√Porsche Experience: One of the greatest days out

Exotic race cars, a group of incredible women, professional instructors and a racetrack – count me in. I got the opportunity to pilot an extraordinary line-up of Porsches, and it’s something you can book for yourself.

Last week I got the treat of a lifetime. As a motoring journalist, I have the luxury of jumping from car to car rather frequently, but this was a completely different kind of experience – one that makes you warm and fuzzy inside.

I got the call-up for a Porsche Track Experience hosted by Porsche and Michelin to thank the women involved in the FIA Girls on Track program.

FIA Girls on Track is a global, not-for-profit initiative – initially launched by former Formula One development driver, Susie Wolff, as ‘Dare To Be Different’.

The program is supported locally by Motorsport Australia, and with the help of its ambassadors and champions, workshops and mentoring sessions are run around the nation.

The workshops aim to encourage young women to get involved in the industry – both automotive and motorsport – and I’ve been a proud ambassador since 2018.

This drive day is, without a doubt, the ultimate girls’ day out – well, it was for me anyway. Instead of cocktails, there’s a bunch of iconic sports cars, and instead of an eatery, the gathering takes place at a racetrack.

We participated in Precision Training at the RACQ Mobility Centre of Excellence in Mt Cotton, Queensland. Precision is essentially considered the ‘entry-level’ training, with three others to choose from – Precision Plus, Performance and Master.

Precision entails a bunch of exercises that teach you the fundamentals of vehicle control, and prepare you for everyday occurrences, some of which you may need to put into practice on the road.

These include high-speed ABS emergency braking and accident avoidance, understeer and oversteer, plus steering and vision control, to name a few.

Before you book one for yourself, or something similar, just know that this isn’t an excuse to fang a car around a racetrack like a hoon. Yes, it’s fun and you get to pilot the vehicles at higher speeds, but this is essentially a training experience.

The cars you get a chance to drive over the course of the day include a 718 Boxster, 718 Cayman, 718 Cayman GTS, 911 Carrera, 911 Carrera GTS, Macan GTS and Taycan 4S.

I’ve done a few track days in my time, and have never been treated to such a broad range of vehicles. The best part – you get ample time in each.

Another treat – we got to tackle the course with some of the best in the business. Porsche provides instructors who have been in the racing game for years and know a thing or two about cruising laps around a racetrack.

So, when you’re cruising around a closed road circuit clocking 200km/h down the straights, you know you’re in safe hands with someone like the Porsche Carrera Cup king, Craig Baird, alongside you.

Having said that, I still get butterflies driving exotic cars like these, and it’s not until you jump in and tick that first task off the list that you begin to feel comfortable. These are high performance, expensive sports cars, and you are acutely aware that they are indeed not yours. So, proceed with caution.

Following our technical briefing, the first item on the agenda was driving on the skidpan. As the surface is engulfed in water and diesel, it’s the prime opportunity to practise and learn more about understeering and oversteering.

The slippery track means that you should only be travelling at 20km/h before engaging the throttle at the correct points of the corner so that the car slides without losing control. I couldn’t quite grasp this concept.

Emergency braking and swerving was my favourite activity on the timetable (because I was good at it)! Gearing up at the start line, you need to put your foot flat to the floor, and then brake as hard as you can once you reach the braking cones.

The one thing you need to remember is to trust in the car’s dynamic capabilities. These vehicles are equipped with all of the safety and technology you need, and then some, like PSCB – Porsche surface coated brakes. Something like this means formidable braking power, giving you confidence and control behind the wheel.

During this task, the straight line then becomes a swerving exercise, which in the real world could mean avoiding a car or object by having to manoeuvre quickly into the lane beside you.

The way that the day unfolded meant that our group scored the perfect order of assessments. The concepts of steering and braking were more than beneficial to utilise in the next exercise, which involved us tackling a slalom.

You sometimes forget just how much power is underneath you in these incredible pieces of machinery. The Macan GTS was a little trickier to pilot around the motorkhana being a heavier car. And then you switch to something like the Boxster, which is light and pleasantly slick.

The 911 possesses this effortless and energetic power delivery, which startles you from the outset, but more so when revving around corners in the wet. I got so confident that at one stage I did a full circle around one of the cones, which wasn’t intended, but nevertheless sent shivers down my spine.

I didn’t collect the cone, but I did receive a loud cheer from those watching on. Oops.

From an afternoon of challenging ourselves to beat our times, which I successfully managed, we then got to watch the professionals tackle the road circuit in the 911 GT3.

You think you’ve nailed it until you sit alongside someone like Dave Russell and watch him execute each and every corner with the utmost precision. What’s more, you’re going so fast that you can feel it in your neck and your stomach. Their level of skill is extraordinary, and I have the utmost respect for what they do.

I think the best part about this experience is the expertise and skill level of the instructors. The group on the day was so broad and they were able to cater to everyone – from a youngster that just got her licence to a race car driver who was already well versed with the activities.

No matter what level, everyone was challenged, learnt plenty, and had a day to remember.

Good news – you can book one of these for yourself. Pricing for this particular Porsche Experience will set you back $1672, and for those wondering, my birthday is in May. Worth every penny.

The verdict? I am far from a pro, and while I drive a lot of cars in various conditions, I mastered a lot and surprised myself. More importantly, I had one of the greatest days with a fantastic bunch of people, so thank you to everyone involved.