What is High Performance Driver Education (HPDE)??

Our goal is simple: Audi Club Glacier Lakes driving events are designed and offered to educate, build skills and promote the application of advanced driving techniques that translate to everyday street driving. We use the racetrack to provide a safe and structured education environment for our students. We stress this often – this is not a racing school.

HPDE Events provide you the opportunity to drive your own car in a fun, safe, controlled learning environment. And these events are held on some of the best race tracks in the country! It’s a chance to have learn about yourself, your driving skills, and your car, and to be part of a amazing community of people who really enjoy their cars and each other’s company.

For the Glacier Lakes chapter of ACNA, our signature HPDE event is quattroberfest. The event is held in the fall at our home our home track – Brained International Raceway (BIR).

Click here to check out a video of what our HPDE Events have to offer!

Who Should Attend an HPDE?

Any driver at least 18 years of age with a valid driver’s license is encourage to attend. You don’t need any prior experience driving on a race track. You do, however, need to be a member of Audi Club North America. (Not yet a member? Join here!)

You bring your own vehicle. You don’t need a fancy, high-horse powered or souped-up car. In fact, most participants bring their “daily driver” to this education event! You don’t even need to bring an Audi! We do love our Audis, but we also love providing education to our community so we allow most makes and models with the exception of trucks, SUVs, vans, convertibles, T-tops, and Targas provided they meet our minimum safety standards.

As a Novice and Intermediate driver, you’ll be paired with a trained Instructor to coach you throughout the event. You’ll spend the morning of the first day in a short classroom session followed by a series of driving exercises. The class material and exercises are designed to enhance your car control skills and improve your knowledge of how your car behaves in different situations. After that, you will spend the remainder of the two days alternating between time driving on the race track (the “track”) with your instructor in the passenger seat providing coaching and encouragement, and some additional time in the classroom reviewing how you applied what you learned on the track and learning new concepts to practice in future session on the track.

The Classroom

The Novice and Intermediate students attend classroom sessions that cover many of the basic concepts providing a foundation for the driving skills taught in the exercises. Some of the many topics covered include preparing your car for high performance driving session, driver position, vision, weight transfer, tire adhesion and cornering techniques. You’ll also learn the details of our club rules and those of the track we’ll be abiding during lapping sessions.

The Exercises

Novice and Intermediate students participate in some hands on driving exercises before they move to the track sessions.  The driving exercises help you understand how your car behaves in various situations. You’ll get a sense for weight transfer and how it impacts your car’s behavior during the slalom exercise. In the braking exercises you’ll find out how quickly you can stop your car at speed, and at what point the ABS kicks in if your car is equipped. You’ll also participate in some accident avoidance exercises.

You’ll be driving your own car during the exercises. Our trained instructors will be observing and providing coaching after each pass you make through the exercise. This input from coaches helps to ensure you get the most out of the experience, while maintaining a safe environment.

The Track

Who is ready to drive on a race track?! We refer to the session you spend on the track as “lapping”. (You can probably guess why!) You will be driving your car – at speed – on the track with a trained Instructor in the passenger seat. This is where you get to practice those skills you learned in the classroom and the exercises at higher speeds. How fast will you go? That depends on how quickly you learn and build your skills. More horsepower does not equate to faster speeds if you can’t control your car. And an HPDE is where you learn those care control skills! Focus on technique first and speed will naturally follow.

A track is one of the safest places you can practice these exercises, especially with an instructor at your side guiding you through the topics you learned in the morning classroom and car control exercises. We’ll place you into a “run group” with other drivers of similar experience.

Novice students always have an instructor in the car during lapping sessions. Intermediates have an instructor until they have passed our club’s requirements to earn solo privileges.

Helmets and seat belts are required at all times on the track. We have strict passing protocols, and your Instructor’s directions must always be followed. Safety is always our priority!

The Social

There’s driving, but there’s also the community to engage with and add to your experience at tn HPDE weekend. Need to borrow a tool? Or and extra set of hands? You’ll find plenty of volunteers from your fellow drivers. Want to share your enthusiasm for what you learned, or your love of the Audi S5? They’ll be lots of takers on those conversations too.

We encourage everyone who signs up for the event to share in the social opportunities at the evening reception before the first day, or at the dinner the evening of day 1, or even over lunch. We think our community is AWESOME and we hope you do too!

quattorberfest 2021 at Brainerd International Raceway (BIR) – Click on the picture to see a video recap of our most 2022 event!

Want to learn more?

Check out the resources below to learn more about what to expect.

Ready to Sign Up for the Education (and the Fun)?

We see significant improvements in drivers of all ages over the course of the event. The confidence level of each driver increases as their skills and capabilities increase. And the fact that it’s so much fun is the icing on the cake! Are you ready to give a High Performance Driver Education (HPDE) a try?

Find an event at: https://acgl.motorsportreg.com