As some of you might already know, I am taking my ARDS test on the 25th of this month at Silverstone (South Circuit). The driving part will be a walk in the park I suspect, and to be honest I'm not all the worried about the written part either, but my Dad (who is also taking the test on the same day, along with my brother) would like to know a bit more about what is expected of us beforehand.

From what I can gather on my brief Google session, it's mostly flags/safety. So it makes sense to learn all the flags in the blue book off by heart (I bet I know 95% of them already). But what is covered by 'safety'?

Has anyone here done their ARDS test in the last few years, and if so can they give me a few pointers? It's for a National B licence if that makes any difference. Thanks in advance, as always.

IIRC you're not meant to know anything but unfortunatley I've heard plenty of reports about the Silverstone instructors being unhelpful so it might be worth brushing up on the basics I think it will be pretty easy for you though TBH. Thruxton seems to be the best in the country if you end up needing to rebook

tristan, dont worry ATALL about the written section, its bascially covering flags and common sense, both are covered in the video u got in the pack from the MSA!

and as u probs aswell know, all the test peeps are looking for is that u are SAFE and aware, not as fast as senna.

if u dont get 10 out of 10 ill eat my proverbial hat
i got 10 of 10 lol

ill go as far as to say if u dont pass ill buy u a beer. if u do ill buy 1 to congratulate u lol

Quote from ayrton senna 87 :

tristan, dont worry ATALL about the written section, its bascially covering flags and common sense, both are covered in the video u got in the pack from the MSA!

and as u probs aswell know, all the test peeps are looking for is that u are SAFE and aware, not as fast as senna.

if u dont get 10 out of 10 ill eat my proverbial hat
i got 10 of 10 lol

ill go as far as to say if u dont pass ill buy u a beer. if u do ill buy 1 to congratulate u lol

But you only have a kart license, right? The ARKS written test was stupidly easy.

I guess things that'll be covered in the written test will be stuff like flags and what to do in certain situations

/me gets out Blue Book and tries to learn it off by heart (well, flags and a few things from the general section, mainly about safety).

I'm aware the driving bit is not about speed but awareness and common sense, which is why I'm not worried. If it was speed I'd be worried!

Thanks so far. Any more from anyone else?

nah liefde, my m8 did karts and took an ards test and said it was the same sort of thing, stupidly easy questions.

What a piss take. This is one of the easiest things I've ever done. Easy pass - the instuctor thought I'd had one on one tuition previously (I haven't), and the written test was also comically easy.

E.g. You are approching a slow corner and your throttle sticks open. What do you do?
a) Take your feet off the pedals and attempt to take the corner
b) Turn off the ignition, press the clutch, and brake for the corner, then steer through it
c) Press the brake and the throttle, but do not steer
d) Panic

I'm not joking - d) really was an option!

Driving bit - you have to show a bit of pace, but it's mostly just making sure you follow the correct lines and don't put the power on until the apex or combine braking and turning (apparently this is impossible, although he told me off when I somehow managed the impossible - it felt right to trail brake into Abbey chicane!).

If anyone else ever reads this thread because they're doing their ARDS, do not even remotely panic. If you can recognise a car from 50 yards you'll probably pass!

But that means I am not officially a racing driver I suppose. No more relying on sprints, track days and corporate events for my driving fixes!

Edit: The Exige is a nice car. Bit too much body roll (but that gives feel so...), way too much understeer on a very cold damp Silverstone (with ice under the bridge on Hanger Straight - the car would get sideways if you went under it on full throttle at 110mph), and the ABS is quite intrusive. But the worst bit is the engine. On full song it's great, but being crappy vtec (or vvti or whatever Toyotas acronym is for this) it only gets on full song above 6000rpm, and below that it's a gutless, noiseless, lifeless pile of poo. In terms of absolute peak power/torque I bet it's better than the K-Series, but I'd wager a K-Series engine makes the car so much nicer. One day I'll drive a car with variable valve timing (or however it's done in any particular case) that isn't rubbish, but that day has yet to arrive, and that engine has yet to be invented.

i dont know if you deserve a congratulations because it's so easy... but well done anyway!!!

You might get a kick out of this: Burt "BS" Levy, author of the book "The Last Open Road" made up some funny interpretations of flags:

GREEN: The course is clear! Start Racing! (unless you already have).

YELLOW: Someone else has screwed up for a change! Possible primo overtaking opportunity!

DOUBLE YELLOW: Slam on your brakes immediately without checking your mirrors. Whoevers behind you will think twice about ever passing you again!

BLUE: Theres somebody right behind you trying to get past. Turn down your mirrors and block like hell!

YELLOW/ORANGE STRIPES: Check your oil pressure gauge. You might not have any.

WHITE: Slow moving or emergency vehicle ahead. Proceed at full speed and see how close you can come without hitting it.

BLACK: Either the fellow just ahead of you or the one behind has done something bad. Also known as the "Who, me?!?" flag.

BLACK/ORANGE ROUNDEL: (meatball) Something has fallen off your car. Slow down and look for it.

RED: The person you hit has spun and caught fire and is blocking the track, so the race has to be stopped.

CHECKER: Time to start thinking up excuses!

hahaha superb

I did the ARDS test at Thruxton in 2005. The theory is pretty basic stuff and they go through it in the briefing anyway. Just make sure you know the meaning of all the flags and the rest in common sense.

The driving part is not as easy as you might expect. First and foremost, you will be in an unfamilar but usually very fast car and you will have to get used to it very quickly. I was in an RX-8 and having not even driven a RWD car before I was a bit nervous. For my test there were cones to mark the racing line, not just the usual entry/apex/exit markers. Also the instructor will tell you how to drive and you must listen and do everything that he tells you. Even if he says take a hairpin in 4th gear thats what you have to do to pass. I had to use only 4th, 5th and 6th gear cos they didn't want the engine to be revved I guess.

Anyway I passed it but wasn't fun experience because I hate being told what to do.

I guess that's the difference of the day. I was allowed to use 3rd and 4th only (would have needed 5th but with that much ice on Hanger Straight it wasn't required). But within that he let me get on with it. He knew I'd driven an F3 car, he knew I was experienced with RWD cars on the road, and he seemed to trust me quite a lot. Not once, even when leaving it to the last meter, did he tell me to brake, he just let me get on with it.
There were no cones, no entry/apex/exit markers (other than trackside references)... Admittedly I had to do as he had said to pass, but he also admitted that what he said wasn't necessarily what anyone would ever do in a real racing situation, which makes it a bit of a joke really.

Sounds to me as though the ARDS course varies from day to day, from track to track and instructor to instructor. I happened to find it easy for one reason or another, but maybe it genuinely is difficult on other occasions.

What car did they put you in Tristan?

well done on your pass.