2005 News...

More 1 to 1 training at Silverstone in the Lotus.

Since my last news item I've been to the Silverstone Motorsport Academy for two more 1 to 1 sessions. My instructor for these session was Tim Mullen, who drives a Ferrari in the British GT Championship and is regarded as one of the best instructors.

During the 1st session, Tim took me onto the South circuit at Silverstone. He was a bit unsure as to what I could do, but once I proved I could change gear smoothly he started to show me the driving lines of the circuit and pushed me to go faster. I managed to get up to 110mph this time, but I can still hear Tim shouting in that Irish brogue brake...Brake...BRAKE!! I wasn't braking hard enough when I approached some corners so that was going to need some work.

In the 2nd 1 to 1 session with Tim, we use the Stowe circuit which he had suggested at the last session to improve my braking skills. The stowe circuit is the small circuit in the middle of the Silverstone complex and is used for a lot of the driver training. The weather was very wet and the track was greasy but this didn't matter. I only spun out once much to the surprise of my Dad. I learnt a lot during this session and Tim said I had done well to control the Lotus in the conditions.

After the session we found out that if I was to do the four day intensive course I wouldn't have been able to have driven in the single seater race due to my age. So I have decided to do some more 1 to 1 sessions between now and my next birthday and then do the four day course.