Driver Training Day - 13th July 2014

16 July 2014 / Words and photos by David Lawler

Cracking off the ice from my car to get the doors open is not something I have had to do previously, but after staying overnight at Goulburn last weekend that is exactly what I had to do on Sunday morning. That, along with then avoiding the many ice patches on the Hume Hwy during the 20 min trip to Marulan gave me grave concerns about what the day would bring.

Fortunately, from that point on things looked up, and the day came up clear and bright, although still cold, for our Driver Training Day at the Marulan Driver Training Centre (MDTC).

We soon had 52 drivers arrive at the MDTC and proceed to the office to sign-on and if necessary hire a helmet for the day or purchase a MDTC track license. On hand were 12 club members with extensive on-track experience who were available for the day to act as in-car advisors, so the 20 track first-timers had a great opportunity to learn the basics of track driving and to work on developing their new skills through the day.

We all started with a walk of the track, with Jeff from MDTC pointing out some key features of the track, and offering some advice on how lap quickly. Michael Hall from Deckspeed then gave the first-timers a briefing on car preparation, while the first group of more experienced drivers "broke the ice" on the track, almost literally.

Drivers were allocated into "run groups" based on their previous experience, with 6 or 7 drivers in each group. The run groups were sent out onto the track in turn, with each group given a 10 minute session before the chequered flag was shown to bring them off the track so the next group could then have a go.

While most drivers found the 10 minute sessions went by in a flash, they still had plenty of time to work on their track driving, with 6 runs available over the day. There was a noticeable improvement in the quality of driving by the first-timers over the day, due no doubt to time on track to practice, and the guidance they received from the advisors.

A special thanks to Bryan Shedden, Ed Cory, Glenn Thomas, Greg Bunn, Keith Monaghan, Lesa Bunn, Phil Ashton, Peter Feutrill, Russ Maxwell, Steve Green and Stewart Temesvary for giving up their time to come along and give the benefit of their advice.

Also, a special thanks to Deckspeed for their ongoing support of the MX-5 club, and particularly their donation to the club which helped to subsidise the entry fees for this event, particularly for first-timers. Michael Hall was at Marulan representing Deckspeed, and his wife and daughter drove a Deckspeed race car in the first-timer sessions. However they nearly had a very interesting day as Michael had almost forgotten to put a  passenger seat in the race car before they left for Marulan.

Another day at Marulan is being planned for Sunday 26th October, so stay tuned for further announcements.

If anyone has photos or videos from the driver training day that they are willing to share, please contact me (competition@mx5.com.au), and I will add to the links below. We can all benefit from looking at pictures and videos and seeing what others have done right or done wrong!

Provided by	Photo and video links
David Lawler	https://www.flickr.com/photos/125427974@N08/sets/72157645691307891/
Rob Broadhead	https://www.dropbox.com/sh/ev7y82u0ekhreyu/AAC6lvs1oyXf-ymWx9ymvcL_a
Bryan Shedden
Guy Coles	https://www.flickr.com/photos/guycoles/sets/72157645319306217/
Josh Fitzgerald	Maship of my second time out  http://youtu.be/6wVYC8D_Ajs 30 seconds of my little spinout!  http://youtu.be/SH8mOtw-JDY