Driver Coaching/Training

[The STIG]

A colleague of mine is intending to enter the 750mc Stockhatch series in 2009, and intends to spend the next year preparing both himself and the car (see www.4-10motorsport.co.uk). He's currently investigating the possibility of getting some driver coaching from a professional. Can anyone reccomend a good and preferably not too expensive coach who can work in and around the Northampton area?

And on a different topic, does anyone know how much testing at Bedford Autodrome is?

Cheers.

[Victor Meldrew]

I can recommend Eugene O'Brien who is also based in the Northampton area

http://www.eugeneobrien.co.uk/

[rugg_uk]

Calum Lockie is that end of the woods too.
http://www.goldtrack.co.uk

[andy97]

Try Simon Mason at http://motorsport-tuition.com

[R59]

They don't do testing at the Bedford Autodrome. It's track days, or "Palmervision" only.

Instructors - all of the above, plus:
Anthony Dunn - iwannagofaster.com
A wealth of instructing talent via motorsporttuition.com (which includes Simon Mason)

[The STIG]

Originally Posted by racing59

They don't do testing at the Bedford Autodrome. It's track days, or "Palmervision" only.

Interesting - it does say on the Bedford Autodrome website that the venue is available for general testing. Someone somewhere's made a mistake, and I think that it could very well be me!

Thanks for the suggestions so far guys.

[Al Weyman]

I would have thought you were wasting time/money testing/training at a circuit that you will never race on i.e. Bedford.

[Les]

Nick Leason is another one - based in Northampton
http://www.nickleason.co.uk

[R59]

Originally Posted by The STIG

Interesting - it does say on the Bedford Autodrome website that the venue is available for general testing. Someone somewhere's made a mistake, and I think that it could very well be me!

Thanks for the suggestions so far guys.

OK, sorry, I should be more specific... you can hire the whole circuit if you have a wallet fat enough, but not like normal "general testing" where you pay your relatively small chunk of cash and share it with others.

And Al, it doesn't matter where you test, just as long as you get the car improved. Bedford is a good circuit for shaking down / sorting out a car. It's a shame that JP didn't push to get Bedford Borough Council to allow him to run race meetings there. There are no gravel traps, or "high grip tarmac" run-offs, just lots of grass, so it'd spoil it's advantages to the corporate entertainers who love throwing cars off the track!

[The STIG]

Ah, Thanks for clearing that up.

[Al Weyman]

And Al, it doesn't matter where you test, just as long as you get the car improved. Bedford is a good circuit for shaking down / sorting out a car.

I thought he wanted driver training in and I assumed he was planning to go racing in which case I would have thought it better to train on a circuit you are likely to compete on.

[toyotamr2]

It can be helpful training on a circuit you'll race, but most driver coach's will teach you how to drive the car first, and then show you how to break down various corners. Allowing you to take there advice to every circuit.

[The STIG]

Originally Posted by Al Weyman

I thought he wanted driver training in and I assumed he was planning to go racing in which case I would have thought it better to train on a circuit you are likely to compete on.

Well... we need a bit of both. It's a new build so it needs testing and shaking down, so that's just going to be pure testing. But we're also looking for driver training. not sure where that will take place though.

[terence]

Once anyone has learnt to drive quickly/safely,it really doesn't matter what circuit you are on,the discipline still applies.

[R59]

If you want to just shake it down, go to Mallory, or hire Bruntingthorpe for an hour or two (used to be £50/hr).

As Terence quite rightly puts it, with tuition on hand, it doesn't matter where you learn, its the fact that you DO learn, and improve your technique.

We can all read a book. We can all learn that book so we can recite it of by heart. But do we understand that book and why you're reading it?! That would be probably the best way to describe what testing is really about.

Rob.

[Al Weyman]

I disagree with that sorry. If you are serious about racing learn in a track you will be racing on why waste it somewhere like Bedford or Bruntingthorpe. I did a track day once at Royston and IMHO it was a total waste of time even the passengers I took out with me did not have the satisfaction of being able to say they lapped one of the UK's world famous circuits. Supposing for example the opening round wher you are to make your debut was a track you had done 30 or 40 laps on, just how much more confident would that make you feel than going in blind on a track you have never driven before. I cannot take places like Bedford all that seriously myself without proper race track status, I think they are more for corperate fun days and I also think this is the reason circuits will never completely go over to track and corperate days like some have feared because they will then no longer have the status.

[terence]

That would be fine if you were entering a one circuit series Al,I stand by what I said in that the discipline is the same,Braking/Turn-in/Clip points /Acceleration are all different corner to corner,circuit to circuit,but in a race situation they can be very different to what has been learnt because of the traffic etc etc.

[Al Weyman]

Of course it is I dont disagree however if the costs are relative why not stick to a track where you are likely to visit.

[AU N EGL]

Any seat time in your race car on any track, is a good day.

I would get board running the same track all the time.

[Suze]

I tested at Bruntingthorpe before my first race, to get a feel for the car - would still have done that again if I had the choice. Only thing I would do differently is I would have tested at Silverstone the day before the race rather than go out in an unfamiliar car onto an unknown [from driving seat] circuit rather than going from Bruntingthorpe straight into qually like I did.

[R59]

This is why F1 teams test at Jerez, though the never race there. This is why they test at Pembrey, Santa-Pod, Silverstone-Stowe and certainly never race there! This is why serious touring car teams test at MIRA, or Millbrook.

A driver will know the track, the turn-in points, apex's, exit points, etc... what you do when you go testing is to set up the car. To find vagaries in the chassis that need fixing.

However there is a difference between club testers and "more professional" and pro testers.

The clubbie tester will often go to the circuit in the days leading up to his/her race there, to brush up on their memory of the circuit. They pound around, sometimes getting quicker, sometimes getting it more and more wrong as they go on!

The professional-type racer/team will go there to finally set up the car for that meeting. Perhaps their championship regs do not permit them to test on that circuit in the weeks/months preceeding the event, unless it's an "official" test. In that case, they'll go to their favourite circuit (probably their most local one), or somewhere warm (Paul Ricard).

If I had a problem with a straight forward running misfire that I couldn't cure on a rolling road, I'd go to Bruntingthorpe. It's quiet, and you may be out their on your own, which removes any pressure.

I don't like test days split into sessions. But that's the way they make more money these days. I'll often go to Snetterton for testing, even if I don't race there, simply because you are more likely to have an "open pitlane" day, and the pressure is off.

Rob.

[R59]

Ooo yeah, almost forgot -
And as for doing a track-day. No point if you want to do anything meaningful in the way of "testing", other than maybe a spot of "running in".

I tried doing one last December on the Silverstone GP circuit. I was trying to get to the bottom of the fluid expulsion problems that Harry was suffering, and it worked out cheaper than half a day's testing (in sessions) at Snetterton or Brands. It was fun charging down to Stowe at 170-180, scaring trackday-ers in their MX5's, but with the "no overtaking into corners", and coned-off sections, you'd never ever get anything like a "proper lap" in.
I found all of the problems on the car, now it's just case of time to fix them and go out and test to see if they're cured. That could be there again, it could be Bruntingthorpe, Mallory, Silverstone Stowe, who knows. Whatever fits on the day.

Rob.

[The STIG]

Is Stowe available for testing then? That would be even more convinient than Bruntingthorpe!

[terence]

Very rarely,the "Stowe" that a lot of people reffer to is not the triangular in-field,it's the other half of the GP circuit,starting at the Vale/Club section and cutting across to Beckett's and onto Hangar.There was once talk of Silverstone obtaining the required authority to actually use this circuit as a venue,it is a very good circuit,very nearly every type of track lay-out you need for testing.

[R59]

No, sorry Terence, that's the South Circuit, and yes, they did once talk about putting a pitlane on the hanger straight, with a startline down there. It didn't happen, which is a shame, as it's quite nice to drive. There was even talk of making an "oval" based on the south circuit when it was the 'in thing' in 2001/2

The "South Circuit" is available on exclusive hire. Not for general testing.

The Stowe Circuit is also not generally available. (a) you need to know who to talk to and be someone they will talk to, and (b) pay by the hour, and it will usually be exclusive.