Benfits of Coaching for Novices

Less than two months ago I bought a 360 spider, my first (and likely last) Ferrari. I'm a senior citizen, and having a car of that capability can be a bit of a handful, especially for someone without any significant knowledge or experience with high powered, highly capable sports cars.

Our local Ferrari club sponsored a two day event at the full course at VIR, which I happily attended. Then I tried to decide how best to learn about my car, in a safe environment.

I've known Peter Krause for many years. He's ProCoach on this forum, and my initial introduction to Peter was many years ago when I asked him to address a long list of "issues" on my 1991 Alfa Romeo Spider. I asked Peter to treat it as if it was his own car, and to do what was necessary to make it safe, reliable and fun. Peter discussed a budget with me and the car was everything I hoped, and was delivered earlier than promised and below budget. More importantly everything was done right, and little things were attended to that I would never have known to ask about.

With that history I called Peter and asked if he was available for the VIR event. He was, and suggested that a full two day coaching experience was the preferred route to achieving what I wanted to accomplish. At this point I was wondering if, given my lack of experience, a two day coach was what I needed, especially given the added cost and the fact that the Ferrari club had instructors available as part of the event fee.

Peter noticed my unspoken concern and suggested that we have lunch to discuss my objectives and his coaching approach. Peter was telepathic, answering my questions before I even voiced them. He had a lot of material with him for me to read, and didn't push or press me to make a commitment. He just offered his services, reviewed the benefits and let me make the decision. My decision was to have Peter coach me, and I'm glad I did.

Peter's approach was terrific. We both realized that I was not going to challenge the track record, but that learning basic skills and knowing how to apply them would serve me well. He was right. Frankly, with the tools he used I was able to see that what I thought was aggressive braking wasn't, and that the car had a LOT more capability for me to explore. Gently, gradually and patiently Peter had me moving up the basic driver skill checklist - not striving for speed, but for accuracy and repeatability. Much to my surprise as I became familiar with the car, and listened to his advice, speed came naturally.

No, I didn't set the track record, nor did I care. I learned how to handle my car, and did so safely and easily. The combination of a skilled coach, using the latest technology (in car camera, data acquisition, GPS tracking, etc.) gave me immediate feedback and allowed me to see how the car responded to my inputs. The internal camera angle showed my hand position, and the rest of the information showed the car and track along with G forces and other information.

What was critical for me was Peter's realization that I was becoming "saturated", worrying too much about shifting, track position, speed and everything else to focus on basics. So he slowed it down, took a few laps as driver and had me observe what he was doing differently from me.

The two days flew by, and despite still not being a threat to the track record, I have a far greater command of my car, and have overcome whatever lingering "fear" or hesitation I may have had. I can now enjoy my car, know what it will do, and what I don't have the skill yet to do, and the result is exactly what I wanted - a basic level of skill learned in a totally safe manner that I can build upon.

For those who are in a similar situation I strongly suggest making the commitment to learn with a professional coach. Peter is professional, focused and reassuring. My progress was terrific. More importantly, by not focusing solely on lap times I got to understand more that I would have any other way.

Thanks Peter!

 

Yes, the temporary bra was Trakk Tape. I probably overdid the amount I applied to the car, but the result was just what I wanted. Not a mark on the car, and the Trakk Tape took all of the hits.