I have had the privilege of knowing Ray Grimes for many years now. I first met him on joining Fiorano Ferrari, a club for Ferrari owners wishing to drive on track and possibly progress to racing.
Having completed all four of Ferrari's Pilota courses held at the Fiorano test track in Maranello, Italy, driving both 430 and 360 Challenge cars, I thought I was a halfway decent track driver. How wrong I was! My first experience of Ray's teaching technique was at a Fiorano Ferrari track day at Monza in Italy. Ray, who was the chief instructor for Ferrari GB at the time, was allotted as my instructor for the day. We did a few assessment laps and went into the pit where Ray conducted a rigorous critique of my driving technique and abilities, or rather lack of either! My main problem was harsh over-driving with far too much steering input. I hadn't told him that I'd done the Pilota courses, but his first words to me were "You've been on those bloody Pilota courses haven't you?" in his inimitable northern twang. He then set about deconstructing and reconstructing my driving technique.
Off we went again and after warming up, Ray announced that I should drive several laps just holding the steering wheel between the tips of my forefingers and thumbs. The object of this was to teach me to steer and balance the car using throttle and brakes. As you can imagine, this was a somewhat daunting experience when doing 160mph round Curva Grande. I learnt more in those few hours with Ray than at all the Pilota courses put together.
My time at Fiorano culminated in an event called Ready to Race. I arrived a day after everyone else and was therefore at a considerable disadvantage in terms of track time before the competitive part of the event took place. Ray took me into the grandstand and gave me a thorough review of the track and the techniques needed to negotiate its many corners and get a quick time. I and my partner won first place. This was largely due to Ray's help and coaching.
I have continued to use Ray as an instructor over the years and can see no reason not to continue doing so in the future. Having had instruction from many other racing drivers and coaches, I can say that Ray is simply the best, with no exaggeration.
He combines immense experience as a successful racing driver himself, an enormous depth of technical knowledge and the racing scene, with a ready and approachable manner and great enthusiasm for getting the best out of every individual he coaches.
I recently undertook my first season's racing in the Chevron GR8 challenge. My racing partner and I, Matthew, another rookie achieved three third places in the series in the face of very stiff opposition. I wouldn't have achieved this without Ray.
I have no hesitation in recommending him to anyone, be they an experienced racing driver or track day enthusiast seeking to improve their skills further, or a complete beginner wanted to make a start in this exciting theatre of human experience.