Student Advancement in HPDE

I am helping mentor a new cadre of instructors from our little group, and after sharing some thoughts with one of them about student advancement, I want to flesh that out a bit more and share it with a wider audience.  This pretty much sums up my criteria for advancing students between run groups, and out of self preservation (eg - my own safety on track) I hope many other coaches feel the same way.

To advance a student between run groups I must feel they are:

• Safe
• Aware
• Consistent
• Smooth*

There is an * on smooth because as you advance from intermediate to advance there can be deliberate non-smoothness to get more performance out of the car, but beginner->instructed intermediate-> solo intermediate, smooth is a criteria.

Beginner -> Instructed Intermediate*

Note: This option does not exist with Hooked on Driving, so students must meet this criteria and the below criteria to advance.

• Awareness of all flag stations
• Ability to give point-bys without explicit instruction (however the occasional reminder is still ok, but if they consistently cause people to wait for point-bys that is a non-starter)
• Awareness to not put the car "where it doesn't belong" in terms of taking a point by, such as waiving off point-bys they are not comfortable with.  
• Starting to show awareness of their own mistakes.
• Proper inputs
• No sudden inputs mid-corner (Including throttle, braking, jerk of wheel)
• Smooth steering and pedal application
• Might not be perfect o the line, but knows it and is properly setting up on the correct side of the track for corners, etc..
• Not over driving (This will be repeated at every level)
• Not overly aggressive towards other drivers, best to get this out of them early before something goes wrong in a higher run group

Instructed Intermediate -> Solo Intermediate

All of the above plus:

• Starts to predict how other cars in front of them are going to behave
• Example: Backs off when they get an un-easy feeling about a car
• Sets them selves up for passing zones either to take or give a pass
• Provides self-correcting commentary on their own mistakes
• "Turned in to early"
• "Entered that a little hot"
• "Could have let one more car by there"
• Ability to turn consistent laps, and manage traffic without the instructor saying a single word (VERY important, you want them to get used to silence BEFORE they move up)
• Again, not over-driving
• Again, not overly aggressive (THIS IS NOT A RACE)

Solo Intermediate -> Advanced

This only comes into play for check rides, because they don't normally have an instructor in the car at this point.  You will have limited time to make these assessments.  They have already made it to solo, so now you are deciding if they can run "with the big boys"

• Can handle off-line corners (for example, from late point-bys)
• They are planning well in advance for when cars will catch them and when they will catch cars for best passing
• Some non-smoothness is allowed here on inputs if it is WITH PURPOSE. (Eg - To rotate the car coming out of a corner, you will especially see this with FWD cars and suddenly throttle lift oversteer to get the car to come around for the corner)
• Again, not over-driving
• Again, not overly aggressive (THIS IS NOT A RACE)

Now, you will notice I didn't really use the word "Safe" in there, but that is because all of those things add up to safety.   So, now that there is criteria, now comes the check-rides.

Check Rides

If permitted by the club, check-rides should always be done in the group that the student will be advancing to.  There is a level of information overload that can happen when advancing groups because they might have been the big fish in beginner and are now the slowest driver in intermediate.  Make sure they can handle the speed, possibly extra passing zones, and more experienced drivers catching them where no one caught them before.  But in order for their to be a check-ride, especially from an instructed group to a non-instructed group, there needs to be traffic.  One of our instructor candidates wanted to advance someone back at NJMP Thunderbolt to have a check-ride in the next run-group up, but in my opinion, there just wasn't enough traffic for a valid evaluation.  The reverse is also somewhat true.  A run group that is on the verge of capacity also isn't good for a first-time advancement either.  You need a run group of a moderate to ALMOST large size for a solid check-ride.  To far in either direction could actually be detrimental to the student's learning, comfort and enjoyment which will ultimately impact the safety as they get over-taxed. 

"The Line" & DE Instruction

First off, long-time, no-post.  I have been busy writing DIY articles for eEuroparts.com, fixing cars, breaking cars, fixing cars, breaking cars, etc...  I haven't been in the mood to write personal blog posts recently, but a conversation that happened today really struck a cord with me.

We ended up having an interesting debate about "The Line" in a discussion group.  First off, none of this is being attributed to specific people nor exactly quoted, I am going to speak in generalities.

I was trying to help a first-time instructor who was going to be on the specific track for the first time as well.  I also knew his student was going to be a "never-never" (No days on that track, and no experience at all).  With that in mind, I shared another instructors write-up of the track but pointed out two places where I disagreed with "The Line."  This started the very long debate.

A racer will tell you that the line is the path you took to get through that corner without crashing, hopefully faster than anyone else.  Well, that's all fine and dandy, because in DE not crashing is important as well, but for someone who is already overwhelmed by the track event, you need a repeatable, safe, consistent line so they can get use to all of the other inputs going on. This also gives you one other important tool as an instructor.  A target.  People like achieving targets, reaching goals and getting praise.  If you give them a line, a line that is safe where they won't kill you if they are 1-2 inches off, you are also giving yourself something to praise them on when they get it right, without as much fear of death or injury.

Sure, some drivers will want to know the "Race line" (or if it's raining, the "wet line" which is really where ever you have grip) and actually for a beginner, they won't know the difference anyway.  As the student progresses, "the line" will change.  It will change for how their car is set up.  It will change for how much speed they can carry now.  It will change for the weather, conditions of the car that day, and every other subtle nuance that comes in to play.

There is another disagreement that came up. That an instructor themselves that drives "slow" should not be an instructor.  What does "slow" mean?  It was kind of a "You know it when you see it" discussion.  That instructor might be slow because they don't want to take risks with their car.  They might be slow because they are knocking the rust off themselves.  They may be slow because their physical ability has deteriorated but not their mental acuity.  Or, they might be slow because they are just out there to tool around and have some fun, not go 11/10ths and be buying new tires each weekend.  That doesn't mean they aren't suited to be an instructor.  And just because a driver is fast doesn't mean they will be a good instructor.  Maybe they are "fast" but crash 10% of the time, or 5%.  Maybe they are fast, but can't explain it.  Maybe they are fast, but can't process thoughts fast enough to instruct.  Driving, you are thinking about your next turn or two, the traffic around you, and checking your guages.  Instructing you are thinking about all of that, plus what happened in the last turn to correct it next time, and praising your student appropriately, and possibly managing traffic for your student, and putting all of this into words that the student can understand and react to appropriately without killing you both.

Also, if you want someone to "coach" you and shave time off your lap times, then that is a different situation than a normal DE Instructor/Coach.  Instructors/coaches for low-level DE drivers (Beginner->Intermediate) aren't there to shave seconds off your lap.  They are there to give you the basic skills to be able to safely learn and fend for yourself.  They may be able to give you pointers here and there based on their experience, but that isn't their "job" at that point.  If you are an advanced student and want to improve your times, get ready to cough up money for more than just track time, or HOPE you can convince someone who is a good instructor/coach and is a friend of yours to hop in your right seat and give you pointers.  There are many instructors out there that can also coach you to faster lap times, but in the beginner to early intermediate ranks, that is not what they are there for.  If you believe otherwise, you are setting yourself up for disappointment.  Especially given the high-profile incidents in recent years that have resulted in the injury or death of fellow instructors.

Track History/Bucket List

So, I figured it was a good time to write a blog post with my current list of driven tracks, plus a bucket list of tracks I want to do.  Some of those I have driven stateside were only done in the Rabbit and I would like to go back and do them in the BMW.  I will put those in bold on the historic list.

Tracks I have driven

Nürburgring Nordchliefe 

Hockenheimring GP Track 

Summit Point Main

Extended Jefferson at Summit Point

Shenandoah at Summit Point

Thunderbolt at New Jersey Motorsports Park

Lightning at New Jersey Motorsports Park

Pocono "Triple infield"

Pocono North

Pocono Southeast

Pocono Full Trioval

Pitt Race North Course

Watkins Glen

VIR

VIR Grand

Roebling Road

Road Atlanta

Whiskey Hill Raceway at Palmer Motorsports Park

Bucket List

(Only listing US/Canda tracks because those are the only ones I have a decent chance of getting to)

Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca

Sonoma Raceway

Daytona 24 hour course (Had to cancel my trip there)

Autobahn Country Club

Mid Ohio

Montecellio (Just because I can't ;))

Barber Motorsports Park

Circuit of the Americas

Indianapolis Motor Speedway (Infield circuit and full track)

Road America

Gilles Villeneuve Circuit

Lime Rock

Sebring International Raceway

Some of My Rules for HPDE Instruction After My First Season

Each instructor develops their own opinions about how instruction should be done and their own personal rules for how they do it.  Many of them are derived from those they associate with and then they may tweak them to make them their own.  Here are some of mine.

I don't take my students for rides until the afternoon

Why not?  That usually means they have about half of their on-track sessions under the belt.  This has usually meant I have had 2 sessions to observe them and work with the, understand their ability, their car and their faults.  This allows me to tailor my demo ride to show them the specific things I want them to work on.  If possible, run them in a run group only slightly above their run group but if the schedule (or group) does not allow that, run with them in the instructor group.  For example, if they are Novice and Intermediate doesn't work out in the schedule, don't take them out in Advanced, take them out with Instructors.  I have my reasons for this rule but some organizations make this rule moot by mixing advanced and instructors. And sometimes even the other instructors are still the problem.  See the last rule in this post below for more.

Now, if they are an intermediate driver who just needs/wants an instructor because it is a new track, I will take them out in the morning after their first session, and then at least ride with them their next session after that.  But if I think the student will need me in the passenger seat at least 3/4 of the day, I wait till after lunch.

4 wheels off w/ a student in car is the cardinal sin*

I have ONE exception to this, see below.  This rule has been imparted on me by other instructors, but I have one personal exception to this rule.  Students need to see us as perfect when we take them out for a demo ride so they will listen to us.  The only person exception to this (That doesn't come into play for me yet) is if you are teaching a very advanced student and advanced technique that has a possibility for failure, 4 wheels off might happen.  But in those cases, a crash is the cardinal sin and the possibility for failure should be discussed before hand, not a surprise.  Equipment failures that weren't from your own stupidity are also acceptable, but if you lose a wheel from loose lug nuts...well...your credibility with that student just got shot to hell. 

I say this doesn't come into play for me yet because I don't feel comfortable trying to teach student things that advanced and then having to hop back in the car with them.  At least not yet.  I want more experience under my own belt first.

With your student in the car, drive how you want them to drive

They will mimic your actions...or at least try to.  So be sure not to do anything that if they attempt to mimic you and screw up will place you in a tire wall or worse. Depending on the student it may be possible to drive a bit harder (There are students out there that actually appreciate the difference in experience) but keep in mind the previous rule.  You still won't be driving flat-out.

Even if your student isn't in the car, they (or other students) may be watching

Keep this in mind when you make passes, when you interact with other drivers on track.  Even in an open-passing session, there might be other students on track with instructors, or students spectating.  Do you really want them to think dive bombing three cars into the bitch on VIR Grand is a good idea when you have to get back in the car with them?  DEs aren't race schools or test/tune sessions. Sure, advanced drivers and instructors can make use of the events for some practice, but don't be driving in full-out race mode especially in traffic.  There are street cars out there.  There are passengers in some cars.  Behave.

This is just a subset of my rules.  I will write up more in another post when I feel so motivated.  

Riding in Couches and Other On-Track Activities

First a brief step.further back. Last weekend I was with TrackDaze on Shenandoah at Summit Point Motorsports Park.  Since they know I have spent most of my tack time driving our Rabbit.they like to stick me in any Volkswagens. Thing is they didn't notice that one of the VWs they put me in was driven by my wife.   I had been previously told to never instruct my wife but her and I decided it would be a fun experience so we gave it a shot. It actually turned out really well and she got a check ride and sign off (by another instructor) to advance to the blue group with TrackDaze.

Following that I was at Watkins Glen Wednesday and Thursday. I had never driven The Glen and first thing I had to.do.was learn the line myself. Thanks to some resources another instructor had plus doing some lead follow during the first.instructor session I knew enough to get my student around track safely and on the line.

For those two days my student was driving a 2010 Jaguar XK Sedan. Per usual I drove his car for the first two laps. We aren't allowed to flog the students car.around the track so I was driving fairly conservatively causing a bit of tire squeal as I went around but pushing the car hard. Well turns out that my definition of taking it easy was different than my student's comfort level when he was driving. Because the tires hard made a noise going around the track.  It was nice though because it was a nice comfortable heated seat trip around the track on two moderately cold days. My student improved a lot across the two days and most importantly stayed safe and had fun. Through those two days I also picked up a lot of speed myself as I became better aclimated to the track.  The Glen is an incredible track and if you ever have the chance I highly recommend you go there.  Wednesday night we were even out f like grilling, and drinking beer, bourbon and scotch as we unwound from the day and were.celebrating the end of another good.season of driving with Hooked On Driving Northeast Region.

From The Glen I headed south,  but not to my house. Summit Point was in.need of more instructors for the Friday at the Track the following day. After arranging a place to stay Thursday night we headed down there, crashed for a few hours and we were back at the track.

A Mustang and Mercedes C series parked next to us in the paddock.  The husband I. The Mustang had been to multiple events but his wife.had never driven on track. I immediatly grabbed her as a student for the 1A run group.  Had I not grabbed her as a student I would have grabbed the MkVI VW GTI that was there.  I ended up without a 1B student but had a 2i student in a Mazda Speed 3. The event ended up being in the rain so I was happy I.had switched to the (crappy) street tires on my BMW. The day was largely a car control clinic on track with limited traction most of the day with my group 1 student learning a bit about how the car feels when it slides and my group 2 student working on throttle control to deal with the lack of traction.

When I took my group 1 student out (who had already done a session on the skid pad) the backend of the BMW kept trying to come around and one time I had to make a correction 2 hole doing about 50mph. This somewhat surprised my student because she didn't realize that the same car control techniques they teach on the skid pad at 30mph work at highway speeds. While it wasn't my intention to do a skid pad session on track it was good car control practice for.me and a good teaching moment for my student.

All said and done, in 7 days I spent 5 days on track on three different tracks across 3 FWD, 2 RWD and 1.AWD vehicle (including my RWD BMW track car). At least most of the students had a good.time and learned.some things about their car and its capailities.. With up.to 8 days left on track this year I hope to end the year on a high note. Maybe even dragging a few more people out to the track!

This Weekend Was a Mixed Bag

This weekend was a mixed bag.  There were good parts, and bad parts. The good included Chrissy doing another Friday at the Track (this time in the Rabbit) and doing really well.  The low included almost getting rear ended by another instructor (while I had a student in the car to show him part of the line), almost getting hit in the door by another instructor (because he thought it was open passing) and other activities by instructors that are unacceptable.

First, HPDE (Even in Advanced/Instructor run groups with pass anywhere with a point) is not a race.  You aren't winning trophies, almost pushing a car off the track in the braking zone while a debris flag is showing in that corner so you should be on the lookout for the debris is not acceptable.  In fact, I knew where the debris was (coming out of the turn) so I didn't give him the point there either but he jutted over to pass me and then had to swerve back behind me to avoid the debris. Another advanced students described that person as a maniac. There were repeated cases of advanced students AND instructors giving point-bys and not letting off the gas. I'm sorry, but I caught your M3 in the corners with my Rabbit, not the straight, but when you point me by in the straight you have to give me a little help and lift.  The instructor who almost rear-ended me never said a word to me, but did apologize when asked about it by the pit marshal.  The person who dive-bombed me and another car in 1 doing a double pass sans-point-by (because he thought it was open passing) apologized and said he realized as soon as he did it that those weren't the rules of that group. If the group had open passing, that would be ok....but still a dick move because he didn't get up next to me until my turn in point.  Again, not a race.  Lots of instructors take their students out during the instructor group so they can explain things.  We are supposed to set good examples of how to do things properly and safely.  Neither of these cases were either.

Second...Instructors who leave before their students.  Don't solo your student so you can leave.  If you do, you are an asshole who shouldn't be instructing.  If you absolutely have to leave, make sure another instructor is covering.  Even if the person is ready for solo, someone should always be on stand-by if the change their mind or have any concerns or problems.  Now, if you had let your student go solo at the end of day 1 and check rode with them at the start of day 2...missing the fourth run may be ok....but leaving after their third run and just soloing them right there (and not even getting them the sticker before you leave) that is a dick move. It is so prevalent that last weekend when I told a student I was soloing him for the last run of the day he said "yeah sure, I will let you pack up and leave."  My response was, "I'm not leaving, I really want you to run solo the last session.  I will be standing on pit road with my helmet in hand your entire session in case you decide we want me to come out with you or have some question."  The fact that the student assumed I was soloing him so I could leave shows there is a problem.

On the Brink? Not exactly.

This blog post is in response to "On the Brink: The unacceptable danger of modern track-day coaching"

Ken WAS a great instructor.  Ken HAD training. Ken had years of experience under his belt. The article implies that lack of instructor training and formal process is part of the problem.  I can assure you that was not the case in this event.  I knew Ken.  I was on track in another student's car at the time of the incident unaware of how serious the incident was. The student the was driving had apparently been a model student earlier in the day as well.  The greatest influence to that accident IMO was the environment around that event, but I won't touch on that here.

I went through instructor training with BSR.  I have been told they are one of the better programs to go through as they actually have you practice exercises such as steering the car from the passenger seat (for entire laps around all three tracks at summit point).  They have instructors mimic student behaviors so you can learn to expect them and counter them.  I have been told by other instructors who have been doing this much longer than I that the only two groups they hold at the same or higher level for instructor training are Audi Club and BMW Club.  That being said, there is no replacement for experience either and there will always be "wet behind the ears" instructors (myself included).  At events where I choose my students, I choose based on my comfort, knowledge and experience, not because "Oh man, it will be a  blast to ride in an R8!"  At events where the organizers pair me up, they all know me fairly well now, so pair me with appropriate cars/students. Sometimes I end up in high horsepower cars like the Supercharged 2014 Chevrolet SS at Pocono (600+hp), but the student an I had a long discussion about what can happen if they try flooring it in the middle of a turn, etc, and what would happen if they didn't follow my instruction (pack it up and go home)

Do I do it for the free/cheap track time?  Yes. But I also do it because I genuinely enjoy instructing and paying it forward.  There are few things as rewarding during an HPDE event as watching your student have that "Ah-ha!" moment where they finally understand something you have been explaining to them.  Also, what other instructor fatalities have their been?  I know of the maiming incident at Summit Point last year, but that is it.  I have never heard of an instructor fatality before and none of my peers could recall one either.  

Hooked on Driving, WDCR SCCA and Audi Club NA have the opportunity for students to see the track at a low-speed, low-risk environment with intro laps before the students ever go out on track at speed.  I think EVERY group should have this.  Every group I work with has classroom time that is actually pretty informative, but a good thing might be a quick one-lap video deconstructing the track in the morning for a second in addition to the "going over the rules".

I have watched an event organizer send someone home w/ refund before they even got on the track because they had a bad feeling about that student/car combination.  I have seen instructors not make "the cut" and not be invited to instruct at all or back to instruct later.  There needs to be more of this, not less.  And we need to instill in our students that yes, this is dangerous.  We make it as safe as we can, but it is dangerous. And if you can't deal with that, other sports beckon.  In fact, there should be a place for different schools to know what students have been expelled from different groups, and why.

One other note - Competitive driving does not automatically an instructor make.  In fact, they can be the worst instructors, encouraging students to make racing-like moves while on the track during HPDE events, and put too much pressure on the car in front of them.  They also might push the student way beyond their comfort level or be too intense for the student.  Lastly, just because they can "do" doesn't mean they can "teach."  

Just a little side note - The instructor and student in the illustration would never even be allowed on track in any group I have run in as they are in that drawing.  The rules start with long pants and long sleeve shirts (the latter is sometimes waved, but I have never seen the pants requirement waived).  That would be the first sign of a problem to me.