We have recently come back from a trip up north which included an hours session driving round Knockhill with an instructor. The idea was to do a couple of sighter laps for you got get to know the circuit and the instructor to get to know your driving style. This was followed by the instructor showing you the racing line, ten followed by a lap whereby he would make a mistake at turn one and how it punishes you for the remainder of the lap.
You then get back into the driving seat and the instructor is like a human sat nav, giving you instructions on breaking, hitting the apex etc. After about ten laps you come in for a breather before going out for another ten laps. There are wee cones put out to give you a visual clue as to where you should be, ie start breaking, stop breaking, turning in, the apex and then accelerate.
When the GF was going round there was a BMW 335i cabriolet going round at about 70 seconds a lap. There was also the circuits Ferrari and Aston Martin going round, such great sounds. She smoked the Ferrari and she tells me they WERE trying!
On my session there was an Alfa Romeo GT (diesel I think judging by the smog) going round doing the same, it offered little resistance and it was smoked. The other car I passed was a classic Jaguar E-Type. It was great to see that going, and on a track. The GF tells me that my lap times were also about the 70 seconds a lap. The brakes seemed to fade pretty quickly as did the fuel - half a tank and I even had marbles on my tyres at the end. My max speed was 105mph but the best laps were a slightly lower speed, but more control in the bends.
If you have the urge to take your car round a track, I can highly recommend it, a real hoot. At the end of the session, I was mentally exhausted, physically bushed and in a slight state of euphoria. I have to add, it is nothing like driving on the road, sounds obvious, but until you try, you will never know!
Sorry, no photos, I took loads, but the SD card is now buggered and everything is lost, grrrrr.
You then get back into the driving seat and the instructor is like a human sat nav, giving you instructions on breaking, hitting the apex etc. After about ten laps you come in for a breather before going out for another ten laps. There are wee cones put out to give you a visual clue as to where you should be, ie start breaking, stop breaking, turning in, the apex and then accelerate.
When the GF was going round there was a BMW 335i cabriolet going round at about 70 seconds a lap. There was also the circuits Ferrari and Aston Martin going round, such great sounds. She smoked the Ferrari and she tells me they WERE trying!
On my session there was an Alfa Romeo GT (diesel I think judging by the smog) going round doing the same, it offered little resistance and it was smoked. The other car I passed was a classic Jaguar E-Type. It was great to see that going, and on a track. The GF tells me that my lap times were also about the 70 seconds a lap. The brakes seemed to fade pretty quickly as did the fuel - half a tank and I even had marbles on my tyres at the end. My max speed was 105mph but the best laps were a slightly lower speed, but more control in the bends.
If you have the urge to take your car round a track, I can highly recommend it, a real hoot. At the end of the session, I was mentally exhausted, physically bushed and in a slight state of euphoria. I have to add, it is nothing like driving on the road, sounds obvious, but until you try, you will never know!
Sorry, no photos, I took loads, but the SD card is now buggered and everything is lost, grrrrr.
) and an R8. The other drivers were all with instructors but had widely varying experience and the track was short and tortuous. I will admit that I was trying quite hard :evil: