Racecraft & Driver Development News, Tips & Techniques for January 10, 2022

Welcome to 2022 and Happy New Year and the first issue of the weekly Racecraft & Driver Development News, Tips & Techniques. For this year I have decided to change things up a bit on the Motorsport Prospects Blog in that, instead of a Weekly Debrief published each Monday, I am going to break down the topics covered and publish them throughout the week instead.

If you are new to the Motorsport Prospects Blog, the Weekly Debrief (as well as the Sustainable Motorsport Round-Up) curate the best news, tips and techniques and updates from around the world of motorsport. Whether they be racecraft tips from leading driver coaches, mental conditioning advice, tips on the business of being a race driver, regulation updates from series around the globe or news on the business of motorsport, it will be jam packed with what I like to call “news racers can use.” Part of the problem with the Weekly Debrief was that it grew to be huge so breaking it down into more manageable chunks will make it easier to read and act on.

The tentative schedule will be as follows:

• Monday: Racecraft & Driver Development News, Tips & Techniques covering everything from improving your racecraft on the track as well as news on driver development programs from around the world.
• Tuesday: The Business of Being a Race Driver covering sponsorship acquisition and techniques and resources helpful to getting the budget you need to race.
• Wednesday: Motorsport Series News covering racing series more of interest to the race driver from around the world including sports cars, single-seaters, touring cars, rally and more.
• Thursday: Esports and Sim Racing News covers the ever growing sim racing scene.
• Friday: Business of Motorsport News covers news from the business of motorsport whether that be related to Formula 1 or the local short track.
• Saturday: The Sustainable Motorsport Round-Up covers the increasingly important topic of sustainable motorsport from the perspective of a series, track, team or driver.
• Sunday: The Motorsport Prospects Last Lap is a fun way to spend your Sunday when you are not racing as it covers interesting motorsport-related personalities, in car videos, news for the track day enthusiast and more.

In addition to these daily columns you will find regular features that go in depth regarding topics that will help you improve both on and off the track, updates from the Motorsport Prospects Directory, spotlights on professional events and webinars that will help all race drivers as well as some new features that will be unveiled throughout the year.

As we look forward to 2022 with excitement and let’s face it, a bit of trepidation, here are some racecraft and driver development related tips and techniques, news and views that you will find useful.

Racecraft Tips & Techniques

• On Wednesday, February 9th, 8:30pm EST/5:30pm PST, Ross Bentley of Speed Secrets will be conducting a webinar on how to improve your racecraft. Full details can be found here.(NOTE: Registration closes on February 7th)

• Driving coach E. Paul Dickinson explains how you can monitor and critique your own driving using your built-in data acquisition device–your brain in Grassroots Motorsports How to Master the Driving Self-Critique.

• Grassroots Motorsports also has a great article on how to demystify data acquisition. While the article is a bit dated so the tech has changed, the underlying premise remains the same.

• The Robb Report drives a C8 Corvette at the Ron Fellows Performance Driving School in At This Driving School, the C8 Corvette Is Your Classroom.

• Mental strength training is as important as physical conditioning and working on your racecraft. Hinsta has two great articles that will help you both on and off the track in How Formula 1 Drivers Cope With Uncertainty and Build Mental Resilience – And What Office Workers Can Learn From This as well as in Mental Strength in Times of Stress and Uncertainty – Learn From F1.

• Motorsport is a unique sport in a number of ways but it does share certain attributes with all sports as discussed in All sports are the same: 4 tips for any sportsman that apply to all sports competitors.

• Track Tuned has an excellent interview with Paul Gerard on their podcast called Track Walking – 56 – I Just Want Things to Get Better where the former Top Gear Stig talks about learning to sail, why you need to get on a skid pad, that steering less makes you faster, and there’s no such thing as natural talent. Well worth the listen.

• We have all had setbacks in our carreers but how you deal with them is the difference between long term success and failure. Danica Patrick discusses how she dealt with it in An inspiration to all: How setbacks led to success for Danica Patrick.

Driver Development News

• Formula Scout asks the question that a lot of people are asking, something that may have been lost amid the controversy of the season finale in Did year one of DTM’s GT3 era work for young drivers?

• Jaden Conwright is the winner of the first IMSA Diverse Driver Development Scholarship. Interestingly, this is only a partial scholarship. Criteria is based on “drivers having a strong desire to compete in IMSA, outstanding previous race results and/or proven on-track potential in junior racing categories and the ability to build a compelling business plan for securing the remaining funding needed to compete for a full season in 2022.”

• PitFit Training has expanded with a new facility in North Carolina after acquiring Podium Performance Fitness in Cornelius, NC. You can read my interview with Jim Leo of PitFit here.

• In a development that I think you will see accelerate over the next few years, sim-racer Jimmy Broadbent returns with Praga for 2022. With no previous real-life racing experience, Jimmy secured two race wins and was crowned Britcar Rookie of the Year in 2021.

• Formula Scout has a fascinating article on Nissan’s The Brain to Performance project with the aim: “[to use] advanced brain imaging and analysis to determine the anatomical specifics of high performance, professional drivers. The program aims to develop bespoke, optimised training to enhance the brain functions and anatomy related to driving and racing.” Check it out in How Nissan could shape the future of driver development in Formula E.

• Team Porsche New Zealand (TPNZ) has announced their 2022 scholarship recipients. Callum Hedge is the recipient of the 2022 scholarship drive for the inaugural season for the new Porsche 992 GT3 Cup Car. Ryan Wood will also be stepping up into the Porsche Michelin Sprint Cup Challenge for TPNZ and Matthew Payne, who was the 2021 scholarship winner, is going on to race in the final two Super2 rounds this season, with a recent announcement that the Kiwi will take part in the full 2022 Super2 season.

• Jacques Villeneuve may be relatively quiet on the race track these days but he is one of the driving forces behind the racing school FEED Racing.

That is it for this week. If you have any racecraft or driver development-related tips and techniques or run a driver-development related business, please do not hesitate to contact me here.