David owns some pretty powerful road cars, a 600 bhp Porsche and an Ariel Atom, but chose to take a day's training at Donington in our BMW...

My main aim for the day was to learn how to handle the car on the limit but not make a fool of myself. We started with me in the driving seat. The rain kept coming and the track was very slippery. People were sliding off all over the place. A few of the other cars got quite badly damaged and some who had turned up for the day did not bother going on track for fear of wrecking their cars.

I drove quite conservatively for the first couple of sessions to get the feel of the track and the car and indeed Tim! He is very relaxed but kept gently encouraging me to go faster. We were in the "Experienced" group. The other groups were "Novice" and "Intermediate". Initially we were being overtaken quite a lot. Most if not all of the other cars were considerably more powerful and I was being very sensible due to the unfamiliar car and the slippery conditions.

I suggested that Tim have a drive so he could feel the state of the track and show me how it was done. This was useful in as much as it quiclky demonstrated where the limits of adhesion were for the BMW.

My turn again and I took a slightly more agressive approach to the track. The weather worsened and we spun a couple of times but everyone was doing that.
With Tim's guidance and encouragement I began drifting the car at fair speeds round every corner and became more and more confident with each session. We were suddenly keeping up with the more powerful cars and probably a bit quicker through the corners.

The rain was so bad in the end that there was a small river running across the track on the approach to McLeans corner! Each lap we would hit this at about 90 mph and just stay on the throttle as the car floated sideways across half the track before regaining grip. We were laughing our heads off and it was very exciting.
By the end of the day my confidence was boosted and Tim was very complimentary towards me and the improvement in my driving. In the end the bad weather had turned out to be a big bonus and I doubt if I would have learned as much if it had been dry.

Tim's relaxed and encoraging style suited me very well and we both enjoyed the day. I do not think that many instructors would have encouraged me to push the limits as much as Tim did, especially in the conditions and considering that he did not know me or my driving. I will certainly be going out with him again and would be happy to recommend him as an instructor.

David Ryan
Minsterley Ranges
BMW 320i Training Car