Driver Training at Boxberg: Porsche at the Bosch Proving Ground

Boxberg is not a conventional race circuit – and that is exactly what makes it so valuable as a destination for driver training. Drive here and you are training where car makers develop their vehicles: on a site built specifically to make the limits of grip safely repeatable.

This guide shows what driver training at the Boxberg proving ground involves, which programmes exist and who each one suits. Current dates are always in the event overview.

The Boxberg proving ground: a test site, not a lap

The Boxberg proving ground is Robert Bosch GmbH's test and development centre for vehicle technology. Opened in 1998, it covers close to 100 hectares and is used to develop vehicles, vehicle systems and driver assistance functions.

For driver training that is ideal, because several types of surface sit side by side: a high-speed oval, handling courses, irrigated special sections and open areas for braking and evasive manoeuvres. You do not change car during the day – you change task.

Getting there is easy: Stuttgart is around 100 kilometres away, Frankfurt and Mannheim roughly 130 kilometres each, Nuremberg about 150 kilometres. That puts Boxberg within a comfortable day trip from most of south-west Germany, with no overnight stay to plan.

Three driver training programmes: Perfektion, Sport and Drift

Three programmes, one site. The difference lies less in pace than in the task. The overview below describes the usual case – individual dates may differ.

Perfektion – the best way in

Around 150 kilometres on a mix of wet and dry surfaces. It is about forward vision, the racing line, braking and learning to read your own car at the limit – with a direct link to everyday traffic situations. No helmet is required. If you have never taken part in sports car training, this is the driver training to start with.

Sport – pace and the road course

Around 200 kilometres on the road course or the high-speed oval, plus drift exercises on wet or dry surfaces. Sport is the logical next step for anyone who wants to drive a clean racing line and is preparing for a first track day.

Drift – sideways is more

Around 150 kilometres, driven partly on blue basalt – a surface with so little grip that weight transfer and opposite lock happen in slow motion. Add drift and steering courses, and a drift competition to finish the day.

Driver training in small groups: plenty of time behind the wheel

As a rule, a maximum of six cars share one coach. After a short briefing in the test centre the group starts its programme; the coach accompanies it through every section and stays connected to all drivers by radio.

The training day is usually structured into five sessions of 75 minutes. That is considerably more continuous driving time than short turns allow – and precisely why progress in this driver training becomes measurable within a single day.

Renting a Porsche at Boxberg: driver training with CarForGo

You do not need to bring your own car. Through CarForGo the European Speed Club provides the sports car – prepared, serviced and normally covered by comprehensive insurance. At Boxberg, CarForGo usually includes the fuel as well.

For the Perfektion programme there are two options. The Discover package lets you drive five different cars in a single day – including Porsche 992 and GT3, BMW M2 and Corvette. If you would rather get to know one car properly, take a GT3 or GTS exclusively as a single driver.

Comparing several cars back to back in one day is the fastest way to develop a feel for suspension setup, weight distribution and steering. Few other situations deliver so much insight in so little time.

Why a proving ground beats a first circuit

On a race circuit you learn a track. In driver training on a proving ground you learn your car. Wet surfaces, braking chicanes and handling courses create situations that on a lap only occur by accident – and then usually unwillingly. Here they can be repeated as often as you like.

That is why our recommendation for newcomers reads: Perfektion at Boxberg first, then circuit coaching. Take that route and you arrive at your first track day not as a beginner, but with a toolkit.

How your driver training day at Boxberg runs

The day begins in the morning with registration and a briefing in the test centre. The group then moves into its chosen programme, interrupted by breaks during which catering is normally included. Training ends in the early evening – in the case of Drift, traditionally with a competition.

Fuel: if you bring your own car we recommend arriving with a full tank. The nearest filling station is around five minutes away and the address is printed on the back of your name card.

Who driver training at Boxberg is for

For newcomers who own a sports car but have never taken it beyond a country road. An afternoon on the wet surface changes your understanding of weight transfer more lastingly than any video.

For experienced drivers who want to fix one specific weakness. Because every exercise can be repeated at will, you can work deliberately on braking points, weight transfer or opposite lock – instead of waiting on a circuit for the situation to occur again by chance.

And for companies looking for a corporate event with substance: the site offers enough modules to keep mixed groups meaningfully occupied without anyone being over- or underchallenged.

Cover and conditions

• ESC's organiser liability normally covers participant liability
• CarForGo vehicles usually come with comprehensive cover and a defined excess
• For many dates we offer free rebooking, typically up to eight days before the event
• Depending on how it is set up, the event may qualify as package travel, in which case insolvency protection applies
• Companions are welcome, minimum age 16

The services, deadlines and cover that apply to your specific date are set out in the description of the individual event and in our terms and conditions, which take precedence.

Conclusion

Boxberg is where driving skill is built, before it becomes visible on a circuit. Small groups, several sessions a day, a site covering every relevant surface type and a fleet that can be provided in full – as a setting for driver training that is hard to beat.

Dates are in the event overview, and the details are in our Boxberg FAQs.