HPDE, The Jan. '03 Report :

"Exhilarating, Exciting, and Satisfying"

Those are the terms that best describe our High Performance Driver's Education experience in January. Notice the smiling faces in the accompanying photos.

Pascal Gademer and Gary Hagopian are trying to "lead by example", in our efforts to establish an HPDE program for JCNA members. In January, we spent one day at Road Atlanta, and Super-Bowl weekend at Roebling Road in Savannah, GA.

Road Atlanta is like a tough golf course, in that "if you can play well there, you can play anywhere". Blind approaches and many elevation changes make ATL a real challenge. The track is best known for its very long back straight where speeds of well over 120mph are possible even in street cars but mostly for its gut wrenching diving turn, nr 12, leading onto the front straight. A sharp left/righ chicane now slows things down from the back straight, but when cresting over the hill, under the bridge, you'd better know to only where to be on the track ... but also where you should be heading... if you want to make it through the diving turn as there is little time to correct.

It was great having the opportunity to drive the same course as the Trans-Am XKR Jaguars that run Road Atlanta or the sports cars from the American Le Mans series, seen on Speedvision. The experience was awesome, and we're hoping to get back there soon.

Roebling Road in Savannah (Faulkville, actually) is a wonderful old two mile road course run by friendly folks who actually live in a house right in the infield! Devoid of fancy facilities (like a paved paddock) and having a surface composed of several types of pavement, it features large sweeping, high speed, off-camber turns, that exit onto a very long straightaway.

At both events, as luck would have it, (bad luck!) morning temps were in the low 20s, but warmed as the days progressed. Chin Motorsports, the group with whom we were running, requires both windows down, for safety reasons. We should have taken a picture of Pascal behind the wheel with gloved hands and a makeshift mask made of shop towels. He looked more like Jesse James, than Jeff Gordon! This boy's from Miami, where the blood gets thin, and is unused to cold temps.

62 and a 72 side by side in the paddock, with turn 12 looming in the back ground...

As usual, ours were the only Jaguars, and among the oldest cars running. As JCNA members and ffriends, we stuck together, both on the track, and in the paddock. It's amazing that with all the beautiful new cars there, our Jaguars attracted all the cameras! On the track, though not the fastest, our laps were competitive in a sea of 911's, Boxters, Cobras, M3s, and the pesky little Miatas, which were impossible to shake!

During the lunch break, we switched cars for the "parade laps". Though speeds were low, one could still get a feel for the car. Pascal felt my car was a real work out to drive, being as close to a race car that a street E-type can be, but I bet he's dreaming about fititng 18" wheels on his... Having never driven a V12, Ser. III E type, my sense of this Jaguar, was to nickname it "The Big Easy", because of how smoothly and easily the big cat drove. I am constantly amazed at its durability, considering that Pascal drives it the hundreds of miles to and from the events, and is screaming around the track practically every minute that the green flag is out! The lesson here is that a regularly used Jaguar, will be the most dependable. At Roebling alone, he clocked over 450 track miles, while I did a more relaxed 270. My style is to do 10-12 laps at a stretch, then come in to check the car over and take a rest!

The whole idea of HPDE is to learn and enjoy high speed driving techniques in a controlled environment. It's great fun, and provides lessons helpful in everyday driving. The classroom sessions and in-car instruction teaches techniques much more fun to practice than your violin lessons ever were! You learn to tiptoe around for several laps, gradually "turning up the wick" a notch at a time By your small mistakes, you learn the importance of smooth, deliberate throttle, steering, and braking inputs. As experience builds, you get faster and safer, and gain a lot more satisfaction than you would from another round of golf!

We encourage you to join us. Check the calendar on jcna.com, to select an event near you. Our six Regional Coordinators will be working with established HPDE groups to facilitate your entry into these safe, enjoyable track experiences. Remember, racing is strictly prohibited and these events are sometimes safer than driving to and from the track !

The big HPDE event of the year will be the traditional Empire Jaguar Club Driving School at scenic Lime Rock Race Park, CT. Charles Bordin and his crew have been putting this event for years in collaboration with the VSCCA and their two day event is one not to be missed. Many Jaguars come from hundreds of miles away for this to drive on track, enjoy watching exciting VSCCA racing action and one hell of a party on the first evening...

See you there !

Left : Gary Hagopian with his Street / Race 62 FHC E-type
Right : Pascal Gademer and his slightly modified 72 2+2 E-type

Gary's 62 ready to pounce despite the 22 deg F temperature...

Note the frozen grass and the ice on the roof of Pascal's E-type !

Gary in action, at turn 3, a fast left hander.

a Porsche 944S on the JCNA site ? yes.. since it belongs to multiple Jaguar owner and
Savannah resident Pat de Gennaro...