14/09/2026
Some passes have extra drama thrown in to the mix which makes them oh so sweeter when they happen.
Lorenzo has been one of the most brilliant students I've ever taught, and you will never meet such a cool, calm and collected guy in your life.
Lorenzo's story begins with heartbreak and disappointment. Having been with me for several months and applying himself diligently to the task at hand, he was more than ready for a test attempt. On the day, he drove superbly, one of the best test drives I've bore witness to. Rolling back in to the test centre I felt sure that this was an easy pass. Imagine the shock, horror and utter disbelief when the examiner told him he had failed. The reason was petty and frankly, in my opinion, unwarranted. It was one of those harsh moments in life when you experience a bit of injustice and there's absolutely nothing you can do about it.
Understandably Lorenzo took a little bit of time off to recuperate and line up his next test attempt. He resumed lessons a few weeks prior and after shaking off a bit of rust, looked ready to go for attempt number 2. I jokingly told him to neck a few red bulls beforehand to ensure he was sharp. This one meant a lot to me as I so badly wanted to make up for the disappointment we experienced the first time.
But apparently not enough for me to note it correctly in my diary!! Come Monday morning I get a knock on the door... It's Lorenzo! It's test day. And it had absolutely slipped my mind. Thankfully Lorenzo lives on the same estate and so had walked over to my house, but not until it was absolutely necessary. I checked the clock... his test was in 17 minutes! How could I have forgotten?? Calling myself a million different names, I said "let's go, we might still make it" and told him to get into the passenger side. I will get us there. Sport mode enabled.
Despite this panic, Lorenzo was buzzing. He had taken my advice quite literally, and had necked 3 red bulls for breakfast. We were also lucky that the Monday morning traffic that day was relatively mild, as if it wasn't we would have never made it. We got there with less than a minute to spare. Lorenzo dashed out of the car ahead of me to get into to the waiting room. At the very moment he took a seat, the examiner came out of the door and called his name. Talk about in the nick of time!!
Getting in the car, the examiner had no idea Lorenzo was setting up his seat for the first time that day and his first bit of driving in over a week was out of the test centre car park on his actual driving test! No warm up, no preparation, just straight into it. In a funny way it might have helped. There were a couple of moments on the test where Lorenzo could have fumbled it, but despite all the drama and panic he kept his composure and bought the car home for what will forever be a glorious, against the odds and fairy-tale ending pass.
Lorenzo, thank you for saving the day. You really did earn this one.
