I travelled over to Wiltshire after work on Tuesday. It’s a long drag over in rush-hour traffic and I’m exceedingly happy that I made the correct decision to not take the Caterham. It really would only have been fun for the first 15 mins and the journey back would likely have killed me.

Steve Grubb had located a nice hotel a couple of miles from the track and Chris Middleton, James Houston and Simon Lindley had also booked in for the night, so it was great to have a chat, some food and some alcohol with friends.

Normally, 3 pints is enough to see me snooze all the way to the morning, but a ‘Family Guy’ marathon on BBC THREE kept me up to gone 1am and then a combination of excitement and a the person above taking several toilet trips though the night meant that I didn’t exactly have the best nights preparation.

Still, it’s amazing what a nice breakfast and tea (elixir of life) can do and I just about felt normal arriving at Castle Combe.

We were split into 4 groups and our group headed over to the skid pan first. Officially, we were practicing skid correction and control but in reality, we were going for drifting prowess and racing the other car! It was great being allowed to play and experiment. I think I would have been happy to stay there all day. We also did emergency braking and avoidance exercises. Again, some useful tips that need to be remembered when ‘that’ time comes.

Next up was a Race Prep chat with Brett, Jenny and the team. Talking through all the bits and bobs that need to be done to the car ahead of racing. I’m pretty happy that I have done everything needed – appart from having to adjust the harness leg straps a little more to make sure the buckle is not sat under the seats. This was a pain to do the first time round so I have every confidence that it will be even more so this time. Caterham seats make me want to cry sometimes.

A spot of lunch and a chance for a goot natter followed. I think there were only a couple of guys I didn’t get to chat to through the day, fingers crossed, that will be rectified sooner rather than later.

After lunch, it was onto the meat of the day. The reason for being there. ARDS time. The ARDS test gets you your National B racing licence and, although it’s not spectacularly tricky to pass, it does take care and attention and previous on-track experience (especially at the track you’re taking the test on) helps a lot to make you feel at ease. It comes in 3 parts; a medical; a practical; a written test. You get to watch the fabulous (ahem) MSA DVD again presented by Troy McClure… I mean, Steve Deeks. It contains all the information you need to answer the written paper and covers what will be looked at in the practical test.

The post lunch ‘snooze time’ hit really hard (and not just for me judging by the zombie looks on peoples faces!) and it was a struggle to keep focussed. Still, we made it to the mid point of the DVD and that was the time to get everyone out and into the cars.

3 passengers and one instructor to a car for some demo runs to start with. Initially showing the lines to be taken, explaining what they would be looking for through the session and showing the kind of pace they would expect to see being kept. The pace is such that you are pushing on, but we were on a damp track and any kind of slide from the tyres was a mistake, rather than proof of driving prowess! The test itself consists of some familiarisation laps, with the instructor constantly nattering at you about lines, speeds and technique. Once they think you’re ready, they stay quiet for a couple of laps and leave you to prove to them that you’ve taken on board the instructions and can be consistent by yourself.

If that all goes well, you’ve passed your practical.

Onto the medical. I can only immagine the consequences of a medical taking place at a wine tasting festival. It doesn’t bear thinking about. Everyone trotting around with their ‘sample’. There’s solidarity to be had in the slight trauma of it all! So, the medical consists of urine tests, blood pressure, heart rate, colour blindness, vision tests and a few medical history questions. Only takes a few minutes (so long as everything is clear).

It’s then finally onto the written part of the ARDS. We first watched the second half of the DVD, then the instructor asked whether there were any questions, followed by an ‘subtle’ explanation of some of the finer points of the rules and regs that may be useful to know.

The paper itself is in several sections. The first is likely most important. It lists all the explanations of what a particular flag means, and you must write in what colour the flag it is referring to and whether it is waved, or stationary. Then, it’s onto multiple choice questions. These are all heavily sign posted and any ‘tricky’ ones are likely to have been highlighted by the instructor in the briefing session. The written part isn’t designed to catch you out! You are told plenty of times ahead of the test that you must know all the flags and what they mean.

And, that, after a de-brief, was the end of a fun day at Castle Combe and the start of being able to officially call myself a racing driver… although only a lowly novice :)

Great to meet up with everyone again. See you at a track soon!