Format of the BMWCC Advanced Driving School PDF Print E-mail

Addressing Different Skill Levels

Part of the challenge of operating an advanced driving school is that it attracts participants at many different skill levels, all of whom need to be instructed at their particular level.  We accomplish this be assessing the previous experience of students, and then dividing them into "run groups."  We generally use three run groups representing novice, intermediate, and advanced drivers.  Drivers are then matched to instructors within the run groups, with more advanced students being paired with the more advanced instructors.  This way, we can tailor the classroom sessions and skid pad exercises to specific skill levels, and less advanced students are not intimidated by more advanced students on the track.

Rotating Sessions

Students rotate between classroom, skid pad, and track sessions throughout their two-day experience. Sessions last approximately 25 minutes, which we find strikes an appropriate balance between Peter Spencer briefs students on track etiquette the desire for seat time and the need to keep students from tiring and losing focus ... which is particularly important on the track. Novice students will start in the classroom and be taught basic fundamentals; intermediate students generally start with driving exercises on the skid pad; and, advanced students with previous track experience get their feet wet right away.  There is ample time to debrief as a group, or one-on-one with an instructor, both between and during sessions. Students may also be driven by the instructor in the instructor's own car to demonstrate specific techniques.

Students can expect approximately 6 hours of seat time through the two-day course.

The Track is a Classroom

At BMWCC Advanced Driving Schools, the track is a classroom.  This is perhaps no more evident than during Instructor Lance Hogarth describes the ideal line the "Track Walk", where students literally walk through every corner with their group leader to learn the layout and more subtle characteristics such as the location of the curbing, the apex, and the clipping points; which are essential to learning the optimal line.  That learning is continued through exercises designed to demonstrate and hone the specific skills necessary to effect the optimal line. And then, of course, there is ample time on the track learning how to drive the optimal line first hand.