It’s always the same with sports cars from Zuffenhausen: they’re easy to start and well-suited for comfortable travel. However, with this driving style, what a Porsche is capable of in terms of driving dynamics is often left unexplored. True appreciation of the engineering expertise can be felt more intensely during more spirited driving.
Fritz Huschke von Hanstein and Herbert Linge recognized this early in the 1950s. Back then, von Hanstein was both race director and chief press officer. Linge made history as a works and development driver, then subsequently as the ONS safety crew’s initiator and operations manager in Weissach. According to his records, the first driving training to officially involve Porsche was held in Lugano, Switzerland, on April 8, 1954.
Education structure
The initial concept remains unchanged today: first, a track inspection with instructions regarding the racing line and the braking points. Second, driving with professionals. Third, practice, and fourth, analysis.
1956
The first training session was held in the USA back in 1956. There is a record of how Linge described the clientele: “80 percent of the participants were average American drivers used to huge engines and automatic transmissions. Our delicate sports cars with a manual transmission, a clutch, and comparatively highly developed engines were completely new territory for them.” But the enormous learning success of those who participated generated enthusiasm and reports.
The “Porsche Sportfahrschule” is founded
In the 1960s, demand for driving events for the sales staff of new dealer organizations in Germany and abroad increased, as did demand for such events for the media and Porsche Clubs. However, the huge potential of regular customer training as practical market research and for sales promotion was not yet being leveraged.
Introduction of the Turbo
This all changed in 1974, the same year the first 911 Turbo was launched. Not only did its performance (260 PS, 343 Newton meters of torque, a top speed of more than 250 km) stand for a completely new dimension in street-legal sports cars, but the turbo technology successfully used in racing was also incorporated as standard for the first time.
However, the turbocharger’s thrust set in so abruptly and with such brute force that it could be more challenging for the inexperienced to cope with, especially when cornering on a wet road or when calculating overtaking maneuvers. These demanding driving dynamics provided further arguments for institutionalizing driving and safety training. Even before the 911 Turbo went into series production, the “Porsche Sportfahrschule” was founded. The first four training sessions took place that same year on three different racetracks in Germany, Belgium, and France.
The press release back then read as follows: “The training staff consists of test drivers and active sports drivers from Porsche – a mixture of driving technicians and driving professionals who provide the participants with deeper insights into the vehicle technology and the driving technology.” It’s an awkward sentence that would be broken down for simplicity these days. However, the crux of the matter is still accurate – these days, Weissach developers and world champions convey their knowledge in the context of the Porsche Track Experience. Porsche condenses the talent of instructors and engineers, creating the new portmanteau word in German of “Instrukteure.”
Courses on international racetracks
It was decided in the Sportfahrschule’s founding year to hold the courses on international racetracks to enhance the experience’s value and take the strain off the Weissach test facility. For a long time, participation was conditional upon having your own vehicle, although third-party vehicles were also allowed. This openness remains a USP to this day and is frequently rewarded with participants attending their second or third course with their own Zuffenhausen product. “It was always great to experience the customers’ feedback regarding our vehicles’ capabilities so directly and – importantly – to then take that feedback back to the company,” recalls Claudia Schäffner. She influenced the development of the Sportfahrschule from 1980 to 2009.
Sportfahrschule (Sport Driving School)
In 1974, the “Porsche Sportfahrschule” was founded. In the 50 years since then, an extensive world of experiences has been developed under the name Porsche Track Experience.
As a project manager, she was soon managing a dozen courses a year. In the analog age, this meant a lot of paperwork for her as initially the Sportfahrschule’s only full-time employee. Postcards and checks for more than a thousand registrations landed on her desk. She expanded the network of “Instrukteure” and competitors. A team uniform sharpened up their joint appearance. Paper cups were replaced with porcelain mugs featuring vehicle motifs that became collector’s items and formed a merchandise collection.
Not just for men
A course was aimed exclusively at women for the first time in 1986. The first winter training in Austria followed in 1990 and, in 1993, rally world champion Walter Röhrl debuted as an “Instrukteur.” A star with charisma – just like Formula 1 driver Wolfgang Graf Berghe von Trips, whom Linge hired back then. “There was a very friendly atmosphere,” Röhrl says, recollecting his deployment in Mugello, Italy. “And the perfect program in terms of driving physics and technology made the participants even more loyal to the brand.”
The accompanying measures also became increasingly sophisticated. When winter training was relocated to the Arctic Circle in 1996, snowmobiles and brand-new 911 Carrera 4 vehicles were used in Rovaniemi, Finland. On one occasion, Claudia Schäffner even organized a trip on an icebreaker—including wet suits for the participants to take a dip in the Baltic Sea.
In 1997, Rauno Aaltonen made a guest appearance as an “Instrukteur.” The project manager recruited the Finnish “rally professor” when she bumped into him at a restaurant. In Imola, Italy, Porsche works driver Bob Wollek served as a 911 GT1 taxi driver. Training on the Magny-Cours racetrack in France featured Formula 3 race cars. The first course for acquiring a racing license was created. When the model range was expanded with the addition of the Cayenne shortly after the turn of the millennium, the team, which had since grown significantly, developed off‑road events.
911 GT3 R, Porsche Track Experience, 2024, Porsche AG
New and innovative ideas for individual customer requirements and situations were therefore constantly being created. Now obviously also including ideas for customers with all-electric sports cars. Looking back, it is plain to see that the Porsche Sportfahrschule motorsport school, founded in 1974, served as the nucleus for the whole world of the present-day Porsche Track Experience.
Above content © 2024 Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG reviewed and edited by Rex McAfee
