Driver training days

[richbk]

Afternoon all from sun lounger in north Wales . 
whilst I ponder whether to go paddle boarding or open a beer I thought I would ask the below 

 

as some of you know my lad has been working on a mini / mid restoration on an S1 and it should be ready for the road next week . 
despite him been sensible,  and unfortunately one of his pals writing off his newly restored mx5 after 5 days on the road ……

, I figured he , and for sure I , could benefit from a lotus specific training day away from the open road to learn the handling character of the car and how to recover if things go a bit squirrelly. 
I am aware of the car limits /Walshy days , but the web site seems to be down atm. But I am also conscious that it’s in darkest Essex so realistically is a 2/3 day thing which I struggle to do with work at this time of year . 
the lotus driving academy seems emira focused. Via the web site and no doubt expensive , and others I have seen appear to be more generalised , rather than lotus specific . 
does anyone have any experience of more midlands based training , or if we take the plunge and go the car limits route , would anyone be interested in making it an MLOC day and attending as a group ?

cheers

richard

[MrWill]

Hi Richard 

I've just returned from a few days at Millbrook proving ground on a Total Car Control course.  V. Expensive but worth it. And worth travelling for if you'd like Jr to develop an understanding of what he can and can't do with the car. 

https://www.total-car-control.co.uk/tcc-home/

 

[richbk]

Wow that looks awesome , but alas would be beyond our means currently , particularly as we would both like to attend ….

I have had the pleasure of Millbrook with Aston Martin for a day , and the alpine course and bowl are super interesting to drive , particularly with a skilled Co pilot 👍🏻

[Elisemadray]

Hi Rich

I would recommend booking on a  'Lotus on track' track day  only sensible drivers normally, and book tuition  say one morning and one afternoon. drive on track as if you were driving your favorite country lanes, don't even try to keep up with the experienced drivers,  just enjoy feeling the grip your car has without finding it's limits and build  confidence. Often there will be a number of Mloc lads who will offer advise and help   or join us for one or two of our Sunday morning runs where again you can get to learn your car without the need to overdo things  

Cheers

Ray

[DeanB]

I agree with Ray, a cheaper but still good (and great fun) option would be to do a LOT day, but do the Blyton Park one, because there's lots of run-off, almost nothing to hit, is flat and has slow and fast corners. A very safe place to learn. But definitely book some instructor time.

[Badger02]

I've booked in for the Lotus on track evening event at Donington Park on 18th July. Booked am instructor as well.

Have also booked the Thruxton skid pan course on 16th July through Lotus Drivers Club

[richbk]

 Cheers guys . 
thanks  for the info and suggestions 
I have had a little track day tuition at Oulton and it’s definitely an eye opener .
Alas getting insurance for a 19 yrs old for track days is either a non starter or eye wateringly expensive , so whilst he would benefit hugely I am sure again it’s a bit prohibiting. 
I might get him to join a Sunday run with you guys and place him in your care , as over spring /summer /autumn I am either working weekends or at our place in North Wales , so struggle to attend . 
I will keep my eye on the events section . And point him that way 

richard 

[DeanB]

Oulton is a big scary circuit!  Blyton is a much, much better circuit to learn on, nowhere near as intimidating as Oulton or Dony or Cadwell.  I've often risked Blyton without insurance. 

I think if you type Alan Reason Blyton Park August in to YouTube there's a video from Alan's in-car in his old s1 Elise with me in front for a bit. It will give Ethan an idea. The main thing to remember though is that you absolutely don't need to go flat-out on a track day, you can go at your own pace.

[marky_p72]

Car Limits is no longer. It now seems to be one of the instructors that now runs 'Drive Limits' https://www.drivelimits.com/ . I did a few days with the chap in the picture on the website (Mark Robbins I think) and also did a training day with him at Blyton Park. Don't think he does Blyton anymore, so if North Weald is too far then agree with track day with instruction at Blyton, but this will be more about driving the track rather than 'car control' (you will have the car spinning at North Weald!)

Mark

[TRTM]

Hi Richard,

You may well have sorted something since you initially started this thread last year, however you may be interested in the event we're running on May 9th 2023. This is an exclusive day at Blyton Park with very low numbers on the track for each session, 1:1 coaching throughout with much less focus on track driving and more on good performance driving techniques. In terms of skidding, you can consider this prevention rather than cure. For trackday fans, we tailor the in-car coaching to be level appropriate and pick the best coach(es) from the team for the driver's needs on the day. It's not a cheap day, but the low numbers on track, the day's structure and core focus isn't offered anywhere else.

Neil

Full info is available in the events section of the forum: