and the payment of a fee.
Indian National Rally Championship (INRC) is a rallying series organised by the Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (FMSCI), which is the Governing Body or ASN of India recognised by FIA culminating with National Champion Driver and Co-Driver. The driver and co-drivers's championship are based on a point system. The championship first received its National Championship Title status in 1988. Karna Kadur is the reigning National champion. Supported by MRF Tyres, he drives for Arka Motorsports team in a Volkswagen Polo. The 2023 National Championship begins in Chennai from March 17 to 19 with the South India Rally (SIR) which also the first round of the APRC Asia Cup.
The 24 Hours of Lemons, sometimes styled as "24 Hours of LeMons", "24 Hours of LeMONS", or "24 Hours of LEMONS", is a series of endurance races held on paved road race courses across the United States. The series holds the Guinness World Record for the "Most participants in one race".
Simpson Performance Products is an American motorsports parts supplier that manufactures safety products such as gloves, helmets, harness systems, driver's suits, head restraints, and shoes. It is marketed to racers ranging from participants at local track days to international Formula One and NASCAR teams. It was started by Bill Simpson as Simpson Drag Chutes.
Palm Beach International Raceway was a motorsports facility located west of Jupiter, Florida. The facility had a quarter-mile drag strip, a 2.043 mi (3.288 km) road course, 7/10-mile kart track as well as mud racing tracks. The road course at Palm Beach International Raceway was a 2-mile, 10-turn circuit constructed of hot-mix asphalt and set on an aggregate base. It was 40 ft (12 m) wide with a 1/3-mile section measuring 80 ft (24 m).
Calabogie Motorsports Park is the longest road course in Canada at 5.050 km (3.138 mi) located 4-kilometre (2.5 mi) east of the community of Calabogie in the township of Greater Madawaska, Ontario, Canada. It hosts regional road racing and is the main circuit in the Ottawa metropolitan area.
American autocross is a form of autocross, an individual motorsport in which drivers compete to set the fastest time on a temporary course. Events are usually held on large paved areas, such as parking lots or airfields. Courses consist of turns, offsets, and slaloms marked by traffic cones; new courses are typically created for each event.
GRIDLIFE is a motorsports sanctioning body that hosts a series of music and motorsports festivals at racetracks across the United States. Racetrack venues that currently host Gridlife festivals include Carolina Motorsports Park, Watkins Glen International, GingerMan Raceway, Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Lime Rock Park, and WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. Non-festival events are held at Autobahn Country Club, Road America, Heartland Motorsports Park, New Jersey Motorsports Park & more. GRIDLIFE events feature daytime events such as road racing, time attack, drifting, car shows and concerts with contemporary EDM, Hip Hop and Alternative music in the evenings.
A racing suit or racing overalls, often referred to as a fire suit due to its fire retardant properties, is clothing such as overalls worn in various forms of auto racing by racing drivers, crew members who work on the vehicles during races, track safety workers or marshals, and in some series commentators at the event.
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