ARDS !!! help please`

[Kieran_A]

im looking to do my ARDS in june at either castle combe or thruxton and ive heard many different stories to how easy and hard it is !!! how hard is the driving side and how hard is the exam ??



kieran

[Racing Rod]

If I were you I would do your ARDS at Brands Hatch, they use the Indy circuit and as with other ARDS test days at any circuit, lay out cones for braking and turning points, it's just that being a small track you can see a lot more then you can when at Thruxton or CC. This is just a suggestion as sometimes the larger tracks take a bit more learning. I would also suggest that you book the morning as a pre test session, then do the ARDS in the afternoon. Learn your flags etc, they were multiple choice questions when I did it many many years ago so I assume they still are so it's quite hard to get them wrong provided you learn them first. The driving side is fairly straight forward, just follow what your morning session instructor tells you, keep to the rev limits, keep a decent, consistent speed, brake when instructed, turn where they tell you. Don't try and race through it as they are looking for your ability to "Smoothly" negotiate the track an follow the instructions given, relax and enjoy and by the end of the day you have the right to a National "B"

Good Luck

[winston_no1]

Yup I would definitely agree with Rod. When I took mine I opted for the mornings worth of tuition and not only was it a couple of hours being told exactly what to do and what they wanted it was also a good to get some extra time on the track.

The written bit of the exam is ok providing you watch the film thing that comes in the racing pack, and learn the flags etc.

The driving part is not about proving you’re the next Schumacher, ive heard of people failing it for going too fast as well as those who failed for going too slow, it is all about showing you are smooth and consistent lap after lap. I think the exam was three uninstructed laps

Good luck with it and enjoy .

Oh I did mine up at Croft – top people

[Gregor Marshall]

Did mine at Thruxton and would definitely give it the thumbs up. The only thing was that it is fast and it made me want to go faster and faster, but as the others said, it's not about speed, it's about smoothness.

Also, being 6"4 I struggled a bit with having a helmet on in the RX8, had to have me head tilted to one-side, which did make picking some of the braking point out a little difficult/

As for the actual day, just stay calm and relaxed, make sure you learn your flags etc and you'll be fine.