About this event
Our 27th year of Winter Driving Schools at the Team O'Neil Rally School in Dalton, NH ...
more than 1,500 students trained
Picture yourself on an icy road, in a bit of a hurry. Going into a turn, you feel the car begin to slide. You’ve hit the brakes, turned the wheel, and still the car continues to slide…with a stone wall on the outside of the turn. What do you do? Close your eyes and pray for a soft snowbank? Or apply the skills you could learn in the North Atlantic Audi Club's premier events, our two Winter Driving Schools ? Check out this VIDEO
If you would like to learn to control your car in slippery conditions, to handle every type of skid (including correcting understeer and oversteer), and to stop more quickly in snowy or icy conditions then join the North Atlantic Audi Club for one (or both!) of our premier winter driving schools, to be held the last weekend in January and February at the Team O'Neil Rally School in Dalton, NH. It's a safe, low-speed event on a closed course with expert instruction in a fun atmosphere. And, there will be ample opportunity to socialize with like-minded enthusiasts.
On Saturday at 8:30 a.m., we will begin in the classroom, covering the basic principles of driving on frozen surfaces: types of skids and how to correct them, managing weight transfer, and looking as far ahead as possible. After the classroom trainin, we will rotate through different exercises including a slalom, a skid pad, and a combined course where the classroom principles will be put into practice, all with an experienced instructor in the passenger seat. Saturday afternoon will wrap up with a team driving event. Saturday evening at the Hampton Inn we will hold a social event with cheese + crackers, snacks, and drinks for more opportunity to relax, socialize and brag about your day's performance. Sunday we will return to Team O’Neil, consolidating skills through repetition, and finish the day with a time trial competition.
This school is very much at your own pace, and everyone from novices to advanced drivers will learn a great deal and have a blast. For novices we focus on recovering from skids, smoothness, vision, and improving consistency through practice. For advanced students who have mastered the basics, we will offer instruction in techniques such as handbrake turns, left foot braking, threshold braking, trailing throttle oversteer and mastering the “Scandinavian flick”. For everyone this is an excellent opportunity to learn car control skills that can make you a safer driver under all conditions and reduce lap times on the track or autocross course.
- The skid pad teaches the difference between understeer and oversteer (and is a lot of fun!), while
- The slalom teaches the importance of looking ahead, weight transfer, and the proper amount of steering input.
- Combining the two into a challenging road course puts everything together and includes a variety of turns and a "lane toss" where a devious instructor directs the student to switch into one of two lanes and stop the car, all in distances that look difficult if not impossible (but believe us, with practice it is possible).
Front- and rear-wheel drive vehicles are required to have snow tires on the drive wheels as a minimum. Snow tires will have this icon on the tire sidewall: 
. Our school is a great opportunity for permit and licensed drivers of all ages to learn how to confidently drive in a New England winter. Held at a safe and isolated facility, this is the perfect place to learn car control skills. Unlike events held on a race track, there are no restrictions on the type of vehicle allowed – convertibles, trucks, and front-, rear-, and all-wheel-drive vehicles of all kinds are welcome (they don't even have to be Audis!).
Though the school officially begins on Saturday morning, if you are in town on Friday evening, please join us at the Hampton Inn at 8:00 p.m. for an informal gathering with wine and cheese, plus an information session on preparing your car for winter driving and roadside emergencies.
The school wraps up with a fun 'time trial' that connects the skidpad and exercise areas where the goal is consistency through several runs.
Schedule
| Social - Wine + Cheese | Hampton Inn | Friday | 8:00 PM - 9:00 PM |
| Registration | Team O'Neil | Saturday | 8:00 AM - 8:20 AM |
| Classroom Training | Team O'Neil | Saturday | 8:30 AM - 9:45 AM |
| In-Car Exercises | Team O'Neil | Saturday | 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM |
| Social | Hampton Inn | Saturday | 6:00 PM - 7:00 PM |
| In-Car Exercises | Team O'Neil | Sunday | 9:00 AM - 1:25 PM |
| Graduation | Team O'Neil | Sunday | 1:25 PM - 1:45 PM |
| Time Trial (Optional) | Team O'Neil | Sunday | 1:45 PM - 3:00 PM |
NAAC will provide sandwiches, snacks, and cold beverages for lunch Saturday and Sunday
Fees
- Under 21 with registering parent . . . . . . . $ 175 / 200 (ACNA,PCA, BMW parent member / all others)
- ACNA/PCA/BMW Members . . . . . . . . . . . $ 350
- All others . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 375
Event requirements
The clinic is open to drivers of all experience levels, and is especially instructive for inexperienced drivers. Participants must present a valid driver’s license or learners Permit, and sign a liability waiver. A parent must accompany drivers under 18, as well as sign the waiver on their behalf.
Instructor - if you would like to instruct but have no experience with NAAC as an instructor please submit your qualifications to our Instructor Committee for verification (mike.collier@naac-club.org ... Subject: Instructor).
Volunteer - if you sign up as a volunteer, you should expect a fun two days outside helping, by maintaining the courses and coordinating the exercises with the instructors.
Please note that if you are sharing a car, you need to register each driver separately! Each driver needs to be registered with a unique email address. Please contact buddy.gregory@naac-club.org if you have any questions about how to register.
Saturday morning Registration and Classroom sessions will be held at the Team O'Neil facility in Dalton, NH. There are 2 possible training areas called the North and South courses. We will determine which course to use based on the snow and weather conditions in the days prior to the event. This will be communicated via email ... so please make sure you have access to that email.