Sounds easy, and I’d have rated my chances if the entirely predictable Norfolk drizzle hadn’t played havoc with the braking points.
Ending up five metres past the target cone wasn’t my finest moment — an expensive error at some circuits but thankfully a moment to laugh at on the open-plan Hethel track.
And then comes the moment to put it all together: accelerating out of the pitlane into the latter stages of the technical Graham Hill section, I move out towards the edge of the track before bringing it back, hitting a late apex on the exit of the Andretti hairpin before attacking the Senna curves.
The lessons from earlier in the day haven’t quite built a muscle memory, but I’m using every element of newfound car control and knowledge to go faster lap after lap.
I’m getting as close to the grass as I dare but I’m still wary of the exit at the Rindt chicane. Instinct tells you to push down on the throttle for the best run out on to the Fittipaldi Straight. But with a steel barrier on the outside and damp tarmac, I’d be asking for trouble if I tried.
Barff continues coaching as I complete 15 laps, eager to see my improvement as a result of his tuition. There’s encouragement and only the faintest hint of exasperation when I skip the chicane a few times as my ambition exceeds my talent.
And then it’s time to find out how it should really be done, with Barff taking the wheel and lapping at a paced I couldn’t hope to match.
Unless, perhaps, I move on to the £799 Gold course to learn heel-and-toeing in a supercharged V6, or the £1,499 Platinum level where data is introduced into the equation…
As I pulled out of the car park in the Aveo – brake and throttle not quite as responsive as I’d grown used to over the day – I was a better driver to the tune of several seconds over a lap. Not that it would make much difference in traffic on the A47 heading home.