News
Getting your full adult MSUK race licence at 16.
By Luke & Steve Townsend
We are a ‘dad and lad’ team of petrol heads with a number of cars including a Mazda Eunos Roadster (MX5) to take to trackdays .
Steve drives the Eunos with Luke as passenger, Luke does a lot of SIM racing as well as ‘arrive&drive’ karting and a day on track at Rye House in a Rotax kart. As Luke recently turned 16 we looked around for ways he could drive on track but most avenues were a dead end because of needing a full road licence.
We have a friend with single seater cars who explained Luke could drive/test/race these with the full MSUK National Interclub Licence which required him to pass the adult Association of Racing Driver Schools (ARDS) test …. so we set about finding out how to do this. This is when we discovered the ‘grey area’ of being 16.
Most circuits/race schools we contacted wanted to point Luke at the junior ARDS for 14–17-year-olds but that is only for people competing in a select few junior championships (Ginetta, Fiesta etc). We explained we wanted the adult ARDS which is available at 16 and then they baulked because of running these courses inside their trackdays BUT Luke can’t take part in a trackday without a full road licence… sounds like a circular problem!
Then we found The Motorsports School operating their days at Mallory. Melanie from The Motorsports School couldn’t have been more helpful and explained they could not only accommodate Luke for the test but also suggested an hour of pre-test tuition which sounded like an excellent idea… and so it was all booked for an afternoon in August. The MSUK licence pack/ARDS form was purchased along with a race spec full face helmet.
On the day Luke arrived early to watch the process with the earlier group. Imagine our delight to find out this wasn’t part of a general trackday but The Motorsports School have exclusive use of Mallory and only the instructors and candidates would be driving the track. This meant there were rarely more than 2 or 3 cars on track at the same time.
As Steve had to be out of the country on that day, race team owner/driver friend, Steven, went along to show Luke the ropes. This required Steve completing the parental indemnity form in advance (worth remembering)
Finding Melanie, the admin details were quickly completed, and we were invited to help ourselves to tea/coffee/cold drinks. The whole atmosphere was very friendly and there were clearly plenty of young drivers doing both the Junior and Adult ARDS tests.
Going out with the instructor for a handful of laps gave Luke the chance to be shown the lines and braking points before it was his turn behind the wheel of a Renault Clio. Initially just trying the feel of the car and practising changing gear with the manual H pattern gearbox around the paddock, then out on track for real.
Wow…. What a great feeling! Luke soon showed the instructor he was safe and they quickly settled into a routine of instructor/student improving each lap. After about 15 mins it was in for a break, a drink and a review…. Everything good, keep doing the same.
So back out again and settle into a nice rhythm.
At the end the instructor expressed that he felt very safe with Luke and that to pass his practical part of the ARDS test he just needed to show the testing instructor the same safe driving.
As an ex-instructor himself, Steven had a more detailed chat with the instructor and the summary was: Excellent drive, very level-headed, good car control, good circuit awareness, good in the limited traffic they experienced & well within the ‘at least 70% of race pace’ speed required to pass the test.
On to the test proper. The theory side started with a group discussion as the MSUK training video was watched. This is much the same as in the “Go racing pack” with a few extras to ensure that you know enough information to be well prepared for your test. Flags were taught in the pre-test briefing, with the meanings, and conditions that each flag may be used in recapped. It should not be your first time hearing about these flags, as it is covered in the video, in the “Go racing pack” and in the yearbook. It is important to read the yearbook (PDF available online) in detail regarding the following aspects, your specific license section, for Luke that was section Q: Circuit racing. Sections H, J, K and L may be useful to learn about various sections that you are unaware of currently. Luke passed this theory test.
Then the practical test on track. New instructor/tester and driving a different car this time (Mini – Cooper S.).
Instructor explained what he wanted, Luke drove to those instructions for several laps and passed with Zero faults.
Overall result PASS!!!
So how to sum up The Motorsports School experience?
AWESOME, EXCELLENT, PROFESSIONAL, FRIENDLY, HELPFUL.
So what did we learn?
- SIM driving and practical experience of using a manual H pattern gearbox really puts you ahead of the game here.
- Smooth & safe driving is what they are looking for.
- The theory test is about learning the flags and the rules.
- Due to their exclusive hire of Mallory, The Motorsports School can offer tuition to even younger drivers who might be looking to prepare for the step up to car racing. A one-2-one with an instructor is something Luke would have done a couple of years earlier if we had realised. Using this tuition as a taster before committing to the ARDS (or before reaching the 14 or 16 age limits) is a great way to confirm you really want to do this.
- Having done this ourselves, we would strongly advise going to a race meeting (even as a spectator) and looking at how it is run. Ask competitors (who have time) about the format of a race meeting and explain you’re doing your ARDS test soon; they’ll be happy to help. All of the officials will be more than happy to answer any questions you may have. Of note, a visit to scrutineering may inform you how a car is scrutineered and the reasons for it.
Go on…. Enjoy yourself!!