John Bowe Driving

Drive to Arrive
Advanced Driving
High Performance
Corporate Events

News

John Bowe Driving News - 27/01/10

2010 TASMANIAN HIGH PERFORMANCE TOUR

In 2010 John Bowe Driving will again be running our famous Tasmanian High Performance trip. Conducted for the past few years, it allows participants to experience Tasmania’s two great race tracks in the space of three days and also enjoy some great driving roads and spectacular scenery.

Symmons Plains (just outside Launceston) holds and annual round of the V8 Supercar Championship and has also held rounds of the Australian GT Championship and the Muscle Car Masters Series. It is quite a challenging track with Australia’s tightest corner, a down hill hairpin, and a couple of high speed sweepers.

Baskerville (just outside Hobart) is the best little track in Australia. That’s not just our view but the opinion of some of Australia’s top drivers who have had the chance to drive there, including Alan Jones, the retired World Champion who raced a Porsche 935 there in the early 80’s. The track has elevation changes, fast sweepers, very challenging corkscrew downhill esses and a brilliant blind apex corner at the top of the hill.

The Event:

The plan is to run a High Performance course at Symmons Plains on Saturday April 24 and at Baskerville on Monday April 26 – the Anzac Day public holiday.

The Sunday will be free to tour over some great roads and check out the magnificent scenery on the way to Hobart for a ‘team’ dinner on Sunday night.

Getting there:

Taking the Spirit of Tasmania for the Friday night crossing (April 23) gets you into Devonport about 7am on Saturday and after disembarking you should get to Symmons Plains by about 9-9.30am.

Getting home:

The Spirit of Tasmania departs Devonport each night so you will have the Tuesday (or Monday night) to travel up from Hobart.

Travel cost:

Travel on the Spirit of Tasmania is approximately $318 per person return + $158 per vehicle (standard size). This pricing is based on a 4 berth cabin however there other cabin options, contact The Spirit of Tasmania is you have any further questions. http://www.spiritoftasmania.com.au/fares.html

Accommodation:

We have not priced accommodation as we understand that each person may want a different level of comfort/budget. We use wotif.com to local good accommodation deals or utilize one of the many other Tasmanian tourist information websites.

Food:

Not priced, lunches (including drinks and refreshments) included on the 2 High Performance courses and the ‘team’ dinner (similar to the one at Benalla prior to a Winton event) would work out to be approximately $50-60 per head.

Of course you can set your own itinerary and stay longer on the beautiful island of Tasmania if you wan to. Those who have been in the past know what a sensational trip it is. You should do it again. Those that haven’t been should do it and enjoy the adventure and the fantastic driving opportunities.

Course fees:

We have reduced the cost for the two High Performance days to just $800 - great value considering the standard rate for a single High Performance course is $465. Places will be limited so we need all bookings to be confirmed by the end of February. For Tasmanian locals you can also book on both course’s or one individually if that suits.

*The High Performance course is the next level after the Ford Performance Vehicles Drive Day. This is a great chance to enjoy your car (not just FPV’s) on the track while getting professional tuition on how to do it better and safer.

Please contact us in the office to discuss any further details.

John Bowe Driving News - 05/06/09

Everyone is doing their 'End Of Financial Year' sale so we thought we shouldn't be left out.
John Bowe Driving are offering a substantial discount on our Drive to Survive defensive driving course at Sandown Driver Training on June 16^th & 22^nd. Our Drive to Survive course is a great gift idea for family or staff. The discounted rate for our 'End Of Financial Year' sale reduces the cost of the course by 20%, from $260 down to $210.
(Price includes GST, Lunch & Refreshments)

This is unbeatable value to help someone gain a life lesson to deal with our roads safely. Do not hesitate, book now.

John Bowe Driving News - 07/05/09

Australian Tarmac Challenge - John Bowe Driving competition

You can win a free entry to the Australian Tarmac Challenge (Victoria) worth $1250 simply by enroling before May 22nd onto one of our 2009 High Performance courses. Contact Dean in the office (03 9886 0522) to find out more.
Details about the Australian Tarmac Challenge (previously Dutton Rally) can be found at;
http://www.duttonrally.com/
The John Bowe Driving team highly recommend the Australian Tarmac Challenge as it is open to all vehicle makes and types and will give you a chance to compete in a controlled and enjoyable environment.

John Bowe Driving News - 02/04/09
V8 Supercar Instructors

As a testament to the quality of instructors used by John Bowe Driving take a look at the V8 Supercar championship order after the recent Clipsal 500 V8 Supercar race.

1.      Jamie Whincup: 2009 V8 Supercars – 888 Team Vodafone

2.      Will Davison: 2009 V8 Supercars – Holden Racing Team

3.      Lee Holdsworth: 2009 V8 Supercars – Garry Rogers Motorsport

All of these guys have been (and still are on occasions) instructors with John Bowe Driving. They have also proved to be at the top of their game during the past few years and all of them look to be continuing on to further success.

You cannot ask for better quality than that and that is what you get with John Bowe Driving. Not only can these guys drive well, but as those of you who have been instructed by them will know, they are great communicators and generally all round nice guys.

John Bowe Driving also use the expertise of other V8 Supercar drivers;

1.      David Reynolds: 2009 V8 Supercars - Bundaberg Red Racing Team, HSV Dealer Team

2.      Luke Youlden: 2009 V8 Supercars – Ford Performance Racing endurance driver

All of this ‘main game’ experience is combined with other instructors who race in various National & State level competitions along with one of Australia’s legendary drivers Alf Costanzo. All of this and we almost forgot to mention multiple Australian drivers champion John Bowe himself.

So when you are considering value for money, John Bowe Driving is the only option. You get the most professionally structured driver training experience available as well as some of Australia’s highest quality instructors. The benefits of a John Bowe Driving course are evident both in the enjoyment you will have as well as the improvements you will make – come and see for yourself.

John Bowe Driving News - 06/03/09
Circuit Racing: 2 LITRE SPORTS SEDAN CLUB

If have ever thought about going motor racing but not been to sure where or how to go about it then you should have a chat to the guys at the 2 Litre Sports Sedan Club. They are a passionate bunch who can often be found tinkering with their cars (not like those pay to play rich boys in the GT Championship) and they just love their racing.

This is one of those great clubs that are moving with the times to make racing more affordable, fun and accessible. A few years ago they opened up the rules to allow more vehicle types into the category which also opened up the chance to race in both 2 Litre Sports Sedans and Improved Production races. These cars are light nimble and a whole lot of fun. You can brake amazing late, carry huge corner speed and outrun other more expensive machinery. Visit the website, http://www.2litress.com/home.php for more info and go racing.

John Bowe Driving News - 16/02/09
NEW COURSE OPTION: RACE CIRCUIT TRAINING

John Bowe Driving are excited to announce a new program designed specifically for experienced High Performance course participants like you. Our new program is called Race Circuit Training and is an alternative tour High Performance course to allow you to get out on track more often with John Bowe Driving, Australia’s leading professional driver training provider.

Our first Race Circuit Training event is scheduled at Sandown Raceway on Saturday 14^th March. The cost for the Race Circuit Training program is only $285 (inc GST & lunch) and will give you approximately 7 sessions of track time. We expect that the format and pricing of this course will create a lot of interest so expect it to fill up quickly, do not hesitate to get your enrolment in immediately.

The Race Circuit Training course differs from the High Performance course in that it is more of an open track event than our current High Performance course format. The Race Circuit Training program runs with a higher number of overall bookings per course, a slightly higher number of instructor/participants ratio, less detailed morning briefing, no circuit inspection, no timed laps, no written course evaluation and no dedicated single instructor for the day.

So where does the new Race Circuit Training program fit in, well we understand that some of you are at a level where track time is important and just a small amount of fine tuning from our instructors is required. This new program is the perfect fit for that objective.

I have included a course matrix comparing our existing High Performance course and our new Race Circuit Training program below. As you can see, there is plenty of added value that the High Performance course provides so don’t simply choose to save a few bucks and stop attending the High Performance course as we know it is a proven way to achieve high quality results to improve your driving techniques. You should be planning to use the Race Circuit Training program as a compliment to the High Performance course.

High Performance Course & Race Circuit Training Comparison Chart

Features	High Performance Course	Race Circuit Training
Cost	$425 (often discounted to $385)	$285
Items included in cost
Track usage	yes	yes
Safety Marshalls	yes	yes
Ambulance attendance	yes	yes
Lunch	yes	yes
Refreshments	yes	no - fridge available for use
Instructor Ratio	1 instructor for 4 participants	1 instructor for 5+ participants
Total Bookings	24 (up to 28 at Sandown & P.Island)	30 minimum - 45 max
Track Time	over 180mins	approximately 120mins
Morning briefing	yes - detailed	yes - basic
Circuit Inspection	yes	no
Timed Sessions	yes	no
Written Course Evaluation	yes	no
Dedicated Instructor	yes	no
Instructor driving me	yes	no

If you have any questions, please give me a call in the office immediately.

Regards,

Dean Sammut

John Bowe Driving News - 06/02/09
Tasmania Tour update; The tour is confirmed with a number of bookings already made, don't miss out on this memorable tour - book now.

John Bowe Driving News - 12/01/09
Welcome to a new year, we hope that you all enjoyed some time with family and friends over the Christmas and New Year period.

Course news: Check out our 2009 schedule sorted now.
Drive to Survive defensive driving:
If you received a gift certificate for Christmas then now is the time to book your course. Check out or course dates and click on the 'book now' icon to make your booking.
Advanced Driving:
Our first Advanced Driving course is scheduled for Sunday 15th Feb, get booked on while spots are still available.
High Performance Driving:
We have a weekend High Performance course coming up on Saturday 7th February at Sandown. Get in early to take advantage of this rare weekend event, spaces are limited. If you came on a course in 2008 then you can book now at 2008 prices ($385 discounted rate), don't delay. Click here to book your spot, mark as "email special" in the how you heard about JB Driving section.

We will also be visiting Oran Park Raceway, NSW on Monday 16th February. This will be one of the final visits to an iconic race venue so don't miss out, spaces are limited. 2008 course participants can book now at 2008 prices ($385 discounted rate), don't delay. Click here to book your spot, mark as "email special" in the how you heard about JB Driving section.

John Bowe Driving News - 16/12/08

Well, not much news from the auto industry this week as all of the major car companies are going out of business and no new cars will be made due to the environmental impacts that they create. It is all doom & gloom.

Seriously, that is the image that we get from the media (maybe the same ones who follow Brad & Angelina around?) and when we continually hear this we tend to forget to step back and take a longer term view of the situation. Although things may not be performing to the levels seen in recent years, things are not that bad as we have had some very strong performances during the lead up to this financial melt down.

One of the best ways to look at things is that this is a time of opportunity, go out and haggle with your car dealer and get a better bargain. Or even better, don't just go shopping for one family car, go out and buy the entire Honda F1 team for $1 (that's all they are asking for it if you are willing to keep it running in 2009 - and that's what will cost you a few hundred million).

Anyway, you will notice that this section of the website will be dedicated to bringing you some of the current news from the auto/driving world. It will be presented in a light hearted manner so when you recite these issues over a beer down at the pub with your mates you will not only sound like you know what you are talking about but you will be comical too.