Touring car star Colin Turkington achieves top standard in IAM RoadSmart’s Advanced Driving Course

British Touring Car star Colin Turkington has added another string to his impressive bow, as he has achieved a F1RST - the highest rating possible - in IAM RoadSmart’s much respected Advanced Driver Course.

Colin, 37, is three times champion in the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) in 2009, 2014 and 2018 and currently leads this year’s title battle – but even as a professional racing driver who has reached the highest level, he admits that his road driving, like everyone’s, could always be better.

Currently Colin races a BMW 3-series in the BTCC for Team BMW West Surrey Racing.

Colin is clear that all drivers, no matter what their skill level, need continuous development to ensure they keep up-to-speed on the latest changes to road conditions and road laws.

He said: “Although I have won the BTCC three times, I know that everyone is equal when driving on the road.  We are all responsible for each others’ safety, so we need to always look out for one another and be aware of the next possible issue.

He continued: “I’m delighted to have taken and passed the IAM RoadSmart Advanced Driver Course. I learned a great deal from it on how to be a better driver. If I can learn from it, everyone can!”

Colin was tutored for his Advanced Driver Course by IAM RoadSmart area managers Stuart Haythorn and Shaun Cronin.  Shaun said: “Colin was a really great student, fully focussed and eager to learn anything new despite being a multiple BTCC champion. Colin said the Advanced Driver Course left him more progressive on his ‘A to B’ journeys but all within the speed limit and he also really enjoyed it.”

Colin will be promoting IAM RoadSmart, the UK’s biggest road safety charity, during his work activities in the racing community.

IAM RoadSmart’s Advanced Driver Course can increase an individual’s confidence and on-road knowledge and provides recognition for advanced driving skills.

These are some of the benefits:

• Improved skills and knowledge
• Possible cheaper insurance
• More economical driving and the potential to save money on fuel
• Increased confidence behind the wheel
• Greater awareness of other road users
• Better anticipation of hazards

For more information about the Advanced Driver Course click here: https://www.iamroadsmart.com/courses/advanced-driver-course

To follow Colin’s journey in this year’s British Touring Car Championship visit the BTCC site here: http://www.btcc.net/

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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 products and services visit the new website www.iamroadsmart.com                        

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

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