Caterham Academy 2013: Practice makes perfect
The Performance Car Show and PH.com's Caterham Academy driver Dan Livingstone reports back on his pre-season testing
My first Academy day since collecting the Caterham arrived, and I made my way to Silverstone. The weather was horrendous on the journey and hadn’t improved by the time we arrived.
Practise starts were plenty of fun, though
The rest of the day included a number of different slalom courses which had been marked out by cones. We were given three practice runs then had an added bit of pressure by being timed against the clock. This added a great bit of competition to the day. My slalom runs went well and I overheard the Caterham instructor mention that a couple of them were quick – nice to know you’re getting on OK!
At the start of the day Jennifer Grace, the championship coordinator, mentioned that a Super Slalom course would be set out and there would be trophies to the top three places. The course combined the two from the previous activities, and required excellent car control. We were allowed one practice run, and then one timed run.
Super Slalom was demanding!
Once everyone had finished their timed runs, Jennifer announced the results. From last place to 11th, my name wasn’t mentioned; already, I was pleased that I had made the top 10. In actual fact, I finished fifth overall and was four-tenths off second place. My goal had been to get into the top 10, so I was really chuffed with fifth place!
Castle Combe - Exclusive Test Day
The exclusive Caterham Academy Test Day took place at Castle Combe, a track we’d all visited before when we completed our ARDS race licence test, so we all had some experience.
When we attended the safety briefing, we were informed that the day would be run as a test day rather than a track day – meaning we could overtake anywhere we wanted. We were split into groups and I was allocated 15 minutes of track time every hour.
Dan leads the pack out at Castle Combe
As the day went on there were plenty of cars spinning on the final corner. This one’s extremely important to get right because it can cost you a lot of time as you lead down the long run to Avon Rise, the first corner, which is where I had my one and only spin of the day.
Lining up for a pass (already!)
During the last two sessions of the day I then had some great battles, with plenty of late braking and defensive driving. The test day was a success and I left the circuit feeling like I’d taken another step toward becoming competitive this year.
The next event for me is Round One of the Championship which will be at Aintree Race Circuit in Liverpool. I can't wait!
Previous Updates:
The season begins - Dan collects the keys to his new car
The lucky winner of our 2013 Caterham Academy drive is announced
I did the very first 'Scholarship' as it was called way back then in '95
Two Auto tests, two sprints, two hill climbs and two races. The auto tests were just soooo embarasing in a Caterham with the handbrake in the passenger footwell - that NO ONE got to work for more than one handbrake turn - in a car with no LSD! I think everyone complained about them, so it was never used again in the Championship since = lucky you
Our races were at Mallory and Cadwell. I can't remember who did our 'star' briefing, a Touring Car driver of the time, all he said was 'if you don't crash here, you will at Cadwell' literally - what a tool.
Enjoy it mate, it is so addictive, be warned! I raced my 7 until the end of the 1999 season, then I ended up doing two 24hr races at the Nurburgring, in a 7. 2000 and 2001..... Now that is an experience I'll never forget, both times!
Mark
I did the very first 'Scholarship' as it was called way back then in '95
Two Auto tests, two sprints, two hill climbs and two races. The auto tests were just soooo embarasing in a Caterham with the handbrake in the passenger footwell - that NO ONE got to work for more than one handbrake turn - in a car with no LSD! I think everyone complained about them, so it was never used again in the Championship since = lucky you
Our races were at Mallory and Cadwell. I can't remember who did our 'star' briefing, a Touring Car driver of the time, all he said was 'if you don't crash here, you will at Cadwell' literally - what a tool.
Enjoy it mate, it is so addictive, be warned! I raced my 7 until the end of the 1999 season, then I ended up doing two 24hr races at the Nurburgring, in a 7. 2000 and 2001..... Now that is an experience I'll never forget, both times!
Mark
Roll on my first race at Donington in July :-)
Gassing Station | General Motorsport | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff