The Girls on Track Virtual Experience has launched and in this week’s Driver Development Roundup you will find out what it is and how you can get involved. You will also find advice on what you should focus on in your career and much more!
Overview
Becoming a Professional Race Driver
The Real Reason Focusing on Results is Killing Your Career
Focusing on the results and putting too much weight on the outcome, leads to a world of pain. To give yourself the best shot possible, Enzo Mucci advises you in the video above to bring your attention to the now, and deal with one thing at a time. Simple but powerful
Confusion in Racing: Mental Health vs. Mental Performance
In modern motorsport, we constantly hear the words “mental preparation” thrown around. Yet too often, what’s delivered is little more than basic stress management disguised as cutting-edge coaching. The truth is, motorsport still confuses mental health with mental performance, and this confusion is costing drivers wins, and sometimes, careers. Minds on Track delves into the difference between mental health and mental performance and what to look for in a mental coach.
Young Talents Assemble for 2025 FIA FR World Cup
From 13-16 November, emerging drivers flying 15 national flags will compete for the highly prestigious FIA FR World Cup, which ran for the first time in 2024 and was awarded the legendary Macau Grand Prix title.
Of the 27 preparing to take on Macau’s ultra-challenging Guia Circuit during the 72nd running of the Macau Grand Prix, six have either won or are contention to win titles in FR championships certified by the FIA, the global governing body for motor sport and the federation for mobility organisations worldwide.
New Sessions Announced for Winfield F4 Training Camp at the Bahrain International Circuit
New sessions for the F4 Training Camp at the Bahrain International Circuit have been announced.
𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗚𝗘 𝟭 – Discover the World of Single-Seater Racing
· 3-day program
· 10 expert-led workshops covering every aspect of race driving
· On-track sessions in Gen2 F4 (up to 300km)
· 15 dedicated experts
𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗚𝗘 𝟮 – Push Your Performance to the Limit
· 2-day program
· Extensive on-track sessions
· Advanced performance analysis
· One-to-one coaching
09-10-11 December
Book now here.
Driver Development Program News & Resources
Ginetta Joins SRO GT Academy’s New GT2 European Series Powered by Pirelli Initiative
Sticking with the Ginetta GT2, Ginetta has become the third manufacturer to commit to the SRO GT Academy’s expanded GT2 European Series powered by Pirelli initiative for the 2026 season. It comes on the eve of the British brand’s series debut this weekend at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, which will be followed by a full-scale assault next year.
Ginetta joins Maserati and Mercedes-AMG in supporting the SRO GT Academy, which is open to Silver-graded drivers under the age of 30 who compete with one of these brands. The star performer will earn a funded (excluding crash damage) Mercedes-AMG GT3 seat with an AMG Customer Racing Team for the 2027 GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Endurance Cup.
The SRO GT Academy will use an assessment-based process to reveal each driver’s true ability and potential, eliminating external factors such as co-driver performance, reliability and luck. This will also ensure that entrants from the Pro-Am class and those competing in the new Silver Cup can be judged equally.
Race results will not be considered. Instead, points will be awarded for the quickest qualifying and race laps, as well as the average time across each driver’s fastest 10 race laps. Points will be deducted when a driver is deemed responsible for an accident by the panel of Stewards, or for losing control of the car off-track.
NXT Gen Cup Champion Lukas Stiefelhagen Awarded BMW M Racing Academy Shootout Wildcard
BMW M Motorsport has awarded a coveted wildcard to 2025 NXT Gen Cup Champion Lukas Stiefelhagen, granting the 18-year-old Dutch driver a direct invitation to the official BMW M Racing Academy shootout this October.
The wildcard secures Lukas a spot in the BMW M Racing Academy shootout in Munich on October 27–28 – and showcases the reputation NXT Gen Cup has built as a launchpad for young drivers with professional ambitions.
The BMW M Racing Academy is the German manufacturer’s official development programme for customer racing drivers, aimed at offering them exclusive access to BMW M Motorsport support and giving them the opportunity to significantly improve as GT racers. The academy focuses on all aspects of modern racing – from physical training and mental coaching to race analysis, media handling and on-track performance.
FIA Girls on Track Virtual Experience Launches
The FIA Girls on Track Virtual Experience kicks off on October 22nd and runs through December 17th. This 6 session series will dive into all aspects of motorsport from racing and engineering to marketing and data technologies. Interested? Sign up through this link to join one, two or all of the sessions! Each event features inspiring guest speakers from the motorsport industry who will share their journeys and answer your questions.
Empowering the Next Generation of Motorsport Enthusiasts
As a platinum partner of the FIA Girls on Track initiative, Shannons Insurance, part of Suncorp, supports young women interested in pursuing careers in motorsports by facilitating hands-on industry experience and opportunities.
The partnership builds on Shannons’ longstanding partnership with Motorsport Australia and the Shannons SpeedSeries, a premier motorsport series in Australia featuring a variety of racing categories and events.
Last Week on The Business of Being a Race Driver
How Amateur Drivers are Fueling IMSA’s Porsche Carrera Cup Growth
How amateur drivers are fueling IMSA’s Porsche Carrera Cup growth and how it affects you is just one of the topics covered in last week’s Business of Being a Race Driver. I also have tips on how to start your sponsorship proposal, how to track, measure and understand ROI and much more!
From the Sim Racing Roundup
Dynisma DMG-1 Simulator Installed at McLaren
A Dynisma DMG-1 Simulator has been installed at the McLaren Technology Centre and in last week’s Sim Racing Roundup you will go behind the scenes to see how it works. I also have news on how rising F1 star Gabriel Bortoleto uses the sim to learn new F1 tracks and much more!
Driver Journeys
The Path That Took Deagen Fairclough to ‘Dream Come True’ Aston Martin F1 Test
Ever since he won the ROKiT Racing Star Competition UK in May 2022, Deagen Fairclough has gone from strength to strength in his racing career. An impressive debut GB3 season has followed his record-breaking British F4 title charge in 2024, and now he has driven a Formula 1 car for the first time. Feeder Series joined selected media in a press conference to speak with him about the experience.
“The biggest thing in motorsport is money,” he said. “When there’s competitions like what ROKiT set up, they’re able to find the true talent. But then it is obviously trying to extract the pace from the sim into real life with physical training.”
Bittersweet Emotions for Wickens on his Return to Racing’s Big Leagues
“Bittersweet,” that’s how Robert Wickens describes his season in the IMSA SportsCar Championship in 2025 – the latest chapter in his racing journey in the wake of the life-changing injuries he sustained seven years ago. The Canadian proved he can compete in the premier sportscar series in North America with a car equipped with a new system of hand controls, which Bosch Motorsport has been at the forefront of development for.
“The problem I have is that I am so competitive that I get in the mindset of ‘I need to do better, this isn’t good enough for all the work everyone has done to get me here’,” says Wickens, who contested the five IMSA SportsCar Championship sprint events at the wheel of a DXDT Racing Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R. “I don’t want to be just a person on track – I want to be competitive.”
“I always want more from myself. If I get on the podium, it would not [be] good enough because I didn’t win. And if I won, it would be: ‘well, we didn’t run the perfect strategy’ or maybe I made a mistake during the race. I kind of forget to take [a] step back sometimes and realize what I have accomplished, like my wife Karli tells me all the time.”
Scott Blind Lining Up GT3 Effort After Single-Make Success
Scott Blind is finalizing plans for a step up to GT3 competition in IMSA’s VP Racing SportsCar Challenge next year with Ruckus Racing, with a continuation in Porsche Carrera Cup North America alongside possible SRO America appearances after a season of unprecedented success across various Porsche single-make championships.
“There’s some assumptions that I’m making that we’re going to be able to cross that threshold from the Cup car into the GT3 world, but I think, as much time as I’ve had in the [Cup] car now, and as much feel I’ve had in competition, I think it’s going to be fine.”
Author: Mark Boudreau
Mark is the publisher of Motorsport Prospects. As a 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.
