Wyatt Knox is a rally car driver who has won some awards racing across North America, but at the Team O’Neill Rally School, he trains drivers who will likely never win or even compete in a sanctioned race: military service members and others who drive through dangerous areas of the world where they might be attacked.
Pro Driver Shows Off Tactical Driving Techniques | Tradecraft | WIRED
Now, before you watch this video and then try to go and do all these maneuvers yourself, most of the skills Knox teaches are very much in the don’t-try-this-at-home territory.
At the school, Knox teaches skills like driving fast in reverse, J-turns, pit maneuvers, and more. The idea is to fill the proverbial “toolboxes” of deploying soldiers, Marines, and others with everything they might need in places like Fallujah, Kandahar, and other locations.
Driving down a street and you suddenly see a probable ambush? You could push through the kill zone, but if you have enough space, you could also come to a quick stop and then drive backwards as fast as possible to get away from the attackers (while your buddies call for fire on their position).
Or maybe you’re pursuing an high-value target, but they’ve got human shields in their vehicle, or you need to be sure that you capture them alive for intel purposes. Well, then the pit maneuver is made for you. Spin out the baddy’s car and try to take them down non-lethally.
Knox gives quick instructions in this video to give viewers a rough idea of what’s going on in their favorite parts of driving movies like The Fast and the Furious. But, again, don’t try this on your local city streets. At best, you’ll receive a well-deserved ticket.
By the way, the video is part of Wired’s “Tradecraft” series where experts in fields like combat and espionage break down skills essential to their career or former job. You can see more here.