Oulton Park held their first Novice only Track Day on Friday 14th February. This gives the less experienced driver an opportunity to drive the circuit with people of a similar level of track knowledge. A busy day with quite a few “first timers” taking to the track. We were very busy on the ARDS race licence testing with no fewer than 21 drivers taking their test! Most of them were taking advantage of the medical staff being on hand to …

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THE BEST JOB IN THE WORLD? I find it hard to believe that I am already starting my second year as a full time race driver coach. 2013 turned out to be a great year for me as I launched my driver coaching business full time and left the motor trade industry where I had worked for 30 years – I can only say it was definitely the right decision at the right time for me! Throughout the year the …

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The day after my first track day and I was back at Oulton for the first race school of the year. I was delighted to discover I was “in car” for this event, which meant meeting the clients during the day and taking them around the circuit in the BMW M3’s before handing them the steering wheel and giving them as much help & advice as I could during their time with me. Really enjoyed the day: it’s been a …

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First track day of the year was at Oulton Park organised by MSV. An incredibly busy day with no less than 21 ARDS race licence tests being booked. In addition to this, I also had a 1 hour coaching session with a novice driver as well. Very satisfying day with lots of progress made for the novice driver I was teamed up with. My contribution for the ARDS tests was 6 clients, all passed!! A good day!

Over to Stafford on Thursday 30th January for my first day of the year with Drive-Me and their Supercar Experience day. Mixed day weather wise: wet in the morning, drying by the afternoon, but very cold all day. I was thankful to be in the Aston Martin Vantage all day, with an excellent heating system including the seats! Very busy day considering it was still so early in the season, bodes well for the remainder of the year

Dave Billington’s Van Diemen Formula Ford is currently undergoing its winter rebuild. At the time of writing, the chassis is away having various cracks repaired, the dampers are away being recalibrated and rebuilt and the engine is also being refreshed. So, there’s not a lot left for me to start putting it back together! It’s our intention to have at least one test day before the first meeting April possibly on Anglesey. Watch this space !

Saturday 18th January, first day of the year for the Race School and a busy day at 3-Sisters, despite far from ideal conditions, very damp and a greasey track, the day was full of very excited customers looking forward to their time out on the track. My duties for the day were carrying out the familiarsation laps: introducing the clients to the circuit layout and the system of cones that are used. All in all, a great day!

12th April Oulton Park (Double Header) 10th & 11th May Anglesey 31st May Oulton Park 28th June Oulton Park 12th & 13th July Donington Park 30th August Oulton Park (Double Header) 27th & 28th September Anglesey 11th October (Double Header) These dates are provisional and are subject to change.

Dave Billington’s Van Diemen Formula Ford was finally ready for inspection & re-assembly after being subject to a complete strip down. All major components had been cleaning and closely inspected for damage, wear etc. All 4 dampers were ready to be dispatched back to the manufacturers for re-calibration. The chassis, now bare, revealed two cracks which will need to be attended to. The first, was on a weld on a bottom chassis rail, the second is a little more serious …

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Final day of the year for me in an instructing capacity saw me taking the long haul down to Snetterton for capacity day at this tricky circuit. Again, a large number of BAT Caterhams were on duty, myself and Richard Forres in charge of the instructing. A great day to round out the year and despite there being a few novices in my charge and with the conditions being very cold & damp to begin with, only one spin!! I …

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