MattW

I've been on a number of driving days, generally rallying and although a lot of fun, they did not translate skills to the real world. So for my recent birthday I decided to treat myself to a performance driving course using these people. Friday was the day, so here is a little taster of what went on.

Turned up at Jon Cave's house (well bungalow) just before 8am, and greeted by Jon puffing on a big cigar. I can see why he was referred to as Big Jon in the website testimonials, if you fancy the course, don't turn up in a Mini!!! He proceeded to check the car over for roadworthiness, tested tyre pressures to make sure they were even and off we went.

Jon asked me to take the wheel and drive how I would normally do. I must admit it felt like I was on a driving test, but a bit of banter from Jon had me relaxed and driving confidently. Whilst I was driving, Jon asked me what my objective for the day was, and asked me to rate my own driving. After about 15 minutes we pulled over in a car park, and Jon took the wheel for a spirited drive including a running commentry. First thing I noticed, apart from how quick we were going, was Jon's use of the road, and the fact that even though we were hitting 3 figure speeds, how controlled and smooth the ride was.

We stopped for coffee and Jon explained "the system" to me, offered some constructive criticism of my driving and gave me some advice on how to improve. He told me that 30, 40, and 50 were to be respected, but the white sign with a black stripe through it was the G.L.F. area!!!. We then went for a run for 40-50 minutes where I attempted to put into practice what Jon had told me.

We stopped again for coffee, and talked more about the "system" where Jon attempted to further iron out my bad habts. We went for a blast past Jeremey Clarkson's house, and up towards the Cotswolds, through some stunning towns and villages most of which have turned into a blur between the A road driving with Jon shouting "Faster" and "More Gas" followed by "Eat my lead sucker" as another car became a dot in the rear view mirror.

A further stop for coffee had Jon introducing some concepts regarding perception and where to focus primary view. Some of which sounded quite daunting in fact, but with an open mind we went out again where I put these concepts into practice with the "system". Now I was going some, mile after mile of country A, B road and lane, passing line upon line of traffic. It was all very hard work though and I was glad to stop for lunch.

Over lunch we had a discussion about speed, the Police and good old speed enforcement, Jon relayed some stories about Thames Valley Police in particular. Finally we went for a good long run of about an hour and a half where Jon took more of a back seat in terms of coaching, and I practiced the skills he'd taught me. We pulled up at Jon's house and he went through my performance and rated my before and after drives. He also explained a little about the IAM, Rospa and Class 1 exams and how my driving compared with the standards required.

Overall an excellent day out, I feel like I've learnt a lot, I bet the M5 that I passed on the way home got the shock of his life . Highly recommended!

lardypants

top stuff sounds like he spends some quality time with ya too