Performance Driving at Talladega Grand Prix Raceway
11 June
The Alabama – NW Florida and Peachtree sections jointly host this event with assistance of some of my Porsche Club fellow instructors.
Also in attendance were both AL- NW FL Pres. Jim Sparacio and Peachtree Section President Gary Edwards who co-chaired the event with me.
Performance Driving Committee chairman, Arno Pitzen drove his AMG SL from Austin, TX.
Our special guest was MBCA Marketing Director, Ken Engelman who remarked that he was impressed with the energy of the MBCA members and guests. Among these was Ken’s brother, Dave some of whose professional photos are included with this report.
I had the best job of the event: instructing 21 year old twins Kristen and Nicole Jebeles. You may recall that they were the stars of StarFest® 2019 with their ML. Their driving skills have advanced so much that Nicole instructed a much older novice gentleman.
In this event four of the students and two of the instructors were women. Participants ranged from 21-91. Cars included 2 S-classes, a GLE AMG, SLS, and several other AMG’s. Some MBCA members drove other cars. All progressed with their driving skills and had a great time. Again, no cars were damaged.
Altogether I drove 3500 mikes and then helped PCA with a national instructor school at TGPR followed by their 2 day Performance Driver Education event at Barber—that is their motivation for helping MBCA. This was a wonderful and grateful experience. The only thing better would be sharing it with more MBCA members.
Not even PCA can stage their events without partners, friends, and other students in other brands participating. At that last event 40% were not PCA members. These events are a great source of non-dues income.
Make plans to join us at Summit – Point WV (GWS Section) on 24-25 Sep and then drive through the Smokey Mountains with us to visit the Mercedes-Benz factory in Alabama on 30 Sep followed by two days on the Barber track or driving in the mountains.
Lots of fun driving in great cars, meeting interesting people, sights and experiences you will treasure. What’s not to like?
Jim Roberts, DAL
Photo Credit: Kathouse Media
