Drivers' Education 2010 Season 2009 - 2010 DRIVER'S EDUCATION SUMMARY The PCA Potomac 2009 Driver's Education season is now complete. The final event of the season was our second late season three day DE at Summit Point. The event consisted of an Instructor Day on Friday and a two-day DE on Saturday and Sunday. Despite the late date, over 140 cars participated in this event. The 2009 DE season was very successful with outstanding participation at all our events. During 2009, Potomac continued our commitment to provide the highest quality DE experience possible. At the start of the 2009 season, Potomac committed to stressing safety throughout the year. In coordination with our Safety Committee, we continued mandatory safety briefings at all our DE's. At our Instructor Day during our last event, we held mandatory safety briefings for all White, Black and Red Run Group drivers who attended. Our Chief Instructors and Chief Steward stressed safety at our Instructor and Driver's meetings. The DE Committee believes our emphasis on safety was a major factor in our successful DE season and we will continue our emphasis on safety in 2010. We do some things differently then other regions. Two examples are to commit to one student per instructor and use volunteers to work at all events. DE Committee members canvassed drivers and instructors throughout the year to solicit their input on how to improve our events. We implemented many changes based on this input taking into consideration efficient management of Potomac events. The DE Committee wants to thank all the drivers and instructors who came to our events this year. We realize that without you, there would be no program. We know you have a choice of driving venues and we appreciate that you chose Potomac. Our commitment to you is to work to make the 2010 season better than 2009. The DE Committee also wants to thank our volunteers. We know volunteering requires a personal commitment to the club. Our program would not function as well as it does without you. These volunteers include those who support Track Registration, Tech and Pit Out. Speaking of 2010, the DE Committee will consist of familiar faces. Alan Herod will continue as the DE Chair. Alan has more than 20 years experience as a driver and instructor for Potomac and other clubs in the area. Charlie Clark will continue as Registrar and Skip Close will continue as Cashier. Co Chief Instructors Dirk Dekker and Bob Mulligan have done an outstanding job and will continue. Doug Nickel wil continue as Track Coordinator. Steve Timmons and Ellen Beck will again assist with classroom instruction and provide primary instruction for our Instructor Candidate training. Don Ruschman and John Brown provide instruction for our High Performance Driving Clinics. Fred Phelps, who was one of our Stewards for several years will step down. Fred says he wants to drive more. Tim Kearns and Bruce Dobbs will step in. Both have served as stewards in the past. New for 2010 will be a "Steward in Training". Toby Shum has offered to volunteer for some time and Toby will step into this new position. Toby brings a lot of good track experience to this position. Marvin Jennings stays on as Tech Chair and will continue to be ably assisted by Dave squared. That means Dave Riley and Dave DiQuollo will provide great support. Sally Nork will again keep everything well organized for Track Registrar. One of the most important positions we have is that of Potomac Safety Chair. Pete Kauffman will continue as our Safety Chair. Pete played a significant role in our efforts to make sure that DE is safe and fun for all participants. The 2010 season is shaping up to be one of the best ever. Our 2010 events are posted on the Potomac website and on the DE website. All events are open to instructors for registration and most of our are now open to everyone for registration. Our season started with our first High Performance Driving Clinic on Saturday April 3, 2010. Thirty five novice drivers attended and had a great time. One new aspect to HPDC is great assistance from Bob Hopkins and Gordon Williams on the skid pad. Those BMW guys really know their stuff. Usually our first DE is in April and starts with our Instructor Day/DE at Summit Point. However because of the repaving operation at Summit Point Main, this event won't occur until July. Therefore our first DE is at Mid Ohio Sports Car Course May 7 -9, 2010. The schedule then moves to Shenandoah, Watkins Glen, Summit Point, PorscheFest at Summit Point, VIR, September HPDC and our final DE at Summit Point. We are also exploring co hosting DE events with our PCA Regions and other Car Clubs. Doug is exploring other track options in Pennsylvania, New York and North Carolina. We will again hold another Instructor Day during our last DE of the season. Our 2010 program will again focus on providing the best quality driving experience possible. Our DE Committee will continue mandatory safety briefings as part of our DE track education program. We held an Instructor Safety Seminar in March that was attended by over 80 instructors. Our Stewards will continue to review driver performance. Our goal is to for all drivers to have the safest and most enjoyable driving experience possible. As we said above, Potomac realizes both drivers and instructors have choices for their driving venues. We appreciate that you choose Potomac and commit to working with you to make 2010 a great season. Tuffy von Briesen
President, Potomac, The Founder's Region
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