Learn Advanced Driving Techniques for Race Drivers and Recreational Sport Drivers on a wet race track.
Rain is inevitable, and wet track conditions pose challenges to track drivers in the form of decreased tire traction and less visibility. However, you can prepare for wet conditions and perform at a higher level if you know the right driving techniques.
IN 2002 ProFormance Racing School’s founder and Chief Instructor Don Kitch, Jr. wrote the essay The Art of Racing in the Rain, which inspired a best-selling novel and a movie. The essay was intended for racing, but Don has adapted the principles into a program, unique to ProFormance, which enables all proficient drivers to dig deeper into the mysteries of driving in the rain.
Advanced Training for Experienced Drivers
The ProFormance Rain Driving Clinic is open to drivers who are licensed for solo track driving at Pacific Raceways, i.e. who have completed the One-Day High Performance Driving Experience and the 45-minute coaching session to qualify for the ProFormance Sport Driving License.
Theory Plus Hands-On Rain Driving
The ProFormance Rain Driving Clinic starts with a thirty-minute classroom session to introduce the concepts you will be working on during the morning or afternoon (it is a half-day course). This is followed by two hands-on sessions in your car designed to promote advanced car control skills in wet conditions.
Skid Pad Exercises
Drivers take to the skid pad (a specially defined wide-open area designed to allow you to safely test the limits of your car control abilities) to experience the car as it changes balance during oversteer and understeer, all with the traction limitations that a wet surface imposes.
Track Exercises
After completing the skid pad session, drivers take their new skills and confidence to the full track, where they can test out and further develop their new proficiency in traction sensing and kinesthetic sensory input.
What If It Doesn’t Rain?
In the event of a rain-free day, we’ll have water trucks standing by to ensure that the road surface is wet and slippery to replicate true Northwest rainy driving conditions.
Price:
- $379.00 using your personal vehicle AM or PM Session
Rain Driving Clinic Requirements
Participants in the ProFormance Rain Driving Clinic must have completed the One-Day High Performance Driving Experience and the 45-minute coaching session which qualifies them for solo driving at Pacific Raceways. In addition, if you use your own car:
- Brakes should be in excellent condition with a minimum of 50% brake pad remaining.
- Tires should be in good condition, with adequate tread depth and no “plug repair” to punctures.
- Seat belts must be present and functional for both driver and passenger seats.
- Soft top cars must have roll-bar or pop-up roll-over hoop.
What to Wear
All participants must wear approved (Snell 2015 rated) helmets on any ProFormance road course. If you don’t have your own, we have helmets available free of charge.
Lightweight and close-fitting clothing are recommended, along with thin soft-soled shoes for maximum pedal “feel.” Some walking over loose terrain will be required.
Get out on a wet track every time you can. Push through the discomfort… it is when we are uncomfortable that we learn.
— ProFormance Chief Instructor Don Kitch, Jr.
Frequently Asked Questions
At ProFormance safety is our top priority. ProFormance instructors are committed to your fun, learning, and SAFE experience while with us. Failure is not an option. In our 25 year history conducting curriculum for thousands of drivers, we have never had two cars contact each other.