Driver Coaching
Driver Coaching For Professionals And Amateurs
During 40 years of racing at the highest international levels of motorsport, Tim Sugden’s 25 years as a paid, professional racing driver saw him claim hundreds of race wins and many championships all over the world.
For the past 15 years Tim has focussed his attention on passing his skills and knowledge over to assist other drivers as they look to improve their current performance.
Offering dedicated 1 to 1 coaching, Tim Sugden Motorsport has worked with all levels of drivers delivering bespoke coaching packages to suit each individual driver’s needs.
Whether you’re a young karter aiming at breaking in to F1, or an enthusiast amateur looking for that last few tenths, Tim Sugden Motorsport can tailor a tuition package for all levels of driving and budgets accordingly.
Tim Sugden Motorsport have many years experience competing within the top ranks of motorsport and are equipped with the expertise to provide coaching and advise.
on every aspect of making a career in motorsport. Many of our drivers have achieved success at various levels, with many race victories and titles to our credit.
1 To 1 Coaching
Although driving a racing car can seem very complicated, it is like most things, a learned skill.
Of course, some degree of natural ability is always going to be beneficial but not essential, as ultimately so much of driving a car properly is understanding and applying simple laws of physics to the specific of a car circulating a track.
Following an initial discussion of your needs and expectations, Tim will create a programme tailored to improving your specific driving skills and requirements. This is something that could be a one day event or a longer term plan of development.
A track day at a race or airfield circuit would be preferable for coaching, however, we can also use a simulator or a combination of both. A track day has the unique benefit of being able to actually sit next to each other and really feel the body language of the car and how the lap times are affected
What Happens On The Day
Ultimately what we do together on the day will be tailored to your needs, however, a typical coaching day for a novice would start with some real basics such as, seat position, hand position, vision, racing lines etc. Following this Tim would drive a few slow laps to show the lines, and generally allow you to get a feel for the car and the track.
The car would then be handed over to you where Tim will sit next to you advising and instructing throughout the day.
You would drive for most of the day, breaking the running of sessions in to 6-8 laps, with feedback and discussion between the sessions using lots of corner diagrams, and track maps to help you really understand what we’re aiming at.
The use of a Go-Pro further allows us to review laps and specific corners after a session, and the lunch break allows time to discuss general driving points and the progress from the morning.
From time to time during the day Tim will drive laps allowing you to observe a specific point or technique.
Only when good progress has been made with lines and techniques will Tim set a lap time, with you sat next to him observing exactly how that lap was achieved.
This enables you to compare your lap and lap times with Tim’s. You would then discuss the good and bad points of the lap,where time was gained and lost, crucially helping you to understand the key points of what actually creates a fast lap.
A full package day would include the circuit hire and the use of a car.
However, if you already have a suitable vehicle we can use this or a standard road car which can give some of the best results at very sensible costs.
In certain situations with experienced drivers, it will be possible to arrange a day in a racecar with intercom systems to allow communication.
Skills Specifically Addressed
– Correct Seat Position – A basic requirement
– Vision – Fundamental to good driving technique
– Racing Lines – Track position is all important
– Steering – Learn the benefits of progressive application
– Weight Transfer – Learn how it affects the car and how to control it
– Braking – Use of the trail brake technique
– Left Foot Braking – Simplifying the myth
– Heel And Toe – A massively powerful technique in some cars
– Feel The Limit – Learn how to drive to the grip available
– Engineering – Understand the effect changes make to the car
– Racing And Race Craft – There’s a lot to learn!
Analysing Driver Data
Fitting the car with a V-Box or data logger allows us to use the information to illustrate in detail the differences between lap times.
Data analysis is a major part of modern motorsport and most racing drivers and even the youngest karters are able to understand data telemetry.
We can help take that understanding to the next level and relate it to the way a good corner and a whole lap feels.
For an inexperienced driver looking to improve their skills we can breakdown confusing data and use this in conjunction with on board footage to perfect the correct driving technique delivering significant on track improvements quickly.
Expected Gains
The ultimate question! It’s almost impossible to put a figure against this with so many variables for each session.
However, we would estimate that an amateur driver could gain as much as 3 seconds per lap – much more in many cases.
Similarly, working with an experienced or even a professional driver we have often seen gains of up to a second on a lap.
Without doubt, we guarantee that your times will improve.
1 To 1 Coaching
Although driving a racing car can seem very complicated, it is like most things, a learned skill.
Of course, some degree of natural ability is always going to be beneficial but not essential, as ultimately so much of driving a car properly is understanding and applying simple laws of physics to the specific of a car circulating a track.
Following an initial discussion of your needs and expectations, Tim will create a programme tailored to improving your specific driving skills and requirements. This is something that could be a one day event or a longer term plan of development.
A track day at a race or airfield circuit would be preferable for coaching, however, we can also use a simulator or a combination of both. A track day has the unique benefit of being able to actually sit next to each other and really feel the body language of the car and how the lap times are affected
What Happens On The Day
Ultimately what we do together on the day will be tailored to your needs, however, a typical coaching day for a novice would start with some real basics such as, seat position, hand position, vision, racing lines etc. Following this Tim would drive a few slow laps to show the lines, and generally allow you to get a feel for the car and the track.
The car would then be handed over to you where Tim will sit next to you advising and instructing throughout the day.
You would drive for most of the day, breaking the running of sessions in to 6-8 laps, with feedback and discussion between the sessions using lots of corner diagrams, and track maps to help you really understand what we’re aiming at.
The use of a Go-Pro further allows us to review laps and specific corners after a session, and the lunch break allows time to discuss general driving points and the progress from the morning.
From time to time during the day Tim will drive laps allowing you to observe a specific point or technique.
Only when good progress has been made with lines and techniques will Tim set a lap time, with you sat next to him observing exactly how that lap was achieved.
This enables you to compare your lap and lap times with Tim’s. You would then discuss the good and bad points of the lap,where time was gained and lost, crucially helping you to understand the key points of what actually creates a fast lap.
A full package day would include the circuit hire and the use of a car.
However, if you already have a suitable vehicle we can use this or a standard road car which can give some of the best results at very sensible costs.
In certain situations with experienced drivers, it will be possible to arrange a day in a racecar with intercom systems to allow communication.
Skills Specifically Addressed
– Correct Seat Position – A basic requirement
– Vision – Fundamental to good driving technique
– Racing Lines – Track position is all important
– Steering – Learn the benefits of progressive application
– Weight Transfer – Learn how it affects the car and how to control it
– Braking – Use of the trail brake technique
– Left Foot Braking – Simplifying the myth
– Heel And Toe – A massively powerful technique in some cars
– Feel The Limit – Learn how to drive to the grip available
– Engineering – Understand the effect changes make to the car
– Racing And Race Craft – There’s a lot to learn!
Analysing Driver Data
Fitting the car with a V-Box or data logger allows us to use the information to illustrate in detail the differences between lap times.
Data analysis is a major part of modern motorsport and most racing drivers and even the youngest karters are able to understand data telemetry.
We can help take that understanding to the next level and relate it to the way a good corner and a whole lap feels.
For an inexperienced driver looking to improve their skills we can breakdown confusing data and use this in conjunction with on board footage to perfect the correct driving technique delivering significant on track improvements quickly.
Expected Gains
The ultimate question! It’s almost impossible to put a figure against this with so many variables for each session.
However, we would estimate that an amateur driver could gain as much as 3 seconds per lap – much more in many cases.
Similarly, working with an experienced or even a professional driver we have often seen gains of up to a second on a lap.
Without doubt, we guarantee that your times will improve.