Driver Education is a vital and important part of the Porsche Club experience in the Pacific Northwest Region of the Porsche Club of America. We have events about once a month from April through September each year at Pacific Raceways, the Ridge Motorsports Park and Oregon Raceway Park.
One of the goals of our driver education program is to become more inclusive to all people who want to enjoy their Porsche at the race track, and we desire to include more women in track days.
This year we had our second women’s only driver education event at Pacific Raceways in Kent, WA on June 14, 2018. We had 39 women came out to play and learn.
One key to our region building more inclusiveness is that the Driver Education chair for our region is Shay Hoelscher. In addition to being our Driver Education chari, Shay is the only woman who is a National PCA instructor. Shay is relentless in her enthusiasm about Driver Education and the Porsche brand.
Every Driver Education day starts with the driver meeting and below is a picture from the driver’s meeting as Shay is getting the attendees fired up for the day.:
The Women’s Day is about fun, camaraderie and provides a place for women to enjoy driving at the race track in a environment that is non-judgmental.
Pacific Raceways was built in 1959 and opened in 1960. The track played an important role during the heyday of professional sports car racing in the U.S. during the 1960s and today the road course is used by the SCCA, SOVREN and ICSCC for automobile road racing. Pacific Raceways is also used by local car clubs for Driver Education events, including the Porsche, BMW and Audi clubs. The course has more than 125 feet (38 m) of elevation change and a beautiful naturally wooded back section.
Below is a photo of Shay just after Turn 3 heading to the wooded back section:
The image below is what was on the back of the t-shirts that all the participants received and embodies the spirit of the day.
An Excellent Adventure 