On 9 March 2024, Oscar Schiesser took part in our annual ‘Learn to Gymkhana!’ event after previously attending some Formula G events as a spectator. A complete novice on track, Oscar has kindly written about his experience of trying his hand at gymkhana. Let’s find out what he made of it all…

In mid-2023, I had found myself having recently moved to a new city where I knew no one, and in the middle of going through a break-up. While looking for events to try to make new friends at, I found PITSTOP.Social — an online community focussing on mental health and wellbeing for people with a love of all things that vroom.

Shortly after joining the Facebook group, an event was posted — a meetup and drive to a round of Formula G at Santa Pod. I’d recently bought a new car, a Porsche Boxster 987, and was excited for a drive with some other people. After the event, I was on the lookout for an opportunity to try out my first RWD car in an event like this.

“A whole day just for n00bs, with current competitors providing tuition, pointers, and general help? I was in.”

At the start of 2024, Formula G announced their annual “Learn to Gymkhana!” day. A whole day just for n00bs, with current competitors providing tuition, pointers, and general help? I was in.

`All Oscar needed to buy to get on track was a helmet — a standard road car usually meets nearly all of our requirements to take part.`
Steve O’Sullivan Photography

I registered and read through the documentation. Happily my car would need no modifications to enter; it met all the regulations as it is [Note that for regular competition days we do also require a fire extinguisher be mounted within easy reach — Ed], which is nice as I am a bit of a purist with some cars and like that my Boxster is completely as Porsche intended. All I needed was to buy a compliant helmet — about £80 for a new one. Facebook marketplace can often be helpful for something cheaper, but there were unfortunately none in my size! While not necessary, I did also buy a second set of wheels for the day — mainly because I found a good deal for four for £300, and that would be cheaper than if I had to replace the fairly brand new rears.

“…a friendly, welcoming atmosphere made it clear this series doesn’t have space for snobbery or egos.”

Prior to the day, there was an online webinar to go over the format of the day, but the true value of this session was getting a feel for the culture of Formula G — constant good natured jokes and a friendly, welcoming atmosphere made it clear this series doesn’t have space for snobbery or egos. This was a group of like-minded people, open to beginners, and any anxious feelings about turning up to a motorsport event with my Porsche, and having little idea as to what I was doing, instantly melted away.

The night before, I somehow made the stupid mistake of setting my alarm for 17:00 instead of 7:00, but still (amazingly!) managed to turn up just in time, all thanks to my AirBnB room’s window being east-facing. After the briefing, practice began. For everyone else, at least. My late arrival meant I still needed to swap my wheels over! Practice sessions covered both doing either of the two layouts (mirrored versions of each other), as well as a practice area with two barrels to practice figure-eights and donuts.

“I somehow made the stupid mistake of setting my alarm for 17:00 instead of 7:00, but still (amazingly!) managed to turn up just in time”

Someone jumped in to help me swap my wheels over, and grabbed one of the Formula G guys to ride along in my car and give me some pointers (this was my first even like this in a RWD after all). I jumped in the car, fired it up, disabled the traction control for the first time since I bought it, and got ready to set off… only to find the front wheels were rubbing on the brake calipers! So back out to swap the front wheels. Not the ideal start.

`Oscar found out the hard way that his spare wheels didn’t fit on the front, wasting precious minutes of seat time!`
Delta Pixels

After getting the car rolling again, I did a few runs on my own in the practice area, and on my second run one of the tyres delaminated (VERY happy I bought that used set off Facebook now!). As I was driving out of the practice area, someone who used to run a Porsche 987 came up to me to ask about the trouble I had getting the back end out. He asked about my tyre pressures, and suggested running 25 psi front, 40 psi back now they’re warm. This worked amazingly — the understeer was gone! And replaced with a lot of oversteer that now I was struggling to balance.

Sebastian Allan Photography
“…the understeer was gone! And replaced with a lot of oversteer…”

One of the Formula G coaches suggested I practice doing donuts until I could keep going around the same spot to get a feel for the throttle to kick the back out, and another Formula G coach jumped in the passenger seat to give me some pointers on getting around the figure-eight.

After a couple of runs, it was time to hit the track proper!

`Oscar waits to hit the track in his Porsche Boxster. Formula G is privileged to have a fun selection of different cars taking part, but mid-engined cars don’t seem to be so popular despite their excellent balance.`
Delta Pixels

Starting out slow and learning the layout, I did two runs before I began to increase my speed. While managing to avoid any full spinouts, my morning was filled with way too much oversteer. But gradually, I was clearly getting better.

After a lunch break, we got to go for a ride along with competitors from last year’s Formula G season — and I got exactly who I hoped I’d get, Mantas Sliogeris and his LS2 6.0 V8-powered MX5. The ride along was awesome, but crucially he gave me the last piece of the puzzle I needed — my handbrake had been getting stuck on the way down as I kept not holding the button all the way down. ‘Use duct tape, that’s what I used to do.’ He was right, and this worked so well! (My handbrake now has to be pulled noticeably higher to park, but that’s just a minor detail).

With one more round of practice to go, we had a competitive fastest time of the day event, with each driver getting two chances on each side of the course to set a time — including reaction time. By this point, I was able to navigate the courses pretty well, and I was consistently completing my practice attempts without losing control. Having said that, driving skill doesn’t speak to remembering left from right and I did make a pass around one obstacle the wrong way on one of my attempts…whoops…!

The day concluded with a podium ceremony for the top three fastest times of the day, and then the courses were opened for as many runs as people wanted before the event had to pack up and leave.

Unfortunately, I did not get one of the coveted alcohol-free prosecco bottles presented to each of the podium winners, but throughout the day my course times had improved by around 4-5 seconds. I was impressed at how quickly I picked it all up with just a few pointers and some guidance. But, to be woefully cliched, the real winners were the friends we made along the way. Formula G is a series run, competed in, and attended by some of the most ‘leave-your-attitude-at-the-door’ people I’ve met at a motorsport event — everyone is so happy to help, so excited to impart knowledge, and so ready to point out the stupid mistakes they made when they were starting out to help you avoid the same issues.

I think running a Porsche regularly in this serious could end up being pretty costly, but I do hope to come back and enter some rounds this year with my Suzuki Swift Sport — because, really, that would be more than enough to enter, be competitive, and have a complete blast.