Our Chief Instructor Steve Lewis has over 16 years of professional race and performance driver training and is one of the UK's few ARDS 'S'uperlicenced Instructors. Steve is also former Track Manager and Chief Instructor at the worlds first luxury Race Resort Ascari in southern Spain.
There is a basic routine and approach to driving quickly.
Once understood, it can be exploited, then true speed is unlocked.
There are four primary elements to being a quick driver.
-
Approach
-
Focus
-
Confidence
-
Outright speed
A car is dynamic, the driver must be able to feel what it is doing and manipulate this to their advantage. Therefore the driving approach is far more important initially than racing lines, proper braking or even good vision.
Focus. Ultimately all cars follow the laws of physics. The driver must focus on learning the timings and techniques to control the car and unlock the secrets of speed.
Most of us have read books or heard briefings on ‘the way to drive properly’, talking about it is one thing, actually doing it is another.
Sadly this is the most neglected yet most important part of driving quickly. Without practising the core skills and making them second nature, when you try to drive faster is when it all goes wrong and you will just feel like a passenger.
Confidence comes from preparation, practise and commiting the core driving techniques to become second nature.
The reason good drivers rarely ever loose control is not that they are more talented, its simply when things go wrong they work with the dynamics of the car not forgeting the core principles.
Pure outright speed only comes from covering all the above elements and creating a skillset to build speed logically.
Yes talent does play a part, but with dedication and practise, a drivers' natural speed will be unlocked and developed.
Some often repeated statements:
When steering... where your eyes look, your hands follow.
The less you turn the steering wheel the faster the car.
The smoother you move all controls, the faster the car.
Brake first before down-shift.
The throttle is not a switch.
It is better to go into a corner slower and come out fast, rather than the other way around.
No one is better qualified to have you driving your car as well as you can - to book one hour with Steve simply add this to your cart in combination with the car control day you're booking on.