Driver Coaching

When it feels right, it usually is. The aim is to enable you to be able to see for yourself when mistakes are made. Back to learning why – not just how. Probably every day, every circuit, every driver and every car differs so it’s all about you and not just working to a pre-set all purpose programme. However, certain fundamentals apply in finding an understanding of how the vehicle translates the inputs made in achieving the results you desire. How you manage these vital transitions may be covered in some of the following ways. The driver who finds the right solutions will be both faster and safer.

Learner Centred Coaching

We all have our own vision of being a good driver. This is filtered down and interpreted by us with numerous experiences starting from childhood. Some of these may act as obstacles to learning in various ways, some conscious and some not. A good coach must be aware of this and support the learning process appropriately to achieve deep learning and the self evaluation needed for ongoing personal development long after the session(s) end.

Driver coaching will take many forms depending on the driver, the car, and the environment at the time. A trackday driver will largely want to improve skills and a race driver mainly looks to find ways to save vital tenths of seconds.

Your day may look something like this but will be entirely designed for your individual needs.

• Meet and make a plan for your day
• Demonstration laps to show main points of the circuit and set initial objectives
• Customer drives for assessment by coach
• First debrief and review of objectives
• Customer drives again with focus on the specifics now set
• Lunch break debrief and review with detailed discussion and further target setting for following sessions
• Solo driving session observed by coach
• More work in car working on those performance aspects needing further attention
• Final debrief and analysis with summary and future plan for ongoing driver improvement

There are many distractions to learning that can be barriers to success and destroy our focus so these must be dealt with if one is to be able to listen and learn.

In sport there is never one moment that is the same as the other.

Key Points

• Optimum corner line – discovering and handling the factors involved, phases of the corner, physical aspects of the corner, dealing with problems.
• Maximising braking and acceleration
• Vehicle dynamics and weight distribution
• Understeer and Oversteer – a deeper understanding
• Understanding tyres, grip, steering, limit handling
• Essential smoothness and vision
• Saving those extra seconds

Performance Car Driver Coaching

John Norrington is available for Performance Driver Coaching at any circuit in the UK most regularly at the Bedford Autodrome, Brands Hatch, Castle Combe,  Silverstone, Snetterton and Thruxton circuits.

ARDS Coaching for Racing Drivers

John Norrington is available for ARDS Coaching at the following circuits in the UK Bedford Autodrome, Brands Hatch, Castle Combe, Silverstone, Snetterton and Thruxton circuits.