Racecraft & Driver Development Roundup for September 26, 2022

This week, the Racecraft & Driver Development Roundup includes some helpful advice for both on and off the track, a comparison of Gen 1 and Gen 2 Tatuus race cars, scholarship opportunities, debates over driver development best practices and more. I also once again feature 3 driver snapshots to inspire you. This is news that racers can use.

Racecraft Tips & Techniques

Tatuus Gen 1 F4 Car vs Gen 2 F4 Car
Photos: Italiaracing
  • In When two eras meet: How F4 Gen1 and Gen2 compare in the cockpit, Formula Scout contributor Mattia Tremolada conducts a driving comparison between Gen 1 and Gen 2 Tatuus F4 cars and looks at what to expect for drivers racing either chassis. “The first-generation F4 car is the best choice for someone who, like me, is just looking for some fun without spending too much money, but still with high-level safety and quality,” Conti explained. “It doesn’t need too much maintenance, so it can be run by a small team. This also allows you to keep the cost very low. Compared to the Dallara Formula 3 and the Formula Renault 2.0 that we compete against in the F2000 Trophy, the F4 has a great handling, but obviously on the long straights it suffers the lack of power.”
  • Grassroots Motorsports looks at how driving instruction can make you faster on track. “It’s no secret that track time is more accessible and even more affordable than ever. But time spent on track isn’t always time spent improving–and if improvement is your goal, then structured training should be part of your plan.”
  • Blayze looks at How To Quickly Find Lap Time With Your AiM Data. “Data doesn’t have to be complicated or time consuming. In this webinar Blayze pro coach, Dion von Moltke, breaks down to quickly go through your data to find actionable insights.”
  • I don’t cover karting much on Motorsport Prospects as I tend to focus on racing cars and the kart to car transition, but every once in awhile something happening in the karting world gets my attention. EKarting News has a great feature called Team STC’s Mission For Accessible Karting which details karting race Team STC and their mission to make karting accessible to those with physical disabilities. “STC was created in 2020, two years after Eric had become a paraplegic. STC stands for ‘Stay the Course’ – with a mission statement of ‘No matter how difficult, do not ever give up on your journey… endure and overcome’. Based out of West Lafayette, Indiana, the organization is a professional kart racing team that provides physically disabled individuals with the opportunities and tools necessary to discover, develop and showcase their racing skills.”

Driver Development News & Resources

Racecraft & Driver Development Roundup for September 26, 2022
Chris Owens/Penske Entertainment
  • In what came as a surprise to many, Racer reports that the Indy Lights champions advancement prize has been slashed. “From a year-to-year basis, the reduced Indy Lights graduation package represents a 58 percent cut in support for the new champion. As well, with the price of one-off Indy 500 rides climbing to $800,000 or more last May, the $500,000 would not be enough on its own for Lundqvist or any future champion to participate in IndyCar’s marquee event. The step backwards comes at an awkward time as the series is set to go racing next season with its largest field of entries in more than a decade. The $1 million-plus scholarship and guarantees of racing at Indy and other rounds has been a significant draw to date.” F1 Feeder Series conducts an analysis and argues that Indy Lights growth could be under threat following the scholarship reduction. The Race argues that this is something that needs fixing quickly as it will be difficult to attract underfunded drivers who previously would have used the much needed money to strengthen their budgets for a shot at Indycar.
  • New Zealand’s Toyota Racing Series has renewed its partnership with the Road to Indy program. “Drivers who compete in all five rounds of the 2023 or 2024 TRS season will receive free entry in either the two-day ‘Spring Training’ test or the two-day Fall combine test, plus a free set of tyres for a test in either USF Juniors, USF2000 or Indy Pro 2000. The benefits go in the other direction too, with drivers who have completed at least 75 percent of the rounds in either USF Juniors, USF2000 or Indy Pro 2000 getting free entry for a full TRS season, a saving of NZD 7500.”
  • Porsche Motorsport Asia Pacific has announced GT Trackday, an exclusive platform designed to give Porsche owners in the region a chance to develop their driving skills, better preparing them for the Porsche Sports Cup China. Aimed at beginners on the race track, the new program sits just above the Porsche Track Experience in the Porsche Motorsport Asia Pacific pyramid. GT Trackday is aimed at drivers who have already completed the Porsche Track Experience, or an equivalent level of training and is open to GT road cars and GT race cars.
  • Speed Cafe reports that Todd Hazelwood and Karl Reinder have shared their experiences in the world of psychology as Focus Driver Performance owner Oliver Myers and sports psychologist Dr Kotryna Fraser explore its negative stigma in motorsport. “Mental health has always been perceived as an abnormality,” Dr Fraser said. If you have poor mental health, it’s like there’s something wrong and you have to be pushed away into a mental institution.That’s one certain view in society of what it is and it’s not right.”
Racecraft & Driver Development Roundup for September 26, 2022
  • In a groundbreaking partnership between the Team Canada Scholarship and RevTV, the recent inaugural Team Canada Scholarship Shootout will be featured on RevTV September 26th, at 8PM ET with the winners to be announced at its conclusion. “Over the course of two days six talented young Canadian drivers competed for the chance to represent the Great White North in Great Britain at the renowned Formula Ford Festival and Walter Hayes Trophy race. The competitors were judged under the watchful eyes of an esteemed who’s who of Canadian motorsports including IndyCar stars James Hinchcliffe and Robert Wickens, as well as Team Canada founder Brian Graham, IMSA driver Kyle Marcelli, and renowned IMSA engineer Ian Willis. Along with driving challenges, which took place on the CTMP Driver Development Track—a 2.88-kilometre racetrack and advanced driver training facility located at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park—the drivers were also engaged in media training challenges facilitated by REV TV and legendary motorsports broadcaster Todd Lewis. The result was a full spectrum of what the drivers can expect from a career in motorsports at the highest level, and we were there to capture it all!
  • Motorsport Magazine‘s James Elson argues that F1 has fallen behind IndyCar on diversity and asks, where is its feeder team?Diversity in F1 can’t be just a box-ticking exercise. It’s essential if it really wants to be the world’s leading racing series, but the reality is it’s falling behind.” Liberty and the FIA appear to be listening according to Sports Business Journal as F1 is plotting ways to increase driver diversity. “F1 is working on a significant, yet-to-be-announced plan to increase driver diversity by a decade from now, and several initiatives are under consideration, said Las Vegas Grand Prix CEO Renee Wilm on Thursday during the AXS Sports Facilities & Franchises and Ticketing Symposium.”
Racecraft & Driver Development Roundup for September 26, 2022
Credit: Formula Motorsport Limited
  • Four female drivers have completed a two-day test in FIA Formula 3 machinery at former Grand Prix track Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours, France. FIA Formula 3 Technical Director Didier Perrin added, “Abbi and Hamda did a great job. They adapted quickly to the car and its challenges. They were able to give us some valuable feedback. They were very eager to learn as much as possible, and it’s been a pleasure to work with both.”
  • Alpine CEO Laurent Rossi has suggested the Formula 1 team’s young driver program could be scrapped in response to the Oscar Piastri saga. “This is not good for the sport,” Rossi said. “Beyond our little scratch here at Alpine, I think the sport itself gets scratched a bit.” Of course, the argument could be made that the Piastri fiasco was completely of their own making in not firming up a contract with Piastri that actually guaranteed an F1 drive within a reasonable amount of time. Which of course is what the CRB essentially stated in their ruling.
  • Grassroots Motorsports looks at how University of Georgia students turn STEM classes into racing reality. “Dr. Mativo, faculty advisor to the club since it formed back in 2014, has seen it grow to not only compete and race cars, but to bring many different types of engineers together to work toward a common goal and gain real experience in a significant field of engineering.”

Driver Snapshots

Learning from the experience of others is key to succeeding in any walk of life and racing is no different. In Driver Snapshots, I will feature the experiences of various drivers where you can get some perspective on what they have gone through (and continue to go through) as they work to make their motorsport careers happen. I hope you can take some lessons from these experiences and apply them to your own motorsport careers.

Reema Juffali

Racecraft & Driver Development Roundup for September 26, 2022

Reema Juffali, the first Saudi Arabian professional female racing driver, shares her story with ae World.

Everyone has different forms of challenges in their lives and I think for me, being from Saudi and being a woman, I knew from a very young age I was very adamant about what I wanted to do. If I wanted to do something I was very strong and affirmative and I put my foot down, and I think growing up like that helped me in the field of motorsport. I was always competitive with the boys when playing sports, the gender element didn’t get in my way, and I think that helped me in this industry. Also, the reason I wanted to start a race team is that in my sphere, I did not know any other people who raced professionally, male or female. So I had to learn everything for myself – take on advice, make mistakes – and it wasn’t always easy, not because I was a woman or I was from Saudi, but because of the lack of experience and knowledge in my sphere of existence. So I had to be self-driven, have self-belief and have hope. Once I started putting my heart into it I began to feel like I was on the right track and that’s also what makes it so special because I am so passionate and driven. I hope that when people hear about my journey it will give them a sense of perspective or knowledge that this is achievable. That has been the biggest reward outside of racing: being able to encourage and inspire other women, in particular, to do something different that they maybe thought was unachievable.

https://aeworld.com/lifestyle/reema-juffali-the-first-saudi-arabian-professional-female-racing-driver-shares-her-story/

Lando Norris

Racecraft & Driver Development Roundup for September 26, 2022
© XPB

Racing News 365 talks to F1 driver Lanso Norris on how he battled lack of self-confidence in F1. Although his public persona was relaxed and social media friendly, Norris admitted he struggled with his self-confidence and nerves throughout his debut and second seasons in the championship, but that experience has helped him to order things.

“I don’t need to consistently and always think about how to drive the car in the next session, because that’s what I did in my first year of Formula 1. It’s just: ‘Why did I do that mistake? How can I do better next time?’ and I’m just constantly thinking about that. Even during interviews and chatting, whatever it was, now I can just separate personal life, personal chats, whatever, and then getting in the car and focusing on a job you got to focus on.”

https://racingnews365.com/norris-exclusive-mclaren-driver-on-how-he-battled-lack-of-self-confidence-in-f1

Natalie Decker

Natalie Decker

Rides & Drives goes Behind The Wheel With Natalie Decker to talk about her racing career so far and why she races.

I was born with Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis and was diagnosed at the age of two. With an autoimmune disease, it is something the human eye cannot always see and for this reason I want to express how important it is to always be kind because you never know what someone may be going through. What appears okay on the outside doesn’t always reflect what a person has going on in their life.

https://ridesanddrives.com/2022/09/23/behind-the-wheel-with-natalie-decker/
Mark Boudreau
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.