Back To School

When Michel Deslauriers, my boss at Auto123.com, told me he’d booked me into a driving school, I was insulted. I, who have driven the most beautiful tracks around the world, from Monaco to Silverstone, who have won an Atlantic race on the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve! What in the world could a driving course teach me, one that employs production cars no less?


But I had to face the facts. As much experience as I may have, you can never learn all there is to know. But I also have to give my boss a little credit. He enrolled me in the most advanced training course of the three levels that BMW has to offer, from beginner to advanced.

BMW 101
You know, there are several types of drivers using our roads. There’s the over-confident guy, whose confidence largely surpasses his competence (and no, I don’t fall into this category, whatever the bad-mouthers may say), there’s the indecisive driver, who dreams of driving safely but never knows what decision to make when things get tricky, and there’s the young, inexperienced driver who has yet to experience the pitfalls of the road. And then there are those, like me, who imagine they know how to drive.

The BMW course is designed for all the people who will one day get behind the wheel, to allow them to keep both feet on the ground, or rather, all four wheels on the road. Conducted over three days, the course includes a theoretical session that enables you to understand how a car reacts in light of the laws of physics. I know this will come as a shock to some unscrupulous drivers, but a car has limits, and those limits constantly change according to weather conditions, road topography, wear and tear of parts, etc.

And even though the driver is always responsible, it’s important to understand that a racer’s most important skill is good judgment and knowing how to react in dangerous situations to keep control of the vehicle.

Preparation = good judgment
Before heading out onto the Mont-Tremblant track, the instructor walks you around the circuit and explains where there is traction on the pavement, how the car will react over bumps, i.e., the traps the track and its corners contains.

The idea of the exercise is to allow drivers to realize that you can’t just do anything you please either on the track or on the road.

But most amazing of all, this little hike allows you to understand that it is impossible in day-to-day driving to grasp all the parameters and how important it is to be more observant of the conditions around you. Recognizing danger encourages caution: to drive a car well, you have to know how to behave like a proper human being.