Jaguar started offering a complimentary day of on-track driving instruction in 2009 as a perk for buyers of its R-badged high-performance cars. The initiative followed the lead of similar programs by Mercedes-Benz and BMW. Purchasers of AMG-branded Mercedes vehicles receive a day of free track instruction, while BMW limits its complimentary M School one-day enrollment for recent purchasers of the M5 and M6, which are now on a production hiatus. (Owners of other M vehicles must pay for the course, which costs $1,295.) I was invited to experience the R academy, but only from the front passenger seat.
Over the course of a week, about 70 Jaguar owners from as far away as Illinois came to explore the limits of their cars. When I attended, 11 owners were present, including Peter Kotun, an XKR owner from Delaware.
“I want a better understanding of the ins and outs of the car,” he said.
Some were longtime Jaguar owners, like Jim Van Ommeren from Allentown, Pa., who as a boy dreamed about owning an E-Type. Though he has yet to acquire one, he has managed an XJR, an XF Supercharged and lastly, an XFR, which he drove to the track. For John Cleere of Waterloo, N.Y., his XKR was his first Jaguar after owning several Corvettes.
The academy was taught by professional racecar drivers, including Chris Munro, the chief instructor, and Roberto Guerrero, who previously held the lap record at Monticello until Davy Jones, a fellow instructor, broke it. Other instructors at the academy were Adam Andretti, a member of the Andretti racing family; Morgan Kavanaugh, a former motorcycle racer; and Mike Finch.
At the beginning of the day, owners attended a classroom session where Mr. Munro discussed the performance limits of the cars as well as general tips for spirited driving, including the 9 o’clock 3 o’clock steering-wheel grip and proper body position behind the wheel. (Fun fact: the right leg should be bent, and not fully extended, when braking to provide maximum leverage on the pedal.)
“It’s not about comfort when you’re behind the wheel of a car, it’s about control,” Mr. Munro said.
Before being turned loose on Monticello’s 4.1-mile track, students were tutored on a figure-8 cone configuration. The owners started slowly, but with more confidence gradually built speed until they were getting sideways coming out of the turns.
Then, on a an oval portion of the main track, an instructor riding shotgun taught the optimal way to enter and exit corners. Owners were told to start on the outside, cut in and end up back on the outside. Munro called this, simply enough, outside-inside-outside.
It was then time to bring these cornering skills to bear on the main track, with helmets on. After instructors led them around the south end of the course on a familiarization run, students were allowed to break away behind the pace car. Because the south end lacks a long straight, speeds were limited to about 100 m.p.h.
Mr. Van Ommeren said later that the course and his instructors taught him many intangibles, but in a telephone interview, he noted that when he returned home, he could not summon properly descriptive words for his family. “Unless they were there, they can’t understand,” he said.