This week is full of some great racecraft advice including using data acquisition to find lost speed and an explanation of weight transfer. I also have the V-CARB F1 Performance Coach on training a race winner, racing in Radicals from a newbie’s perspective and the return of the Spec MX-5 Master’s Championship.
All this and more in this week’s edition of the Racecraft & Race Cars Roundup on Motorsport Prospects.
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Racecraft Tips & Techniques
On-Track
Ross Bentley describes the various stages of his racing career and of the importance of learning to let go to free himself to be the best that he can be.
When someone goes to art school, they spend time learning how to copy the Masters. Then, they begin to experiment a bit, “feel” their art, and develop their own style. That is when they truly create art. I had to ask myself, “Are you ready to move beyond copying the Masters? Are you ready to play offense, rather than just defense? Are you ready to take some risks and take a chance at leveling up, improving again?”
Dion von Moltke of Blayze explains in under 60 seconds the topic of weight transfer. “Understanding weight transfer is a fundamental skill that racecar drivers need to know. It is what helps us go fast! Learning to optimize weight transfer allows us to optimize the grip of the racecar.”
Part 2 Samir Abid’s Your Data Driven Podcast with Willem Toet, the former head of aerodynamics at the Benetton, Ferrari and Sauber Formula 1 teams. Aero is one of those subjects that gets a lot of air time on TV but its often hard to relate that back to what you can do yourself. Willem Toet has some great insights and very practical tips. Make sure to listen to part 1 first and be sure to check out the links in the show notes for some really good followup videos and articles. You can watch Part 1 here.
Veteran motor racer Peter Cate has compiled his learnings from more than thirty racing seasons into a recently published book, ‘Racing Hell – The Hidden Truths of Motorsport’. I asked Peter to provide an overview of his book and his intentions behind writing it.
LowerLaptime Training has just joined the Motorsport Prospects Directory and Martin has provided a 20 minute webinar which you can view here as an introduction to his Lowerlaptime Leap Program.
Grassroots Motorsports explains how they used data acquisition to find lost speed at an intensive training session at Circuito Maspalomas on Gran Canaria, “So why, then, were they hanging as much as half a second on me down those straights? If our terminal velocities were identical, how was their bulged acceleration curve worth so many tenths? And what was causing it to begin with?“
Bruno Finco, Vehicle Dynamics Expert | Co-Founder & Director of Engineering at MOVEdot provides you with a complete guide to Performance Engineering Resources.
I have been involved with vehicle performance for around 10 years, first in Formula Student, and then in racing series such as IMSA, WEC, ELMS, and some involvement with F2, WRC, among others. In this article, I will give my personal recommendations for learning performance engineering and data analysis.
We will cover resources for:
Performance Engineering Resources: The Complete Guide
- Vehicle dynamics
- Performance engineering
- Data analysis
- Vehicle setup
- Tire performance
- Driving techniques
Off-Track
The SportsRush talks to V-CARB F1 Performance Coach Pyry Salmela who busts an age-old myth with his unique take on training a race winner. “It Depends on How the Car Is Driven.”
“Hence, through his years in the sport, he has devised a ‘Triangle of Performance‘ – Skill, Capacity, and Readiness, to ensure that the likes of Ricciardo are not only fit but also ready to race. “Number one thing is skill, and skill dominates where you will end up,” begins Salmela.”
Race Car & Series Developments
Sim Racer and sim driving coach Suellio Almeida purchased a Radical race car and gives a great explanation of what racing a Radical is all about.
The FIA World Motor Sport Council convened on February 28th for its first meeting of 2024. The meeting was chaired by President Mohammed Ben Sulayem with FIA Deputy President for Sport Robert Reid and WMSC members joining in person at the Federation’s offices in Geneva and from around the world via video conference.
The meeting covered a number of topics including:
- Pathway for the future of the FIA World Rally Championship agreed
- A new alternative – FIA presents vision for future Hydrogen fuel technologies
- Global consistency for circuit racing championships
Regulatory updates were issued for the following series and commissions:
- FIA Formula One World Championship
- FIA World Rally Championship
- FIA World Rallycross Championship
- FIA GT World Cup
- Kumho FIA TCR World Tour
- FIA Motorsport Games
- FIA Rally Commission
- FIA Single-Seater Commission
- Commission Appointments
- Circuit Commission
Upcoming World Motor Sport Council Meetings
| Date | Venue |
| 11 June | Within the FIA Conference week framework |
| 17 October | Virtual |
| 11 December | Within the FIA General Assemblies week framework |
You can get more details here.
WSC, Confederação Brasileira de Automobilismo (CBA) and TCR South America announced that the Autódromo José Carlos Pace at Interlagos will be the venue for the fourth event of the 2024 Kumho FIA TCR World Tour.
This change has been approved yesterday by the FIA World Motor Sport Council due to ongoing renovations at Goiânia’s Autódromo Internacional Ayrton Senna that was originally intended to host the event. The event at Interlagos will take place on 19/21 July, with the Kumho FIA TCR World Tour sharing the grid with the TCR South America and TCR Brasil championships.
Entries are now open for the 2024 FIA Motorsport Games, the third edition of the event where racers from National Sporting Authorities (ASNs) around the globe represent their nation in a wide variety of motorsport disciplines.
The 2024 event will take place in Valencia, Spain – the prominent motorsport hub following in the footsteps of previous hosts, Rome, Italy (2019) and Marseille, France (2022).
Racers at the FIA Motorsport Games compete to stand on the podium to win gold, silver, or bronze medals. Alongside the coveted trophy for the overall winning nation, there are regional trophies for Africa, the Americas, Asia-Pacific, Europe, and Middle East/North Africa (MENA).
Additional prizes up for grabs include the NewStar trophy for the nation whose upcoming talents shine brightest in the grassroots categories and an AllStar trophy for the top-performing nation in categories reserved for more established drivers.
Full details can be found here.
PRI Senior Editor/Social Media Manager Christen D’Alessandro attended the 24 Hours of LeMons at Thunderhill Raceway in Willows, California, last February, and she provides an exclusive peek into what it was like to cover–and participate in!–the budget endurance road racing series designed for cars bought and race-prepped for just $500.
“The 24 Hours of LeMons holds various events throughout the U.S. each year, and the premise behind this one was to purchase and build a car for just $500 maximum (safety gear not included). However, they are fairly loose with enforcing the rules, and teams can even bribe the judges during tech inspection to look the other way (all part of the fun of the race). It’s a very grassroots style of racing, which is the main appeal. You don’t have to spend a bunch of money or be an experienced racer to participate in these events. Nearly anyone can dip their toe in the water and try it out… and once they get a feel for it, they might want to continue racing and move up the ladder!”
Goodyear Racing debuted new LMGT3 tires in this year’s FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) and has dedicated months to developing an advanced tire specification for the new category.
“Development for the LMGT3 category began in 2022, focusing on creating tires to meet the diverse demands of modern GT3 racing. Two specifications of dry tires and an advanced wet-weather tire will be used during the 2024 season, spanning extreme temperatures in Bahrain, the intensity of Qatar and the unpredictability of Spa-Francorchamps.”
The Australian Drivers’ Championship, also known as the Gold Star, has a long, storied history – but has struggled to find a suitable home for the last couple of decades. That has now changed as the winner of the Hyper Racing Championship, a AASA-sanctioned series for single-make open-wheel cars powered by 195-horsepower Suzuki motorcycle engines, will be crowned the Australian Drivers’ Champion.
Mazda Motorsports has announced the return of the Master’s Championship to Spec MX-5. “You asked, we listened – the Master’s Championship is BACK for 2024! At this year’s SCCA Championship Runoffs, Mazda Motorsports will award $5,000 to the highest finishing SCCA Super Tour points driver who is over the age of 45. For full contingency information, check out the link below:
UPDATED 2024 CONTINGENCY INFORMATION
Nitrocross will add another support category next season, with a new SIERRA Car class firming up its development ladder. It will also be an all-electric class, with EV powertrain manufacturer Hypercraft partnering with SIERRA for the project.
“SIERRA Car is the perfect storm of electrified performance in a race-proven chassis. It’s the ultimate hyper-performing, rally-inspired race vehicle that excels in multi-terrain racing environments,” said Kirk Miller, VP of sales and marketing at Hypercraft. “The incorporation of that platform within Nitrocross has for the first-time created a powerful stepping stone series for drivers of all disciplines, from professionals to up-and-comers. We couldn’t be more excited for the opportunity to facilitate that.”
if you are looking to drive a Revolution Race Car, they offer an extensive network of arrive and drive services. Racing enthusiasts looking to conquer the most prestigious circuits in Europe, the USA, and Canada need look no further, as Revolution and its certified race teams provide an unparalleled racing adventure.
Revolution’s “Arrive and Drive” services promise a white-glove experience, where enthusiasts simply arrive, and the dedicated team prepares and preps their racing machines on a rental basis. This comprehensive service includes data analysis and expert driver coaching, ensuring that every driver can not only enjoy but enhance their driving skills behind the wheel of a Revolution race car.
Radical Motorsport and Italian racewear manufacturer HRX have announced a new global partnership ahead of the 2024 race season, welcoming HRX to the Radical Cup UK paddock alongside the already existing relationship stateside with Radical Cup North America.
As the market leader in bespoke and custom racewear, HRX racewear is handmade in their Italian factory to the latest FIA homolgation standards to ensure the safest garments possible. On top of this, HRX racewear are able to offer bespoke designs to a race team or individual driver’s unique style, giving customers the ability to match their Radical livery with their own personal racewear.
Soon to be launched an online configurator will provide Radical racers with the opportunity to design their own boots, gloves and suits in a range of materials, designs and colour options, alongside the required Radical Cup championship logos.
A new drift school has been announced. Formerly known as The School of Opposite Lock, the new Drift Academy available at the Utah Motorsports Campus is Lateral-G. Operated by UMC‘s own Terry Henderson, the first Lateral-G program of 2024 will take place on Sunday, April 21st.
The Lateral G Academy is an educational program designed to get you in the driver’s seat of a fully prepared drift car and give you all the tools you need to learn how to drift. This course is a full 8-hour day from 9-5 (with a 1-hour lunch) designed to bring you up to speed and have you confident in pitching a car sideways into turns by the end of it. Everybody learns at a different pace and our instructors will be able to focus on your individual strong and weak points in drifting through a variety of different exercises.
Information and Registration HERE.
Track Days
On the weekend of April 6 and 7, the Imola Circuit will be the stage of Lamborghini Arena, the biggest event ever organized by the House of Sant’Agata Bolognese. After celebrating its 60th anniversary in 2023, Lamborghini is now preparing to celebrate its past and present in the heart of Motor Valley with a grand festival open to all motoring enthusiasts.
Green light for the start at 9.00 a.m. on Saturday, April 6, when the Huracán Super Trofeo EVO2s will hit the track to warm up their engines ahead of the first race of the season in the world’s fastest one-make championship, the Lamborghini Super Trofeo, scheduled to take place from April 9 to 21.
Lamborghini Arena will also offer a unique opportunity to admire the performance of the Essenza SCV12, a limited-edition track hypercar produced in just 40 units, ready to thrill fans with the roar of its 830-horsepower naturally aspirated V12 engine. And the highlight of the weekend on the track will be on Sunday the 7th from 11.30 a.m. to 12.30 p.m., when around 500 Lamborghini cars will parade between the curbs to form the largest cavalcade in the brand’s history.
The Lifestyle Village will be set up in the paddock, where attendees can enjoy an all-around Lamborghini experience. Starting with the glory of the past, featuring one-of-a-kind automobiles displayed by Lamborghini Polo Storico, including the Countach LP 400 S, which served as the pace car at the 39th Formula One Monaco Grand Prix on May 31, 1981.
The Lamborghini Arena will feature numerous professional simulators for experiencing the thrill of driving a Huracán Super Trofeo EVO2 on the Imola Circuit.
Full details can be found here.
Motorsport Vision Track Days have now listed their complete trackday calendar online, which runs to the end of summer. This massive list of dates includes plenty of open pitlane events, plus Novice dates, No Race Car themed days, Ford only, BMW only, Wet grip Drifting and our annual How Fast – where you are up against the clock!
Please click here to visit the their calendar page. The ‘filters’ can help narrow dates down if you are after a particular circuit or type of event.
The Drive has a feature on Japan’s newest private race track, the Magarigawa Club. “Imagine yourself as an obscenely rich person who decided you wanted a racetrack of your own. You’ll hire a renowned F1 track designer, obviously, and then lop off the top of a mountain so build your dream course. That vision is a reality for the billionaire CEO of the Magarigawa Club in Japan, an uber-exclusive private track overlooking Mt. Fuji and Tokyo Bay.”
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.
