This week you will find out how to work out like F1 driver Pierre Gasly as I once more bring you more helpful racecraft tips and advice.
Aside from workout tips from Pierre Gasly and racecraft tips from people like Ross Bentley and Andrew Pinkerton you will learn more about Spec MX-5, the new Pratt Miller Driver-in-the-Loop sim rig, and the relaunch of the Southeast Asian F4 Championship.
All this and much more in this week’s edition of the Racecraft & Race Cars Roundup on Motorsport Prospects.
Racecraft Tips & Techniques
On-Track
In the video above Enzo Mucci explains how to be more aggressive “for those who are ready to step things up and take control of things.”
The Racing Car Technology Blog explains how you feel the balance of the race car. “There is one aspect of car control most associated with the best racing drivers – the driver must have “good feel for the car”. Yet one of the biggest stumbling blocks, the thing that vexes racing drivers the most when trying to improve their car control, is that we just don’t know what it is that the racing driver is feeling. What if you could know what it is you are “feeling” in controlling the race car?”
Pratt Miller have announced the acquisition of a new Driver-in-the-Loop Simulator System. Scheduled for installation in the fall of 2023 and operational by January 2024, “this state-of-the-art DiL system supplied by AB Dynamics will revolutionize vehicle simulation capabilities for both motorsports and non-motorsports customers.” Once it is operational it will be “for hire” to any team looking to use it.
For further information or to book the Pratt Miller DiL system, please contact: Luke Sagur Pratt Miller Motorsports Business Director Email: lsagur@prattmiller.com
If you are wondering how drivers and teams use a simulator like the one that Pratt Miller is installing, Racer explains it in how racers are simulating their way to success.
“The simulators are running all day, every day,” he tells RACER. “The only teams that aren’t using simulators at a large scale are the teams that aren’t factory backed or manufacturer supported. The largest teams like Hendrick, Joe Gibbs Racing, Stewart-Haas, those guys are probably in the simulator every single day. Maybe it’s not every driver every day and every team every day, but there’s probably some sort of team representation in that simulator seemingly every day.”
Make sure you are reading my weekly Sim Racing Roundup as it contains some excellent resources for sim racing as well as opportunities to transition into real-world racing. This is what you missed last week:
Max Verstappen wants to help sim racers race for real as part of his soon to debut GT3 racing team, that is how strongly he feels about using sim racing as a driver development tool.
I also feature a new program for helping sim racers build their racecraft skills so they can also race in the real world as well as the latest competitive and general sim racing news and technical reviews. To save you the time I have included a roundup of Gran Turismo movie reviews and background information on the film, the driver the film is about and the GT Academy project.
Max Verstappen Wants to Help Sim Racers Race for Real
In his latest newsletter, Ross Bentley of Speed Secrets explains what he calls the Learning Formula: MI + A = G. “MI is the Mental Image, or what you want to achieve; A is an Awareness of where you are right now; and G stands for the Goal you’re trying to achieve (like driving a car within a foot of a concrete wall at somewhere around 150 MPH).”
In his Ask Ross feature, Ross answers the question, what’s the difference between a good oval racer and a great one?
The video above from Blayze explains how to know if your car is understeering or oversteering.
Off-Track
Men’s Journal explains the exact routine Alpine’s Formula 1 driver Pierre Gasly does before race day. “I’m looking for any possible advantage I can give my team,” says Gasly. “If that advantage can come from me having more endurance in the car or [being] quicker in turns, that’s work I want to be doing.”
Race Car & Series Developments
On episode 113 of Inside the SCCA they take a look behind the scenes of the Spec MX-5 class with Mazda Motorsports’ Josh Smith and Sean Hedrick. It’s an in-depth discussion about the cars and the class. You can watch it above.
For more details on Spec MX-5 Challenge with updated rules and regulations, click HERE.
(Via RACER) It’s been two months since SCCA announced the concept of “Club Spec,” a concept that would enable members to buy one car and use it in every kind of SCCA event. Soon thereafter, SCCA’s Heyward Wagner landed on GRM Live with JG Pasterjak, explaining how Club Spec would enable drivers to compete in everything from SCCA Time Trials to Autocross and beyond. Along with that, SCCA presented you with a survey to say whether you liked the concept at all – and if you did, which direction you thought Club Spec should travel.
Well, you didn’t just answer the survey, you answered it in droves. In fact, with 5,100 people offering feedback (and 85 percent of those being interested in participating in multiple programs), SCCA can’t recall a time when the membership response to a survey was so robust and enthusiastic. Based on your initial feedback – and with encouragement from the SCCA Board of Directors and all SCCA program boards – SCCA is asking for your help once more to ensure Club Spec gets shaped exactly right.
Click HERE to take the Club Spec survey.
Grassroots Motorsports looks at how Nissan is looking to recapture the magic of the Z in motorsport. “New Nissan Z. New Nissan Z NISMO. New Nissan Z GT4. In case you couldn’t tell, the Z is important to Nissan, and much of the manufacturer’s effort to push the Z to the forefront centers around the GT4 program.”
Entries for the 2023 BRSCC Formula Ford Festival at Brands Hatch on October 21/22 are now open. “Once again we’re looking forward to another eclectic and competitive mix of Kent-engined Formula Fords of all ages and chassis to do battle on track together for the coveted Neil Shanahan Trophy and the Brian Jones Memorial Trophy for the Historic Final!“
Full details and how to enter can be found here.
The Formula 4 South East Asia championship will relaunch later this year after not holding a race since 2019. The announcement came last Monday, and was made by Asia Racing Team. Tatuus’s second-generation F4 car and Abarth-branded Autotecnica engines will be used, aligning it with six European series, Brazilian F4 and F4 United Arab Emirates.
Motorsport Legal lawyer Sarah Franklin explains what she does in A Week in The Life of a Motorsport Lawyer as well as providing some advice for race drivers in an exclusive article for Motorsport Prospects. “Generic contracts, in my opinion, often cause confusion and don’t include everything that is needed, so, particularly during the off season, I spend a lot of time negotiating and preparing bespoke contracts – often picking up things that they probably haven’t even thought of.”
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.
