Firstly, thank you for putting up with me and my bad driving over the last two days, which takes a lot of courage and patience!

I found both days extremely well planned and appropriately tuned into teaching me the right way to drive quickly yet also in a safe and thoroughly enjoyable manner, at the same time eliminating 43 years of bad driving habits.

Day one’s session at Millbrook specifically helped me refresh and learn new things about the physics of car balance and control (under/oversteer, lift off oversteer, trail braking etc.), then adding into the mix:

• The vital importance of peripheral vision – plan ahead to see what dangers or obstacles you need to factor into your car positioning, look at exit point not the road straight ahead/entry point
• The importance of correct seating and hand positioning
• Finesse (lightness of touch) in car control – timing and smoothness of inputs (steering, throttle, brakes, etc.)
• Feel and understand what the car is communicating back to you
• Where the correct apex to the corner is and how to set the car up for it

All these learnt in theory and then applied in practical demonstrations on various circuits helped bring them to life, akin to a chemistry experiment in a lab. Doing 120 mph on the outer lane of the banked circuit in torrential rain with the roof down, marvellous! I would like to really master skid control and drifting one day!

Day two, out on the road was equally rewarding and enjoyable, again taking everything learned on day one and applying it to real world situations. The route we took was brilliant, a great mix of challenging roads and conditions. I particularly liked the part where we went back and forth several times on the same stretch of road, each time adding incremental speed. This built my confidence and the feel and communication back from the car: you immediately know if each corner was driven really well or not – good ones are so rewarding, being smooth and quick with minimal input required.

In addition, learning subtle things like better gear selection, creating and maintaining a safety bubble and escape route, gapping and controlling the cars around you, optimal road positioning in all conditions (even driving through villages) to command/control the road and inform others of your intent, controlling speed coming to junctions in order to avoid all unnecessary stops were all new to me and will change the way I drive.

Some of the above was counter-intuitive to what I had learned and reinforced in my driving over many years and as such will take time to readjust to. There is no doubt about it: “Practice makes perfect” so I will endeavour to apply all that I learned every time I get behind the wheel. I have taken the very significant first steps to being a better driver, yet now recognise that the way ahead is long and steep. I look forward to returning for another course, and elevating my driving and the enjoyment it brings to the next level. My thanks again, much appreciated and I hope to see you again soon.

C. Collard

I found both days extremely well planned and appropriately tuned into teaching me the right way to drive quickly yet also in a safe and thoroughly enjoyable manner, at the same time eliminating 43 years of bad driving habits.