Drivers Education Event at Buttonwillow by Bob Bruington Finally on May 21, 2021, California Central Coast Region drivers were able to take their prized cars out on the track at Buttonwillow Raceway May 21st, for our first Drivers Education event since last year! It has been a struggle to plan and hold DEs during these trying times. Our club usually has three DEs and six autocross events every year, making our club one of Zone 8’s busiest Regions for driving events. Want to feel how special your Porsche is? California Central Coast Region gives you nine opportunities to take that coveted Porsche out on a track. We had 67 drivers sign up for Buttownwillow, the most we have had since Covid-19 reared its ugly head. This was a fantastic showing considering we had to cancel three other DEs in the last eighteen months. Part of the increase in attendance was due to the in car instruction we were able to take advantage of again for new drivers. We had eight student drivers eager to drive their cars on the track, six were first timers! I would say, after the great experience they had, all will be back for our next DE at Laguna Seca on Oct. 18th. We had fantastic support from our sister club to the north, Golden Gate Region in Zone 7. After ours, GGR ran a two day event after
Photos by Chuck Jennings and Alfred Abken
ours through the weekend. Many of their members made it a three day event by running in ours too. Several other clubs joined in the fun, including Santa Barbara, Sequoia, Los Angeles, Grand Prix, Diablo, Orange Coast, and San Diego regions. We greatly appreciate all the other clubs who support our events! I stayed to instruct for GGR on Saturday and to have a little more track time. My student brought an Audi Q3 to the track. A small SUV is not what you would call a track car by any means. We worked to get the car going but it was a struggle, so we just had fun learning the driving lines and feel of the track. I took
The CoastalBreeze June 2021
her out in my car to show her how it feels to be in a car that belongs on the racetrack. She laughed, hooped and hollered the whole way, just having a blast. By the time we parted, she was looking for a 2010 Cayman S with PDK. Another convert!!
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