,
That was our focus during day two of our school. Day 1 it was the instructor talking; Day 2 it was the student. Rob Stone, one of my past instructors, has said many times that when the student stops talking then they may be losing focus or they are driving beyond their capability. And sometimes, from my personal experience, it could be that they are just reveling in the connection they feel between human, machine, and track! Regardless, that is time to pull your student onto pit row and have a chat. Find out where they are. Another indicator, if there are three errors in a lap – and these do not need to be big errors – pull in and have that chat because it is more fun to chat on pit row than it is to chat on or in a tire wall. Instructing should take place on pit row just as it should on the track. Pre and post-track discussions are a must to ensure that the right message is being heard.
The bottom line is that high performance driving schools are incredibly beneficial. You will learn more about your car and its capabilities. More importantly, you will find out more about yourself as a driver and your own capabilities. I have been an instructor with Ontario Time Attack since 2008 so I want to be clear that I may have a bias in my focus. If you are near Canadian Tire Motorsport Park then you will want to look up this organization and participate with them in May 2015. We have students from across Ontario and sometimes from other provinces or the States bordering Ontario. Better yet, you may want to participate in OTA’s time attack events. Instructors are available in the morning at every event so you can get some lessons in before you compete. If you want to experience all of Ontario’s race tracks but have limited time for travel, then you need to check out the Ontario 1500 that will happen in 2015. Set aside a week and enjoy all that Ontario has to offer!
Ontario Time Attack – http://www.casc.on.ca/timeattack
Canadian Automobile Sports Clubs – Ontario Region – http://www.casc.on.ca/
Ontario 1500 – http://ontario1500.ca/
Canadian Sport Compact Series – http://cscs.ca/
Sigma – http://www.sigmatimeattack.ca/
Canadian Tire Motorsport Park – http://canadiantiremotorsportpark.com/
OnPoint Dyno – http://www.onpointdyno.com/
Point Zero AutoSound and Performance – on FaceBook
R-Division – on FaceBook
Frank Ewald Motorsports – http://www.frankewald.com