Remember Drivers Ed? Some high school teacher earning a little extra money by taking their life in their hands teaching kids with learner’s permits how to parallel park. This was definitely nothing like that. Miles Ahead is a MINI Performance Motoring School held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The Instructors are race car drivers. Sue and I had the opportunity to be a part of their third Performance Motoring class yesterday, which was interesting, to put it mildly. They have had a MINI Teen Motoring School since 2011 that I would recommend for any parent who wants their young driver to be safer on the road.
So Sunday morning we arrived at the hallowed ground of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway to see three rows of MINI Coopers (2013 White Silver & Black Automatic John Cooper Works MINI Cooper S Hardtop models to be precise) Each with names on the roof denoting the driver of that car for the day. Two cars had two names on them, everyone else was going solo. The school started with introductions and a brief history of the track. We were told the philosophy of the school – which was to give us the “basic tools to enjoy a track day or autocross.” In my opinion the key component to any driving school is the opportunity to practice what you have been taught in the classroom. To do this Miles Ahead uses a portion of the F1 road course for instruction along with a large parking lot. For the morning we were divided into three groups of four MINIs- Each group rotated from station to station. Communication was via radio only, and was one way- instructor to students. As a teacher all I could think of was how funny this scenario would be in a school… or how sad that so many classrooms are still like this- teacher talks- kids listen.
During the morning we focused on the basics, apexes, skidding, braking, testing our limits and those of the JCW MINI. While many true enthusiasts might giggle at the use of an automatic, I really think that it took away one element that would have detracted from what we were working on. If I had to worry about shifting on top of everything else… I just remember my last instructor at Phil Wick’s as we headed around the course- “Now aim towards that cone, when I tell you hit the brakes, shift into second, and turn hard right. – Now!” I was flummoxed and confused at what to do first…his response – “That’s OK we’ll get it next time around.” We didn’t get it the next time, or the time after that.
After lunch three groups became two as we headed out to practice the skills we hopefully picked up in the morning on the road course and the autocross. Sue and I may have needed a little more time to pick up skills… Miles Ahead had opened up the road course portion of the Speedway (the inner section turning it into a short course). Run south, run north, change lead car, rinse and repeat. As drivers got more confident with their abilities and the course, speeds increased. There was a time when the instructors stopped to go over the importance of hitting the apex… something I rarely saw them do. I had been driving most of the time- after attempting to make a driver switch when we weren’t supposed to. So when Sue finally got to take the wheel, everyone was limber and going at a pretty quick pace. When the radio crackled with “Now let’s go faster” I could see Sue visibly tense up. Fortunately for her it was only for two laps before we switched to the autocross practice.
I did an autocross in 2006, it was a funny story, I was terrible at it- after three runs, they told me I had disqualified on each run for going the wrong way… For those people who don’t know about autocross, a track is drawn on large flat area – parking lot, tarmac, etc. and defined further by cones. If you knock over a cone, time is added. This course had been created by changing the area where the skid pad was in the morning. Sue took the MINI and practiced on the course. When asked, I decided to turn it down and said “Sue didn’t have that much time on the road, let her have my time on the autocross.” Sue was back to having some fun and I did what I usually do on track days, take pictures– which made me happy.
After a quick break we went out for the last part of the day with the warning (advice) to not push it, to try using what we had learned and to take it up a notch or two – but nothing wild and crazy. So Sue started off on the road course and I hung on for dear life. “Keep proper spacing… keep looking ahead…” kept coming from the radio, I think they could have just recorded it and put it on an infinite loop. I started to try to help Sue as I could tell, after 23 years of marriage, that she was getting a bit frustrated. After one lap, I remembered how I felt after Sue would try to give me advice on the golf course and shut my mouth and held on. When my turn came, I felt a little out of it, but decided that I needed to go at my pace, and if I end up with the nickname Captain Slow, so be it. I practiced on hitting the apex and trail braking and trying to put into practice what I had heard in the classroom and practiced in the morning. The last lap I was in the back position and all I heard over the radio was “Maybe that lap was a little too hot” I had no idea what had happened because I was much more than 5 car lengths away from the car in front of me.
After each driver in our group attempted four consistent laps on the autocross, we returned to the classroom and had the option of taking a “hot lap” with an instructor… I turned them down, since I know that going as fast as a professional driver can go through all those turns I would probably just throw up, and the cleaning bill for those Alcantara seats would be outrageous.
As I think about how things went I ask myself- How good was I my third day of teaching? Don’t ask. I feel sorry for that class. How good was my comic on the third strip? Don’t ask. I can’t believe I actually published some of the early strips. To judge Miles Ahead completely on their third class is unfair. I had a nice day, driving my version of fast, and learned (and refined) some skills. I should have asked questions of the instructors when I had the chance. While that is not normally in my nature, it is something that might have improved the experience for both Sue and for me. All I know from feedback is we as a class did “great!” and made “lot’s of improvement!” I had an art teacher in high school who would tell every student their work was “Great! I love it!” did we ever learn how to make our art better? Not really. Did they meet their mission, to give us the basic tools to enjoy a track day or autocross? I’m not sure Sue gained any confidence in her abilities – if anything she may have lost some. For me- I’m fine, but then again I’m not as competitive as Sue, or worried about what other people think. She’s still going over the autocross times (she took a photo of them), and muttering about how she still doesn’t know what she needs to do to improve.
Now- Would I do it again, if given the chance? Yes. Would Sue? I’m not so sure about that. If she did, it wouldn’t be in a shared car- we had been warned, but that was our only option for the day. Sharing a car made us both feel behind as whoever was driving was always trying to catch up. That and being only the third class I’m guessing the instructors really hadn’t figured out how to deal with switching drivers. I think this experience has also reminded us that if we really want learn something, we are going to have to ask questions (difficult when you are told and reminded not to use the radios) and be more assertive. I think if we had spoken up more we would have gotten the feedback we needed, then again- Sue did take one of those “hot laps” and asked the driver specifically about how he knew it was time to brake or turn, the answer- “You know in your gut.”
I’d like to thank Ted, Stephan, Kevin, Dan, and Ryan for putting up with us (and the monkey) for the day, and if a Law Enforcement Officer pulls me over anytime soon, I’ll make sure to tell them that you said I was supposed to practice my skills and they should talk with you, I know I’ve got your cards somewhere around here.
If you want to see most of the pictures of the day check out my Flickr Set.
