About DDP
The Driver Development Programme was founded five years ago by Carolyn Barker.
Carolyn’s background is quite diverse from the motoring point of view. Becoming familiar with track days in the early 80’s, at the same time running a driving school through to the 90’s, as well as racing at club level in various cars from her BMW E30 M3, through to club level Formula Renault. Carolyn also has extensive knowledge of the Nurburgring Nordschleife and has instructed and raced there.
She was aware of increasing numbers of owner drivers wanting to learn more about the handling limits and dynamics of the vehicle they drive, and who were also interested in the opportunity to take a good look at their own driving skills.
Having worked as an instructor at the Prodrive test site for many years, she saw what a perfect combination of activities and great team of instructors could be offered, to supply this need, and so began The Driver Development Programme.
Whether you are a new driver, someone who loves driving our twisty country roads, a track day goer or a race competitor, there is another level to find. We have the programme and skilled instructors to suit your personal needs.
For 2012, in addition to the well established, highly successful Performance Car Handling Control Course, there is the addition of the New Driver Car Control Course: Each year thousands of cars leave the road in accidents caused purely by drivers with no knowledge of the dynamics that keep a car balanced and stable. Unfortunately, a full driving licence is given to test pass candidates who have never had any car handling dynamic training. The new DDP course will complete the circle of training by taking a detailed look at what creates instability in car handling and teach, through practise and discussion, how to be an informed and therefore safer driver.
DDP instructors :
The DDP team of instructors are from the best in the country. Our instructor base is diverse and highly skilled, coming from a variety of backgrounds, such as circuit racing, rally driving and car manufacturer testing.
Each course date may have a different line up of instructors, depending on whether they are competing or not, so it is difficult to give a profile on each one, but rest assured, the standard is always very high, anything you want to know regarding any aspect of car dynamics or driving technique, can be answered on the day!
Carolyn is careful to match drivers with the right instructor, so giving each customer maximum benefit from the day.
Two drivers share an instructor. This is a proven formula, giving plenty of personal time, driver to instructor, with time to consolidate between driving sessions. It is also interesting to learn by watching another.
Your instructor will take each guest through their own personal development plan, so whatever your previous experience, you will always be at a level that suits your needs.