I haven't seen anyone give a rundown of the Level 1 course from last week, so I figured I'd give an overview from memory.

I was in the Thursday afternoon course. I think we have about 16 total attendees, and I think they divided us into 4 groups of 4. There were approximately 10 instructors including notable names like former Indycar drivers Davy Jones, Roberto Guerrero and Alex Barron. There were 4 different stations, so each group would go to a different station. They were:

-Handling loop. Basically, it was a small oval with about 100 feet between hairpin turns. They had 2 cars here (F-Type R RWD and AWD), and you would ride along with an instructor, get a demo, and then have at it. Basically, this helped with braking feel, looking into the turn, how to deal with a hairpin turn on the track, getting the power down exiting the turn, and consistency.

-Autocross. A go-cart track that was surprisingly well suited to the F-Types. Basically, it was a 20 second Speed Zone type arrangement with about 8 or 9 turns. Taught car control, thinking ahead and showed reinforced that different lines and approaches can have similar results. Again, 2 cars (F-Type R AWD and RWD) and 2 instructors.

-Wet Skidpad. They had 2 skidpads set up so that 2 cars could go at the same time. Had a water truck that dumped water on the pads. Instructors took you through the various traction control levels (snow/ice, regular, TracDSC, and all off) to give you an idea of how each system would modulate and adjust your inputs. Instructors basically had you induce oversteer, and helped you understand how to react and properly control, and how to best use your hands to control the steering. This was one of my favorites, as understanding how the car will react with all DSC options off is something I haven't wanted to try on the street.

-Lead and Follow. OK, this is where it gets good. Go on the full track (it was the full 4+ mile track at Monticello) with the instructor leading, and 2 or 3 other drivers in the group. After each lap, the lead student car pulls over and moves to the back, and the second and third cars move up. There are 4 separate sessions with at least 3 laps in each set of cars: F-Type R RWD, F-Type R AWD, F-Type S V6 Coupe, XJ-L R. So, you get a minimum of 12 laps around the long track. I was in a group with fast students, and we were able to hit 130 to 150 on the back straight. We were driving quite aggressively, and we definitely did not just putz around the track. I was surprised how fast we went right from the get-go, although the instructors were pretty good to keep everyone together and make everyone comfortable. We had on helmets and each car had a radio (listen only) so the instructor coached the train around the track. Overall, this was the highlight of the day.

I think that was the bulk of what we did in the half day course. It started with lunch, about 45 minutes of classroom instruction, and then we spent the rest of the day driving. If the class had been 100% full, I don't think it would have been as much fun (I think we were about half full) as you wouldn't get as much track/seat time, but this worked out perfectly for our session and we got a lot of time in the car.

Monticello is a stunning and beautiful track. It is also a complicated and difficult track (several instructors felt it is one of the most complex tracks in North America), and it had a variety of slow, medium and fast corners, and nice straightaways that allowed you to go 100+ at least twice a lap. The facilities were extremely nice, and the staff was also very helpful.

Things I liked:

-Just about everything. The skills stations were very informative, and started to meld together when you did the Lead and Follow around the track as you started to use the skills you were working on in each station together.
-You had different instructors at each skill station, so you got a bunch of different observations and suggestions from people with a variety of backgrounds. This was one of my favorite things about the event
-Everyone was extremely helpful, supportive and encouraging.
-I was pretty exhausted after just the half day. You forget how strenuous driving fast is, and how worn out you can quickly become
-Loved that we had a variety of cars to drive. Comparing the R RWD to the AWD to the S to the XK R was eye opening. The XK R is surprisingly a beast on the track!
-Everything was pretty well scheduled and moved along quickly. You would swap driving, but everyone was occupied watching others do their exercises, and you were swapped back in the car pretty quickly

Things that weren't so great:

-Not much. I think they should do a better job of placing people in groups, especially for the lead and follow, of comparable level drivers. It would have been a bummer to be in a really slow group lapping the track. Luckily I got put with a quick group
-If it had been a full class, the amount of time behind the wheel likely would have been significantly less. Glad I got there for a fairly sparsely attended day
-This is not a race driving school. It is centered around performance driving, so if you want to get out here and compare times, this might not be the place for you
-Can't use Go Pro cameras. It makes sense after being there. You are constantly swapping cars with little lag time between runs, so there really isn't time to try and set the cameras up. They have everything fairly exactly scheduled, so any delays throw all of the groups off, or take away from the number of laps you might get in your cars


Overall, it was a complete blast. I also did Level 2 (will describe that in a separate post) and wish they had a Level 3. I figured this would scratch my itch, but now I'm seriously considering attending another of the Jaguar Academies at another track. Monticello was an awesome choice. The hotel was only fair, but the night-before mixer/party was a great way to meet fellow students and the instructors, and everything was done extremely well. Two thumbs up from me!

Frank

 

Nice write-up. What did the Level 1 cost?

 

$895 or complimentary to R buyers within 12 months of purchase...
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j...96783405,d.cGU

 

we didn't get the skidpad on saturday morning

i have echo fstarks comments - it was a great event and the track was beautiful. i was thinking that the price for the level 2 was a hugely overpriced; however, after speaking with the instructors and after the experience from level 1 ... it seems like it is well worth the money.

 

I am so glad to know about this Jaguar Performance Driving Academy. You know I just bought a brand new Jaguar for my son. He is 18 years old and don’t know how to drive so I am thinking to enrol him to a Port Macquarie Driving School to learn professional driving.