Learning how to drive well in one day is virtually impossible. This course is designed for drivers who share our belief that a brief course is not enough to learn how to control a car at high speeds.
Course Duration:
2 or 3 days.
(1 or 2 days on slippery areas and 1 day on the Racing track)
Daily Hours:
from 8.00 am to approx. 5.30 pm
Theory
Driving position: correct positioning of seat and steering wheel. Correct grip on the steering wheel, correspondent movements of the steering wheel in curves and “active” safety driving. Impact of driving position on “passive” safety and the vital importance of keeping seatbelts fastened.
Analysis of the forces acting on a car: acceleration and braking. Straight line, curve motion and centrifugal force. The concept of friction and grip. Analysis of tyre behaviour on road surface and the importance of the conformation of road surface in relation to the type of tyre in use.
Emergency breaking both on dry and wet roads, with and without ABS, and avoiding unexpected obstacles in these conditions. Understeering and oversteering, direction of the axles on front-wheel, rear-wheel and four-wheel drive cars. Circle grip and oval grip. Dynamic variation of weights and dynamic variation of oval grip. Longitudinal and transversal weight transfer. Driver reaction and dealing with emergency situation in curves. Preventing and reacting to aquaplaning. Trajectories in curves and tips for correct and prudent driving on the road.
Low Grip Exercises
These excercises start with a number of confidence boosting tests, such as a slow slalom, to adjust hands position on the steering wheel as well as wheel alignment. We continue with wet surface exercises using different tyre sections and anomalous tyre pressures, and understeering exercises to understand the importance of car direction and negative drift.
We then induce a low speed power skid to produce a complete spin to teach each driver how to avoid this situation by controlling the skid. After this comes the real worry: the “tondo”, which is carried out on a slippery area in a state of continuous powerslide (rather like a Swedish rally driver!). That way practicing the “tondo’’ we learn how to deal with a very dangerous situation while having great fun!
In one of the first exercises we use the Skid Car : on the straight, at low speed, we are able to correct the vehicle while skidding almost continuously.
We also practice braking using the handbrake to familiarize the driver with the car even more. We also run drills on more common situations, such as avoiding sudden obstacles with or without the help of ABS, at speeds varying from 60 to 130 kph.
Of course, to make these exercises even more challenging, they are all carried out on the wet!
Racing Track Exercises
After all of this we are ready for the track. First the medium speed curves, noting the longitudinal weight shift.
Then the tight and wide S-curves to develop a better understanding of weight shift which in this case is lateral rather than longitudinal. All of this is put to the test using a stopwatch timed slalom.
After this we practice slaloms in low grip conditions, and following that is the long awaited moment... laps of the circuit.
At first the instructors take the wheel to demonstrate and explain all the important details of the track; then each student drives with the trusted instructor sitting in the passenger’s seat besides them, accelerating, changing gears and showing how to brake “inside” curves.
Finally, always with the instructor alongside, each student is free to drive numerous laps of the circuit without too much interference from the instructor.
