NEWS: SSC Lotus Melbourne Driving Academy Philip Island

We held our first Lotus Driving Academy event in Melbourne at Phillip Island and Sandown Raceway in December.

By Simply Sports Cars
Written December 20, 2020
Category Driving Experiences

Advanced driver training in Melbourne with Lotus

"I really enjoy helping enthusiastic drivers who want to improve their driving abilities on a race track.

It makes them faster, but also safer which means they enjoy themselves even more when they get on the track.

Mark O'Connor - Lotus Motorsport Manager

SSC Lotus hosted two advanced driver training days in Melbourne at Sandown Raceway & Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit where Lotus sports car owners were given the opportunity to learn how to get more from their Lotus sports car. We partnered with

SS Lotus Melbourne partnered with Evolve Driving Training to help Exige & Elise sports car owners rapidly enhance their driving skills using a variety of tools such as practical in-car track sessions, development theory sessions plus data and video analysis to learn about vehicle dynamics, driving technique and ideal driving lines.

Driver training with professional race car drivers

The day was led by experienced Lotus racing car driver Mark O’Connor. With over fifteen years experience driving Lotus race cars and managing Lotus race teams at a national level, Mark has a wealth of knowledge with regards to what it takes to get the most from a Lotus sports car at a track day. Rather than theoretical class room drawing board driver training, Mark shares his practical knowledge that he has gained from driving and working with Lotus sports cars over the last fifteen years. We translates all the nuances required to drive a Lotus Elise or Exige on at track day to help you get the maximum performance from the car & enjoy yourself safely as a driver. It is very rare to be able to get access to a racing car professional who will happily share their tips, tricks and advice on how to drive a sports car faster. Best of all, the information Mark provides is specific to a Lotus sports car rather than generic information you would get from other advanced driver training courses.

Track day with mechanic support

Every time we run a driving event we ensure we provide on0site mechanic & engineering assistance to ensure you can relax and enjoy the day without worry about any mechanical gremlins. SSC Lotus Melbourne’s senior technician Alex Gellings was at both events & he has racked up considerable Lotus racing experience supporting the APC and the Lotus Targa teams for the past few years.

What cars are suitable?

"Every Lotus or KTM sports car owner can be using their car all year round. That is what makes ownership of these brands in Australia stand out from all the others.

People are genuinely surprised how easy it is to do driver training, track days or even a tarmac rally.
Anthony Musson - Lotus Brand Manager

You don’t need a racing car to do a track day, in fact our driving events are suitable for track day beginners or first timers. All you need is a road registered vehicle and a helmet. So it means anyone who owns a road registered Lotus Elise, Lotus Exige or Lotus Evora can participate in one of our days.

Better yet, if you attend multiple days we can tailor a more personal program for you that is spread out over multiple sessions to give you even more input to improve your driving.

Do you need experience to do a track day?

If you are thinking about doing your first track day then this is the ideal way to learn about driving on a racing circuit in a controlled environment and with experts on hand that can guide you step by step. Putting your road registered car on the racing circuit for the first time can be a daunting experience so it’s wise to get help & assistance to ensure you do it as safely as possible to ensure you are comfortable.

Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit has international levels of safety but is also one of the fastest tracks in Australia, so you might consider coming along to a day at Sandown Raceway or even Winton Raceway instead.