BUCKET LIST: Porsche Track Experience, Mount Cotton & Queensland Raceway

With the motorsport world on hold, and travel bans in place for Australia, you might be forgiven for contemplating a future escape.

Speedcafe.com has worked to develop a list of dream places, events and experiences for fans of motorsport and motoring for you to tick off your Bucket List.

PORSCHE TRACK EXPERIENCE: Mount Cotton, Qld & Queensland Raceway

For many people simply owning a Porsche is a “Bucket List” ambition.

The German manufacturer simply builds what many consider the best sports cars in the world and to have one in the driveway has become aspirational for many who have a passion for cars and driving.

Porsche has become an iconic global brand and the quality that is linked to it has seen a whole lifestyle segment developed for owners and would-be owners in all major markets around the world.

Under the banner of Porsche Experiences, more than 100 days of events and activities are held around Australia each year in a COVID-19 free environment.

Like the vehicles themselves, the offerings don’t come cheap, but likewise, you get what you pay for. Level one starts at $1595 while Level 5 is $6820.

These are full-day courses which provide you everything you need including a cool array of Porsches and a solid supply of terrific Michelin rubber.

The foundation of these events is the Porsche Track Experience program, which is based at the RACQ Centre of Excellence at Mount Cotton on the Gold Coast and Ipswich’s Queensland Raceway for the majority of the year.

The program starts at Level 1, the basics of mastering a vehicle, and progresses up to Level 5, which sees guests driving a 911 GT3 Cup race car.

Not only are these days a great experience for participants, but drivers get the opportunity to improve their driving style, as well as gain road safety education, from professional drivers, many of whom are well known to race fans.

The program’s chief instructor is 1988 Bathurst 1000 winner Tomas Mezera and his deputy is fellow Bathurst 1000 champion Luke Youlden.

They are assisted by a fleet of well-known professionals including one of the world’s most successful Porsche racers Craig Baird, and current and former Supercar drivers Alex Davison, Dean Canto and Steve Owen.

This program has been operating in Australia since 1996 and attracts many international visitors, including groups from Asia who combine their wheel time with other holiday activities.

The only catch with the program is that you must achieve a level of competency at each level before you can “graduate” to the next experience.

Precision (Level 1): Aimed at first time participants, the Precision level focuses on teaching the driver fundamentals of vehicle control, driver safety, driving dynamics and responding to critical scenarios.

Precision Plus (Level 2): In the Precision Plus level, drivers will learn how to approach corners, accurately steer, practice skilful braking and careful acceleration to enhance safety whilst driving on a closed road circuit.

Performance (Level 3): Under expert instruction, the Performance level concentrates on vehicle control at higher speeds, finding and following the correct racing lines and introducing trail braking with full lap track sessions.

Master (Level 4): The Master level focuses on getting participants track-ready with one-to-one coaching and electronic data analysis with an engineer. This level will help drivers unleash their full potential on track ahead of experiencing a 911 GT3 Cup race car.

GT3 Cup (Level 5): Participants get the opportunity to drive a factory-built 911 GT3 Cup race car and learn the driving skills needed to confidently control the car at high speeds. The instructor and engineer monitor driver progress with data acquisition, adjusting lines, braking and steering to improve performance and lap consistency. This is effectively a full Carrera Cup test day, with safety equipment such as race suit, helmet and HANS device supplied.

While the Porsche Track Experience is based in sunny Queensland during the winter months, in the latter part of each year, Porsche ‘takes the show on the road’ with its Porsche Advanced Driver Training events where participants use their own vehicles.

Various levels of the track experience program are hosted at circuits including Sydney Motorsport Park (NSW), Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit (VIC), The Bend Motorsport Park (SA) and Barbagallo/Wanneroo Raceway (WA).

The next Advanced Driver Training level 1 and 2 days are set for Sydney Motorsport Park (Oct 15) and Phillip Island (Level 1 – Nov 24; Level 2 – Nov 25).

Porsche events also offer other activities such as the Porsche High Flier program at the Australian Grand Prix, Porsche Targa Tours and the Porsche Ice Experience, but we will leave those bucket list items for another day.

CLICK HERE for a gallery of the Porsche Track Experience

ACTIVITY OVERVIEW