|
NEWSLETTER |
Sign up below for the CarSkills Newsletter .
This occasional update will contain driver training articles, the latest event calendar and product reviews.
|
|
|
|
|
MLR Sprint Training Day
at Silverstone
Words by Mick Garlick
Photos by Steve Jackman and Peter Baker
 After running a couple of successful events with CAT
Driver Training at Millbrook for the Mitsubishi Lancer Register, we wanted
to try something a little different.
Initial discussions were held with CAT and the MLR,
and two points stood out ...
We have never heard a bad word said about Millbrook.
It is truly a spectacular venue, but for one reason or
another, not everybody wants to spend the thick end of
£400 on a driver training day. So we wanted to bring
the price down to make driver training more accessible.
Sprinting has taken off massively over the past couple
of years with the MLR Sprint Series being oversubscribed
and many people also taking part in MSA sprints. So we
thought that running a day that focussed on sprinting
techniques could be interesting. Especially if we
gave people the chance to have a go at a sprint course
(possibly for the first time).
And this is how the format for the day was born. We
aimed for a reasonably priced day that allowed people
to sprint at the start and end with some instruction
in the middle. This would allow people to work out
whether what was learned during the day was effective.
Lunchtime Entertainment
 As luck would have it, Time Attack was at Silverstone
on the day after, and Andy Barnes from Sumo Power contacted
me to say that Japanese Time Attack legend Tarzan Yamada
was at a loose end if we wanted him to pop down at
lunchtime and show us a new gadget developed for the
Evo by Do-Luck. How could we refuse?
Arriving at Silverstone
After a quick early morning hunt for V-Power, I arrived
at Silverstone for 8.20 where most of the other guys were
already lined up and waiting for the briefing to start.
Although there was no mention of breakfast on the itinerary,
CAT laid on a good selection of pastries and plenty of
coffee to kick start those (like me) that hadn't managed
to eat at the hotel.
 Licence checks were carried out quickly and efficiently
and people were loaned equipment where necessary to carry
out safety checks on their cars (fluid levels, tyre
pressures, wheel nut tightness and bodywork). Once this
was over it was into the driver briefing
Colin Hoad 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.
Slip angles and bump
stops are not things that most people in the room knew
about before the briefing, but the looks on people's
faces showed that Colin had pitched his explanation at
exactly the right level. Everyone was ready to get
to work!
Morning Sprint
 The first task of the day was for everyone to set a time
on the coned sprint course laid out by CAT. This comprised
all manner of bends, two slaloms, a couple of short straights,
a W-turn (yep. First time I had heard of one too!) and a
coned garage to finish in.
The first run was comical with the odd cone being run over
and more than one person driving around aimlessly trying
to work out where the course went. But most of the guys
quickly got to grips with the route and put in some
kind of reasonably quick lap. Times were recorded in Jo's
little black book and stored away for comparison with
the times set at the end of the day.
Then it was on to the training exercises ...
The Exercises
The guys were broken into three groups of 6 people each,
and we spent an hour or so with each of CAT's instructors
working on a different discipline.
Braking
 Our group initially started with Colin, who was teaching
various braking techniques. This started with ABS braking
and steering round cones under braking to give a feel for
stopping distances and the usefulness of ABS on the road.
One of the cars on the course (Evo VI RSII) had no ABS
so after a very quick bout of head scratching, it was deemed
that the owner would be trying the same exercises while
cadence braking!
We then moved onto threshold braking (braking just under
grip limit) which uses the maximum braking efficiency of
the car. It was entertaining to see the RSII enveloped
in clouds of tyre smoke while the car's owner was getting
to know the limits of his car. The rest of us managed
to avoid that courtesy of the ABS, but I think most
people were shocked at just how well their brakes
performed and how hard they could be used.
Slalom
Next we moved onto the slalom with instructor Nick.
This is apparently an industry standard exercise for
professional test drivers that is used to train and
measure the accuracy of steering technique.
You find
out very quickly that you need to keep looking in the
right place and that steering inputs have to be smooth
and minimal. Cones start flying in all directions
otherwise! Most of the guys in our group got to grips
with this very quickly.
Dissecting the corner
Our group joined instructor Steve for this exercise
after lunch. It focussed on using the right line
and technique to get through a specific type of
corner marked out with a set of cones.
 Before starting, Steve gave an entertaining briefing
which included some advice on the best way to make
sure you are looking through the corner correctly.
It was centred on his admiration for a certain
diminutive Aussie pop star ... not sure that any of
us will ever see Kylie in quite the same light
again!!
I personally struggled with this exercise a little,
and I don't think I was the only one. The corner
we were attacking seemed very awkward in the cars
we were using (Lancer Evos, which have a notoriously
bad lock), and it did concentrate on one single type
of corner. When running similar courses in future
we will need to introduce additional variety and dry
run all exercises with sample cars to avoid similar
problems, I think.
Lunch with Tarzan/Mr Ito
 Around half way through the day, we were treated
to a tremendous buffet lunch by CAT, which included
everything from fruit to sushi! Cold drinks and
plenty of tea and coffee were also available.
While enjoying our lunch Tarzan Yamada took time
to demonstrate the new Do-Luck 4WD controller to
a number of people on the course in their own
cars (Tarzan driving, the owner as a passenger).
We enjoyed a fantastic display of driving
ability with cars occasionally drifting round the
training area on 3 wheels. I think all of the
owners involved ended their demos with enormous smiles
on their faces.
After Tarzan had finished his driver demos we were
also shown some brand new aftermarket parts for
the Evo X by Mr Ito (president of Do-Luck Japan).
Many thanks to Tarzan, Mr Ito (and his interpreter)
and of course Andy Barnes of Sumo Power for
setting the lunchtime entertainment up for us.
Afternoon Sprint
 The last part of the day was a re-run of the
sprint course to see if everyone could make
use of the knowledge picked up through the
day to improve their times. Each person had
two practice runs, then two official runs
against the stopwatch.
Everyone without exception managed to do
better in the final sprint with the margins
ranging from 2.94 seconds to a massive 19
seconds! So it seems that everyone really
did learn something from the day. CAT wound up with a final briefing and awards
and prizes for ...
- Best improvement in lap time
- Best student on the braking exercise
- Best student on the cornering exercise
- Best student on the slalom exercise
- Driver of the day
The good humoured awards ceremony was a great touch to finish the day on.
Summing up
Instruction on the day was of the same great standard
normally set by CAT, and the catering/hospitality was
faultless as usual. Big thanks to the CAT team for
that, and to Darin and Mechell of the MLR for keeping
people safe as they entered and left the training area
and keeping guests entertained around the MLR unit.
People were generally in great spirits and felt that
they had learned something useful after attending, but
I feel that this particular format with 18 cars left
people waiting around for too long between drives.
I have been working on ideas for future formats with
CAT and the MLR. At the end of the day a balance needs to be struck between price and quality of training, but we have a number of ideas to
increase the training time for everyone significantly
for the next day of this type without pushing
the price through the roof. Details will be released
over the next couple of months.
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.
|
|
