Knowing that you are allowed to drive a car that has 155KW under the hood and can do 0-100km/hr in 6.5 seconds probably has most of us dreaming of setting a new land speed record (our own speed record anyway) and becoming the next Kris Meeke. And, for a few laps around the track, I thought so too, but only thanks to the patience and great lecturing from my driving instructor Leon Odendaal from BMW’s MINI Driver Training programme.

The day started off with a quick breakfast and crash course at the Velmore Hotel on what we would learn and what to expect out on the track. We were then taken to Zwartkops and after each of us went around the track a few times (trying, like school children, to overtake the car in-front of us) we were shown why control and keeping a large enough distance between yourself and the car in-front of you is so crucial. A vehicle travelling down a straight, good, expanse of road, under ideal weather conditions, at 30km/hr takes about 11m to come to a dead stop, at 60km/hr about 44m and at 120km/hr up to 88m. And these cars have ABS breaks. The secret to staying in control and driving safely (even at high speeds) is being able to understand that when your car goes out of control (which is the usual excuse we use when we cause an accident) it’s not the car’s fault but our own – that we lost concentration and therefore control. We also learnt that little things such as where we place our hands on the steering wheel, keeping a save three second gap between you and the car in-front of you and to always go slowly into a corner, will give you more control over the vehicle.

After absorbing the info, my next few laps went considerably better because I slowed down before turning into my corners (it is important to only turn after you have decreased to a more manageable speed when entering a corner and to only gradually accelerator once you’re out of the corner). I allowed myself more distance to slow down, I lost my fear of slamming on the breaks (my little CitiGolf doesn’t have ABS breaks and would lock if I did a K53 emergency stop at these speeds) and I paid a lot more attention to my control of the car.

But even once you are able to truly control of your vehicle, you can’t control outside forces that can impact on your vehicle and your control of your vehicle, such as an oil spill, a sudden obstruction in the road, etc. That is why the MINI John Cooper Works is equipped with ASC+T that prevents your front wheels from spinning and providing you with more traction when pulling away, ABS breaks that prevent your wheels from locking and allowing you to steer even while applying the breaks, and DSC that can apply the breaks to individual wheels (front and back) to prevent accidents if you over-steer or under-steer your vehicle. I got to experience the amazing capabilities of the Dynamic Stability Control (DSC) system for myself. I was instructed to travel at a speed of 75km/h down a straight expanse of track towards a row of cones laid out neatly in my way, I was then told to remove my feet from the clutch and break (to ensure that I apply no additional break other than what the DSC will automatically do so as to truly demonstrate the effects of the DSC system) and at the last moment jerk the steering wheel 180 degrees to the right and then back and the to right the steering again. My first reaction was: “You must be joking, right? Won’t the car roll?” But after being re-assured that the car won’t roll and to trust my instructor and the car, I decided to do it. Amazing. I didn’t die and the car wasn’t harmed either. We had safely navigated, although extremely dramatically, around the cones!

By my last lap, after they removed all the helpful cones, scattered across the track to indicate where we should start turning and so forth, and with no assistance from Leon, I felt like a pro taking hairpin corners and even overtaking a BMW M3! But even then, I was no match for the amount of skill that Leon and his team exhibited behind the steering wheel when they took us around for a few last laps for the day. After a quick lunch at the Velmore Hotel I was treated to a full body massage at the spa located at the hotel, which served as the perfect ending to a perfect day.

I left the track feeling more confident and aware of my driving capabilities on the road and dreaming of the day I will own my very own MINI John Cooper Works.