The UK’s best young racing drivers add another victory to their CVs – IAM RoadSmart advanced driver status

Some of the brightest young racing drivers in the UK have become IAM RoadSmart advanced drivers at a special event held at Silverstone, the home of British motor racing.

IAM RoadSmart, the UK’s biggest independent road safety charity, teamed up with the British Racing Drivers’ Club (BRDC) to stage a two-day event putting 15 stars of the race track through IAM RoadSmart’s advanced driving test.

Those who took part are all members of the BRDC’s Rising Stars and SuperStars programmes. Called #FormulaDriveSmart, the drivers took part in a specially adapted two-day version of the well-respected IAM RoadSmart advanced driver course – with a view to them taking their advanced test to full test standard.

All the drivers, aged between 18 and 24 years old, passed with flying colours after the concentrated schedule of observation and training.

IAM RoadSmart’s advanced driving course is taken by more than 7,000 drivers each year.

It usually involves a series of 90-120 minute sessions focussing on specific skills across a wide range of areas; including car control, observation, timing, road positioning, ability to deal with unpredictable roads and other road users’ behaviour – leading to the advanced test.

Mike Quinton, IAM RoadSmart Chief Executive Officer, said: “Young men under 25 are the biggest at-risk group on our roads, more likely than any other category of driver to be involved in a serious or fatal crash.

“Working with the BRDC and these young professional drivers on #FormulaDriveSmart was an important opportunity to show them – and importantly those who see them as role models - that advanced driving is not only highly relevant to young people, it’s enjoyable and could save a life one day.”

One of the drivers, 24-year-old Max Coates, who has been competing in the Renault UK Clio Cup for the past three seasons (coming third overall in 2016 and 2018; winning seven races in three years) said: “I really didn’t know what to expect, but I really learned a lot by doing the advanced driver course.

“I’ve been driving on a racetrack since I was eight but I’ve only had a road driving licence for seven years. #FormulaDriveSmart added to my road driving skills and gave me more confidence that I can anticipate hazards and read the road ahead.

“I’d encourage every young driver to continue to develop their road driving skill and precision with an advanced driving course.”

Motorsport legend Paddy Hopkirk, who is IAM RoadSmart’s mature driver ambassador and BRDC President, added: “It is so important that all young people make themselves more skilled on the road so they don’t become another tragic statistic.

“If these top young racing drivers can acknowledge they could be better drivers on the road, than everyone else of that age should too.”

The BRDC is the guardian of British motorsport and a members’ club for British and Commonwealth racing drivers who have achieved at the highest levels of the sport.

The club recognises the importance of encouraging young talent that is establishing itself in national and international motor racing. With many success stories of BRDC young drivers graduating into the top flight of GT, sportscar and single seater racing, the scouts of the BRDC young driver programmes have a proven track record for spotting the very best racing drivers from the United Kingdom and Commonwealth.

The drivers who took part were:

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Further information from:

IAM RoadSmart press office – 020 8996 9777 – press.office@iam.org.uk        

ISDN broadcast lines available

British Racing Drivers’ Club (Luke Evans) 01327 850931 – luke.evans@brdc.co.uk

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IAM RoadSmart information:

IAM RoadSmart has a mission to make better drivers and riders in order to improve road safety, inspire confidence and make driving and riding enjoyable. It does this through a range of courses for all road users, from online assessments through to the advanced driving and riding tests. IAM RoadSmart is the trading name of all businesses operated by the UK’s largest road safety charity, the Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM) and was formed in April 2016 combining the IAM, IAM Drive & Survive, PDS and IAM Driver Retraining Academy. The organisation has 92,000 members and campaigns on road safety on their behalf. At any one time there are over 7,000 drivers and riders actively engaged with IAM RoadSmart’s courses, from members of the public to company drivers, while our Driver Retraining Academy has helped 2,500 drivers to shorten their bans through education and support programmes.

To find out more about IAM RoadSmart commercial products and services visit the new website www.iamroadsmart.com/business                       

To find out the name of your own local IAM RoadSmart group please visit: https://wwwiamroadsmart.com/local-groups   

BRDC information:

The BRDC has always been about contemporary racing drivers. Indeed, a key founding aim of the Club was to further the interests of British drivers and that manifests itself today in the form of support for young drivers.

Currently the Club runs two schemes: the SuperStars and Rising Stars. Through these complementary programmes, the BRDC aims to assist the very best British and Commonwealth drivers achieve their goal of success in top level motor sport whilst also ensuring there is a strong and enthusiastic flow of new Members to the Club.

Above all, the BRDC Young Driver programmes ensure the BRDC remains relevant to those competing in the sport today.  BRDC SuperStars and Rising Stars visit National and International racing podiums on a regular basis and since the conception of both programmes, there have been many high profile championships secured by BRDC Young Drivers.  There is no doubt that the Club has an eye for spotting the very best.

For more information, please visit www.brdc.co.uk

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