Racecraft & Driver Development News, Tips & Techniques for July 4, 2022-Developing the Next Generation

This week’s Racecraft & Driver Development News, Tips & Techniques is packed with information and advice you may have missed. In Racecraft, Blayze’s Ricky Taylor explains brake technique while Speed Secret’s Ross Bentley looks at endurance racing racecraft. In Driver Development News, a number of new driver development programs have been announced, the importance of hydration is discussed, and Enzo Mucci explains how to develop the “Beast” mindset. All this and much more!

Racecraft Tips & Techniques

• In their latest Racing Skills In 60 Seconds, Blayze instructor Ricky Taylor answers the question: “Is there a perfect braking technique?”

• Over at Speed Secrets, Ross Bentley answers the question: “In endurance racing, when is it best to make it difficult for a faster car to pass, and when should our fastest driver be in the car?“

Driver Development News & Resources

• While racecraft, physical fitness and simulator training are all important, the key deciding factor in how successful you will be on the track is your will to win. In the video above, Enzo Mucci explains how to create the “Beast Mindset” to help you win.

• Travel is an inevitability in motorsport, especially as you progress up the pyramid to more competitive series. But what kind of effect does this travel have on your performance? MotiV8 Training’s Belinda Riseley takes a look at this very issue in The Effects of Travel on Your Performance.

• Related to the above issue of the effect of travel on performance, the NBC Sports NASCAR website has an excellent column on the ins and outs of driver hydration. “Hydration is extra important for racecar drivers because they work in enclosed, hot spaces where safety equipment covers every square inch of skin. They’re often so focused on racing that they might not even realize they’re getting dehydrated.”

• Blayze has a excellent guide to race weekend prep and routine. “In this article we dive deep into how to prepare through the week leading up to your race and then dive deep into a step by step process that takes you from the night before the race right up until you take the green flag.”

• I talked about sim racer James Baldwin’s transition from sim racing to the real thing in last week’s Sim Racing and Esports News. Above is a video where he describes how he made the step up to racing in the 24 Hours of Spa.

• The Alpine F1 team has embarked on a ambitious program to open up more opportunities for women within its organization with the launch of the Race(H)er program. Alpine is aiming to have 30 percent of its workforce female within the next five years, up from the current 12 percent in 2022. A key component of the initiative is also to try to help guide the next female F1 driver in to Grand Prix racing. “As well as providing financial backing for this, part of Alpine’s push will include a ramped up effort to help guide a female talent to an F1 seat, which will include a proper scientific study to explore the reality of alleged hurdles that some suggest have stopped women making it all the way to the top in recent years.” More information can be found here.

• Meanwhile, the AlphaTauri F1 has agreed to a deal with the Buzz Group which, in addition to the mutual work they will conduct regarding sustainable motorsport, will focus on the creation of a nurturing environment where talented young drivers can develop into future world champions.

• Motorsport Australia has received funding to expand its FIA Girls on Track program as part of the New South Wales Government’s ‘Her Sport Her Way’ Grant Program. The Program aims to inspire and encourage an interest in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) subjects and industries amongst schoolgirls, with the aim of increasing female participation in these sectors, with multiple events happening not just in NSW, but across the country.

• Motorsport UK’s FIA Girls on Track UK has been announced as an inaugural recipient of a charitable grant from Ignite Partnership, a joint charitable initiative between Sir Lewis Hamilton and the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team. The grant will see the Ignite Partnership collaborating with Motorsport UK’s FIA Girls on Track UK programme, who will expand the reach to 8,000 girls and young women from ages 8 to 24 through the support of Ignite. The Girls on Track UK programme has been running since 2016 and aims to inspire, connect, and showcase underrepresented groups in motorsport, with a special focus on female representation. “With a priority on increasing participation from pupils from ethnic minorities and economically disadvantaged backgrounds, Girls on Track UK will be developing new partnerships to reach more communities with high representation from low-income and minority ethnic groups.”

• Richard Mille and All Road Management have expanded their new talent search for 2022 as part of their Richard Mille Young Talent Academy. “The objective of the RMYTA remains the same, to discover the best young motorsport talent of tomorrow, but the process to achieve these objectives is to broaden our search,” said All Road’s boss Nicolas Todt. “All Road Management is delighted and proud to continue its involvement in this newly added valuable selection. The 2022 winner will be under contract with All Road Management and will benefit from the company’s know-how and skills in the same way as all our drivers have. This detection aims to accompany its winner to the highest level of motorsport.” More information on how you can get involved can be found here.

• As the negotiations around future F1 calendar slots intensifies, Spa-Francorchamps officials have indicated that they are prepared to go the ‘American Way’ in an effort to keep their F1 race. The part that intrigued me as far as driver development goes is that, according to AutoWeek, “the latest rumor is that if Spa cannot reach an ordinary race deal with Liberty, a compromise solution could be a non-championship round in which the F1 teams field young drivers instead of their regular lineups.”

• Despite the existence of F4 as the FIA’s preferred pathway from karts to cars, a next generation of Formula Ford cars is coming soon to Australia in 2024 according to Motorsport Australia. The tubular chassis will feature a number of new safety components, including the halo, front and rear crash structures, side impact crash structure, an extractable seat, driver headrest, sidepods and wheel tethers. It is estimated the new cars will be approximately one second per lap quicker than the current car. “We are announcing this new car now so we can give certainty to the market as well as helping the next generation of racers consider their careers and development opportunities in the years ahead. Likewise, we want current car owners to know they have a place to race their cars and that they’ll be eligible to compete at a national level, alongside the new car.”

Driver Snapshots

• The Straights Times has a good look at how Singapore drivers have made the step up to F4 racing. It is always instructive to see how other drivers have determined their path and climbed the motorsport development pyramid.