MLR Performance Driver Training
Trackday at Millbrook Proving Ground
Words and photos by Mick Garlick
 After looking around for the first official driver training experience for the Mitsubishi Lancer Register, I agreed with the club chairman (Darin Frow) that the "Performance Driver Training Trackday" offered by CAT Driver Training would be a great event to start with.
The day was for just 8 people, so we didn't think we would have an issue filling it. Millbrook Proving Ground itself is legendary, and not a place that you get the chance to drive every day. And the mix of skills CAT promised to teach on the day along with the brilliant feedback they had from the GTR Owners Club sealed the deal for us.
The night before ...
The night before, a few of the guys stayed at a hotel a
couple miles up the road from Millbrook. We popped
out to a restaurant suggested by CAT for dinner, a
couple of beers, some car chat (and to watch England
get stuffed in the rugby world cup final, much to
the amusement of the one Scotsman that had joined us for the event!).
We had to make Millbrook by 8.30am on the Sunday, so
everyone was up at the crack of dawn. We wandered over
to the local Little Chef for breakfast and then had a fun 15 minutes trying to defrost
everybody's windscreens. Luckily this was the only blip
in the weather. Things warmed up mid morning, and we
were treated to gorgeous sunshine for the rest of
the day.
Arriving at Millbrook
 When we got to Millbrook at around 8.15 the other guys
attending the course were already waiting for us, and
a few minutes later Sue from CAT arrived at the main
gate to pick everyone up.
Anyone that has been to Millbrook
will know that it is almost the "Area 51" of the motoring
world. So we had to let security check the cars over for
hidden cameras etc before going on site, but after that we
were quickly taken to our base for the day by the steering
pad.
We got to the marquee we were based at for the day, and
were warmly welcomed by rest of the CAT team (organiser Jo,
instructors Colin and Nick plus race engineer Graham). They
have obviously done this a few times before ... coffee and
snacks were on tap from the moment we turned up, and the
marquee even had chairs and a nice warm heater in it (we
fought the CAT guys for the warmest spots in the marquee
and lost miserably!)
Colin introduced the CAT team, and gave us a rundown on
objectives for the day. He then gave a brief talk on the
basics of car dynamics before the action started so that
we had a better understanding of the exercises being
performed throughout the course. While Colin was performing
the briefing, Graham was checking the cars over to make sure
they had no mechanical problems and that tyre pressures
were correct. Many of the exercises to be performed involve
serious speeds or cornering forces, so CAT were making sure
we didn't find any problems the hard way!
Driver Training Exercises
We were broken into two teams with one instructor leading
each team. Then the instructor for each team took his
students out in one of CAT's cars to demonstrate the
activity about to be performed. After this, one person
from each team was taken out at a time ... the rest of
the guys waited at the marquee, took advantage of the
coffee pot, chatted and scratched their heads while
completing the quiz handed out by CAT.
The exercises carried out by the team were as follows ...
Threshold braking
This was carried out on the apron
for the steering pad as the mile straight was closed for
resurfacing. It involved accelerating to 100mph, then
braking as efficiently as possible without engaging the
ABS. At the end of the exercise, we also had to come
off the brakes in a controlled fashion to avoid unsettling
the car as it was ready to turn in.
High speed bowl
 There were three activities for
the high speed bowl. The first was rapid lane changing.
We drove along in the bottom lane at 30 - 40mph then
crossed sharply into the next lane and back. As I
understand it, this exercise was a precursor to some
pretty extreme transitional exercises performed on cars
as industry standard tests.
After performing these tests
at 30mph and noticing the onset of understeer, I was
shocked to hear that Colin's Impreza is capable of performing
said transition test at 90mph when driven properly!!!
The high speed bowl was then used for a few high speed laps
and it was demonstrated very effectively that firstly, the
car follows your eyes (i.e. towards the barrier or the next
lane down if you look in the wrong place). And secondly,
the car can be stabilised very effectively by looking a long
way ahead and minimising steering inputs.
Before finally leaving the high speed bowl, we were shown
a new party trick ... driving round the top lane at 100mph
with no hands on the steering! A little confidence was
required to let go of the wheel initially, but after this
the car could be steered in and out of the top lane using the
throttle. Not something you would want to try on public
roads for sure!
Hill route (Alpine route)
We all did a number of laps
of the stunning hill route to work on techniques for
going through various types of corner with differing
cambers. The speeds weren't incredibly high but there
is zero run off on this circuit, and you have to drive
accurately. The emphasis is on getting the technique
right first, then building your speed.
The Handling Track
The handling track was next ... again, lots of
different types of corner. Much like the Alpine route
but faster and without the extreme hills and scenery.
This tested braking technique rather more than the
Hill route, I thought.
Steering pad
This was the last training activity
of the day, and was geared to show what your car did
on the limit. Does it oversteer? Does it understeer?
Can you catch it when it all goes wrong? This part of
the day showed the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolutions to be extremely well behaved. Both of CAT's instructors appeared a little surprised by the lack
of lift off oversteer from all Evo variants in
attendance!Lunch
Lunch was provided half way through the courses above,
and consisted of a decent selection of sandwiches and
a mug of soup to warm us up. And some extremely tasty
brownies (must ask Jo for the recipe for those!).
Driver Training Day Finale - The Caterham Slalom Course
 We then finished off the day with a bit of fun ... we
competed in a timed Slalom using CAT's Caterham 7. The
car and the activity brought universal smiles from the
team with more than one of us choosing sideways action
over putting in a decent time.
Awards Ceremony
CAT put on a brief awards ceremony at the end of the day, with certificates being handed out to everyone along with prizes for the winner of the slalom and the "driver of the day" (the person that had fitted in with the spirit of the day best). The awards ceremony was followed by a light hearted debrief from Colin Hoad, and gave everyone a chance to wind down and chat about what they had learned.
Summing up this Driver Training Experience
Colin's background is an interesting one ... he spent many
years assessing new models for car manufacturers, and
training the drivers that tested them. His teaching ability,
passion, subject understanding and sense of humour combine
to make him a truly inspiring instructor.
I personally
booked a one to one driver training day with him a couple
of days after taking part in this (review to be published shortly), and again took a massive amount from that day.
The rest of the CAT team also measure up to the high
standards set by Colin, and I'm sure that I won't be the only
one going back to see them repeatedly in the future. Massive thanks go to the CAT team for making this such
an informative and enjoyable day.
Interested in something similar?
If you want us to arrange a similar course for your club, company or friends just get in touch using one of the methods on this page. We can arrange the complete driver training experience for you including ...
- Organisation of your training on a suitable date
- A car for you to train in (if you don't wish to use your own)
- Hotel and meal bookings
- Photography, giving your guests something to remember the day by
- A report for your club/company website or magazine
Alternatively, you
can also sign up to the CarSkills newsletter using the form in the left hand column of any page to be kept up to date with the latest Performance Driver Training courses and reviews as they are added.
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