This week on the Motorsport Prospects Weekly Debrief I look at developing your racecraft, understanding the sponsor’s point of view, big news for Indian motorsport and more. All this and awesome in-car footage of Bruce Canepa in a 1989 Porsche 962C. Let’s get to it!
Driver Development News, Tips & Techniques
- There is no denying that Fernando Alonso is in the upper echelon of greatest drivers in the world and in The secrets of Alonso’s ‘second to none’ F1 racecraft you get a glimpse into tips and techniques in how he drives.
- Hintsa Performance has put together a great video with Coaching & Sports Science Director Pete McKnight and Performance Coach John Noonan looking at the process behind the preparation of young F3 & F2 drivers in Preparing Elite Formula Racing Drivers for Competition – Inside F2. Watch the video below for all their insight.
- With the 24 Hours of Le Mans coming up this weekend, how does an amateur driver prepare? In How to prepare an amateur for Le Mans sensory overload Autosport (Plus), Absolute Racing Porsche driver Marco Seefried explains all.
- In the early days of Motorsport Prospects I ran a feature called Parents in the Pits (which I plan to get back to) that discusses a young drivers career from a parent’s point of view. Check out Joining Low Dempsey Racing: A parent’s perspective from across the pond for the experience of these parents as they embark on their racing journey with Low Dempsey Racing.
- Racers360 has announced a new monthly Elite Motorsports Coaching Program and they are accepting names for their waiting list. You can get the full details here.
- Check out PMW’s great article and video IndyCar racer utilizes Honda Performance Development’s driver-in-the-loop simulator to see how Indycar drivers use the HPD sim to prepare for the recently run Nashville Indycar race.
- Speaking of Indycar, there has always been a perception from the drivers that European drivers did not value the series highly enough, something that has been changing with the influx of former F1 and current F2 drivers. Read more about it in ‘The respect level is rising’: IndyCar drivers validated by interest from F1, Europeans.
- Sleep is important, not just for race drivers but for everyone. Check out the podcast Discover Your Chronotype to Achieve Peak Performance – Improving Your Sleep that MotiV8 Training recently shared for advice on how to improve your sleep and why it’s important.
- How Much Should I Spend On A Road Racing Helmet? Winding Road has some advice.
- Great news for the Girls on Track program in the UK as Girls on Track UK partners with Enovation Consulting and Hexagon. Both firms will support Motorsport UK’s initiative to inspire girls to consider a future role within the subjects of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM).
Drives Available
Look for more of these as Motorsport Prospects continues to expand but here are two driver opportunities to check out. If you want to publicize any drives you have available in the Weekly Debrief, contact me here and let me know.
- New FRegional Japan team running open shootout for free race seat (deadline is August 20th)
- BC Race Cars is looking for a funded driver to race their flagship TA2 car for the Watkins Glen Trans-Am race to be held September 9-12.
Recovering from a Serious Injury
- Finally, we all know that injury is always possible in motorsport. At some point in time you will get hurt and recovering from an injury is a combination of physical and mental rehabilitation. Have a look at Racing recovery: The teen motorsport prodigy learning to walk, talk and eat again after crash to see how one young driver is coping with a serious crash injury.
The Business of Being a Race Driver
- I have mentioned many times the importance of social media to a race driver’s career and MotiV8 Training are putting on a Social Media Training Webinar September 1st to help you with that. Full details can be found here.
- Another point I have mentioned numerous times is the importance of understanding the sponsorship relationship from the sponsors point of view, not just from your point of view as the driver aiming to obtain the sponsorship. Here are a few articles that will help you understand what they see from their point of view. All are from the excellent Feed blog at Sport Dimensions.
Series News
There has been a lot of exciting news, announcements and opinions related to the various racing series taking place now or that will be in the future. Here are some of the developments to take note of.
- With the 24 Hours of Le Mans happening this weekend, more sportscar-related news has been coming out in the lead up to the great race. If you want to know the current status of the top tier Hypercar class, check out Hypercar, LMH, and LMDH – The State Of Play – Who’s In, Who’s Out? from the always excellent Daily Sportscar.
- Big news in Indian motorsport and something I have alluded to in recent Weekly Debriefs as India will have its own Formula 4 and Formula Regional Championships. Formula Scout has an excellent overview of the plans for both series and the Road to Indy-type graduation prizes on offer.
- With the sudden change in British 3 I mentioned last week, the newly renamed GB3 Championship has announced the details of their new car set to run in 2022.
- FIA F3 organizers are starting to talk to the organizers of the W Series to see how they could bring W Series graduates into F3. It’s early days yet but the signs are hopeful that some sort of program can be initiated to get the championship winner better integrated into the FIA motorsport development pyramid.
- Bruno Michel has mentioned to the press Why the Formula 2 format overhaul may be short-lived. The scheduling is just not consistent these days and with the addition of the W Series to the F1 weekend, the weekend schedule is getting crowded.
- Meanwhile in America, excitement is already building for the Road to Indy in 2022 as new teams are expected to join the grid and Indy Lights has risen phoenix-like from the ashes to great numbers and positive momentum.
- Formula E teams are discussing with the organizers and the FIA ways to use the soon to be retired Gen 2 cars for some type of feeder series. The argument they are making is that racing an electric race car is different enough from a conventional ICE-powered car that such a series is necessary. Formula Scout debates what they would like to see in such a series.
- Finally, the unfortunate news has been announced that yet again, F3 and WTCC Touring Cars will not be going to Macau.
Business of Motorsport
With the run for the FIA Presidency heating up, I thought for this edition of the Business of Motorsport I would gather up some news and analysis for your reading pleasure. Regardless of how you feel about the FIA, the actions of the FIA President hold a huge amount of sway over the business and development of motorsport. It will be interesting to see if anybody else announces their candidacy between now and November.
- FIA faces a choice between change and continuity as the Todt era ends
- FIA presidential candidate Graham Stoker launches motorsport manifesto
- How Mohammed ben Sulayem Plans to Rally the FIA If Elected President
From the Motorsport Prospects Archives
If you have been following the Motorsport Prospects blog lately, you may have noticed that I have branched out sustainable motorsport news from the Weekly Debrief to its own dedicated Sustainable Motorsport Round-Up published twice a month. As sustainability is a key to the future of motorsport, now’s a great time to survey the landscape and start preparing yourself as a driver for what the future holds. A new edition will be published this Monday.
The Last Lap
Here are some great motorsport-related tidbits that caught my eye over the last week including Hinch’s blood drive in honor of Robin Miller, weird racing sponsors, Sir Jackie Stewart’s Rolex, how Lyn St. James blazed a path for others and awesome in-car footage of Bruce Canepa 1989 Porsche 962C at the 2021 Monterey Reunion.
- IMS, Red Cross, Hinchcliffe launch Brickyard blood drive in honor of Robin Miller
- Weirdest Racing Sponsors Ever: From Taylor Swift to ABBA
- Sir Jackie Stewart on Rolexes, Racing, and the Greatest Antique Car Show On the Planet
- How Trailblazer Lyn St. James Conquered Sexism in Her Racing Career
Stay safe and I will see you at the track!
Author: Mark Boudreau
Mark is the publisher of Motorsport Prospects. As a former lawyer, he applies his legal background and research skills to assist race drivers by showcasing the resources they need to make their motorsport careers happen.