Group One
Calling all virgin HPDE entrants. This is where you will end up at 7 a.m. on the first day of an event. The HPDE student will get one-on-one direction from an instructor (usually someone who has extensive HPDE experience or who is a full-blown amateur racer). In this group, car control and safety are the main teaching points, with emphasis on learning how to get the car turned into the corners properly and smoothly. Spatial awareness, or the ability to see everything that is going on in the periphery, is also an important subject Group One students learn. During on-track driving, the instructor will be present in the passenger seat at all times, shouting over the screams of the motor. In general, there is very limited passing here; however, it should be noted that in all cases, in just about every HPDE known to man, passing is done one way and one way only: with a "point-by." And it's exactly how it looks in those little seven letters-a slower car who is being approached by a much faster car, after seeing the car coming, points (usually out the window, over the roof) for the other car to pass to one definite side of the track.
Oh, and one other thing (and this deserves a line all to itself): HPDE driving is NOT A RACE. N-O-T A R-A-C-E. Pas une course. Nicht ein Rennen. No una raza. It's just not safe-for you, or for anyone involved. You're going to want to race, though. It's just a normal reaction when that little rat trap with the loud-ass exhaust is all over your bumper, trying to get by. The thing with HPDE driving is that you've got people with completely different cars and setups. That little piece from the land of the rising sun could have a set of $20,000 shocks-or some crazy 1,000hp dual-turbo swap. So, even if you're in a race-prep Z06 taking on a Yugo, there is no racing in HPDE driving. That's for later, when you actually go racing. Gracas!
Group Two
In Group Two, things are a little different. In the case of NASA, you have been deemed safe enough to drive on your own, without someone sitting in the passenger seat. Generally, the driving isn't that much faster, but you are given time to focus on what you've learned in previous HPDE events. Passing rules are the same as in Group One.
Group Three
In this group, another where students run without instructors, there are much more lenient rules on passing, and, in some cases, it is the top of the pile in terms of the fastest drivers (NASA has one more, Group Four). With increased speed comes, though, an absolute reliance on being completely aware of everything around you. And it's still not a race-even at this level.
Group Four
This is the real deal. High Performance Driving. Passing is allowed just about anywhere on the track, as long as there is a recognized point-by. This is as close to actual wheel-to-wheel racing as you can come without wearing a couple of layers of fire-retardant material.
Group Four (or Three, depending on the sanctioning body) is likely where you are going to find instructors wringing out their cars. In most cases, and especially with NASA, instructors are not paid, but teach in return for free track time. Also, and this again is NASA-specific information, you will probably see the TT-competing cars in Group Four. These are cars that are competing not wheel-to-wheel but against the clock, and against other similarly classed cars. This could be an arena where you might find yourself in the future; so giving those cars room to push the limit is highly advised.
So, now you've been given a sneak peek into what to expect from a track event, and more specifically, a NASA HPDE day. Let's look at what you need to possess to make it out on the track.
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