If you are here reading this then there is good chance that one of your hobbies is going round and round in some sort of tarmac layout painted with coloured curbstones, consuming endless amounts of fuel, tires and brake pads.
If you have been doing this for a long time then i want you to go back to your first days and attempts and try and recollect your driving, your approach to going faster, your trial & error moments.
How many things would have you done differently? And why?
I know there are plenty i would change and some things i wouldn’t.
You see its the sum of our talent and our experience that totals the level of our driving performance.
You can’t have one without the other.
Raw and unrefined talent is nothing without experience and the same applies for the opposite.
Coming from Greece, things were not so developed in this sport 15+ years ago!
You see now they have it easy with companies such a Track-Speed.com on site at Serres Racing Circuit. (More on that on another post)
Personally, looking back i now know how much more beneficial it would be for me and my driving exelixis to have someone experienced and skilled sit me down and in a professional manner explain and analyze my weaknesses, my strong points and my way down the laptime board.
So as a professional performance driving coach for the last 4 years, let me briefly explain how YOU can benefit and save money, time, avoid a possible accident, save your car from excessive wear and tear and at the same time improve and finesse your driving skills.
Driving Skills Analysis
A good instructor usually needs just a few corners to be able to identify the points which he can address and how he/she should go about prioritising them.
- Racing line analysis
- Steering wheel inputs
- Pedal inputs
- Braking performance
- Comfort zone
- Car positioning
- Space awareness
- Risk management
- and many more…
Advanced Track Knowledge
Although not necessary, having a coach of your choice next to you at a certain racetrack somewhere means that they probably have extended knowledge of the place.
And how could this be beneficial to you, well by offering you all the following…
- General reference points
- Turn in points
- Braking points
- Corner particularities
- Camber/Crest information
- Tarmac differences
- Blind spots
- Elevation change effects
- and many more..
Live Feedback
When i was young and just beginning driving on track i always used to have my precious camcorder with me to record my driving sessions and later on i also purchased my first data acquisition system.
After having finished with my day at the track, i used to go back home and replay all of my driving sessions to find what i should improve and how to go about it.
But what if i had a person right there, explaining me on the spot – live – why and how to change something!
How to experiment and try different approaches on taking a corner or moving deeper in a brake point or making a larger arc through a corner or or or…
How much money i would have saved by not having to go there again, with a good set of tires, travel expenses, hotels yada yada yada you know the drill, by just having a person next to me, exclusively for me talking me through it and explaining me step by step the things i should address to become a better and faster driver.
Staying Safe
This is probably the most underrated aspect of this profession and let me explain why.
Being a long term established professional in something usually means that you carry lots of knowledge/experience in doing that something.
Of course we all have to start from somewhere and build through it but still that doesn’t make my point any less valid.
The more experience you build around something, the more easily you can predict outcomes. And the more easier and faster you can do this processing when driving on track, the less chances there are to get yourself and your driver in a situation which can end badly.
When driving on track, everything is happening at blistering speeds. When we are travelling with speeds way over 200kmh it only takes a split of a second for things to go bad.
A professional coach seating to the passenger side is not a God nor can save all kinds of accidents waiting to happen but a good coach will save you from that unlucky moment 90% of the times.
Have i been in such situation? PLENTY OF TIMES.
How many times the driver ever acknowledged the importance of my input, which was what made him lift,brake, straighten, let the car run wide etc soon enough to prevent the scary moment from actually occurring? CLOSE TO NONE.
This has nothing to do with the drivers’s manners or ability to think but this has everything to do with the instructor’s ability to visualise what is coming next and pro-act seamlessly to alter the outcome.
Which bring me to my last point….
Prevention
This is one of the most important things you can and should aim to gain from your coaching sessions.
All of the things that we are discussing above are critical for each visit you make on a track, on a hillclimb, a sprint race, hell even on the road when you are surrounded by other cars daily.
Manage to start understanding, digest and develop all the information given to you on each session and you can be sure that this will accompany you in your next trackday or race and help you avoid the difficult moment, help you question the way you are taking a corner and whether you should experiment a bit with it, alter your driving as the weather conditions change, adapt to the traffic around you to find the right pace and so many more that i could write forever!
Summary
Whether you are a beginner, a casual driver doing a few trackdays a year or even a pro-racer, finding the right person to tutor and coach you can greatly develop your whole approach on driving on a racetrack.
And remember that as with everything social related, chemistry between people will also play its role in the development and speed of the whole process.
Q&A
Do you have questions? Do you want to know how to start? Do you want to drive any of Europe’s most famous tracks but do not have a car to do so? Are you interested only in hot taxi laps? Are you interested only in renting a car?
Well click the button below or email me directly at info@kzannos.com to see how we can find the best option for YOU!
