Advice for ARDS at Mallory

Hi....me again!!

Step 1....track day at Donington for a shake down of the car....CHECK!
Step 2....ARDS at Mallory.....NO CHECK (YET!)

Does anyone have some useful advice for taking my ARDS at Mallory in two weeks? Suggestions on racing lines at Mallory would be a great help as I have never been to, or driven the circuit!

Thanks
Paul

[DSM]

If the test is the same as when I took it a couple of years ago don't worry about it. My Gran could pass the driving bit and the right answers in the written section are spottable a mile off!

[Adam43]

About eight people did their ARDS at Mallory today. And it is where I did mind a few years ago.

Listen to the instructors, they are really good. You'll do it in Golf GTIs (see one of them in the group below!) and the circuit will be marked with change, brake and turn points.

Brush up on your flags and rewatch the video with your MSA pack.

I found it a fun day.

.

[johnw]

Hi Paul
Not for your ARDS day, but the best purchase you could make for next season is the Autosport circuit guide. All the lines, braking points, turn in and apexes you can handle plus a ton of other helpful stuff.
Car's looking good!
John

Hi John - Yeah I was thinking about that as a possible Xmas present from the missiz!!

Just curious, but is this your car?

[Tim Falce]

Nobody fails their ARDS test unless you are a games tester on a TV program
They are extremly helpful at mallory and unless you totaly don't know your flags then you won't fail. They will show you the lines on a map before you go on track. Don't do what I did at Mallory, blow the engine up on one of their GTI's
Yes, I still passed

[johnw]

Paul
It is indeed!

[Peter Mallett]

Paul. If you get Tim or Ken Clarke give them my best regards. Tim is my sometime co driver and Ken preps my car.

I've never done the ARDs course because I had a licence before you needed to do it. However I've never heard of anybody failing one.

Good luck.

Adam,

Looks like Wayne Parker's 3.6 XJS in your pic.

[simon drabble]

By all accounts the smaller tracks will always try to get you through so long as you meet the basic criteria - I took mine at Thruxton and they were very helpful

[Adam43]

simon, yes they bring you up to standard rather than just test you too. The day is not just a test, but also a lesson.

Peter, it is, or I think, was. He is trying to sell it and because the number plate has now changed to "Griff" I guess he has. He races with your lot quite a bit doesn't he. My car is the same spec. and I've wondered about coming along.

[jamo]

I did my ARDS at Mallory about 6 yrs back, having never driven round the circuit before. The instructor (who I recall was Peter Felix Snr) was excellent, showing you a number of line options and generally passing on good, useful tips.

From memory the drive round the circuit bit is more to see that you can do the basics and have 'some' speed, the bit that is important is the theory test - but watch the video and read through the info pack, you'll be fine.

So - do your homework, turn-up, listen to the instructor(s) and enjoy the day

Do you still get a drive in a FF if you pass ??

[Micky.H]

For the future, remember the old rule "black bit yours, green bit the marshals"

[ginettag27]

It's fairly simple (he says!), best thing to do is get a good nights sleep beforehand. As AdamAshmore says brush up on the flags and watch the vid a couple of times to have all of that fresh in your mind.

Then when you're there listen to what they've got to say! Couldn't be easier!

Good luck, although I don't think you'll need it.

EPS

[zefarelly]

I did mine this summer, Id say 2 rules . . . .learn your flags, its not difficult, and its multiple choice, and 2nd, relax ! I was so worried about failing it was laughable, asll you have to do is take it easy, drive smooth and stay on the track, they'll talk you through, and unless you do something really daft, you'll pass.

than the hard bit starts !

good luck

[Peter Mallett]

Zef! Apologies I owe you a mail! Will write this weekend.

Adam. I believe he runs (or ran) with the Classic Thunder mob. So yours is a 3.6 too?

You might want to tell us if there is any advantage over the V12.

[jminsh]

I've only ever heard of one person fail ,and that was because he was starting to enjoy himself at Thruxton and spun at church !!!(pillock)

[Adam43]

Originally posted by Peter Mallett
Adam. I believe he runs (or ran) with the Classic Thunder mob. So yours is a 3.6 too?

You might want to tell us if there is any advantage over the V12.

Not really. The 12 has the power and a lot more (and both have comparable characteristics too). However the 6 cyl. has the weight (in standard form), but not a lot. I suppose it could be argued that the six is an easier engine to run.

In the XJS championship the weight advantage will be exaggerated next year. The minimum weight will be 100kg less for the six. It is all quite complicated due to modified and standard cars (and manual and automatic ), but that is the gist. Trouble is I'm not sure that it is that easy to get down to the limit, although I hear rumours that someone needs ballast!

I'd quite like to some more racers where the other cars aren't all XJS. Its fun against identical cars obviously, but it is also fun against a variety.

[Adam43]

Hmmm maybe that should be in another thread Could be worth discussing (obviously with relavance to other championships). What do you think Chris? For instance I quite liked how they do the Maestro championship (although I can't remember the exact details)...

[Chris Y]

Best start another thread for it. Not sure what you mean about the MGOC champs though (?)

[Adam43]

just the engine sizes.

oops. New thread

[pmoloney]

WOOHOOO!!! I passed!!

Dave Wall was my instructor and he was really good, showing us the lines and what lines NOT to take! The written test was a doddle, but some of the question in section 2 were open to interpretation if you ask me....anyhow..I don't care now....I PASSED!!!

[Tim Falce]

Congratulations
if you had failed I think the rest of the ten-tenthers would have had to kick your ar$e all round cyber space

[diz]

Originally posted by Peter Mallett
Paul. However I've never heard of anybody failing one.

I have.
I used to be involved at an ARDS school [one of the smaller ones] and a few were failed there. However the concensus was that you rarely - if ever - got a fail at the big boys schools. Bums on seats = £££ !!
Our instructors were of the opinion that if they passed somebody who shouldn't pass due to not being good enough, would they like the thought of maybe being on the same grid as them the next weekend. The ARDS test isn't - shouldn't be - a formality.
Would you pass somebody who - when the term racing line was mentioned - said "what's that". Don't forget that often the first time an ARDS test applicant enters a racing circuit is the day of the test. Not everybody is an enthusiast.
I can't claim the credit for the next instructor quote, which I heard uttered more than once "he couldn't drive a greasy pole up a dogs ar$e"

[graeme]

As my ARDS instructor said "they can't make it too difficult or there'd be no Formula Ford..."!!!!

[diz]

Originally posted by graeme
As my ARDS instructor said "they can't make it too difficult or there'd be no Formula Ford..."!!!!

Graeme,
I actually quite like Caterhams as well. I think of them as Formula Fords with mudguards!!!!