Will's Top Ten Racing Tips

Racing is an expensive game and you only get a few chances every year to get a good result and make the team’s hard work worthwhile. I’m always amazed at how people spending big money are not looking at the fundamentals to improve their performance and minimize errors, so to help my competitors I’ve laid out the 10 top tips to achieving excellent performance in racing.

1. Listen to everyone. Then make up your own mind on what works best. Sometimes golden nuggets of speed come from unexpected people. Just be careful to filter out complexity where it isn’t necessary.
2. Preparation is key. Whilst it may be hard work checking your racing equipment, studying the track and videos for hours, every little thing you know might come in handy and it forms part of a mindset of marginal gains. If you make each corner just 0.1 faster than your rivals, over a lap that’s over 1.5 seconds!
3. Build a team around you. Make sure you have the right people around you to teach, encourage and sometimes re-motivate you. Bring them along on your journey and show them where their inputs have directly helped you.
4. Don’t expect to be great straight away. Everyone has to start somewhere, and it is normally when you are in the deep end that you learn and improve the most.
5. Preparation is key. This is so important I will say it twice! Know as much as possible about everything.
6. Be the fittest driver on the grid. That way, you know that fitness will never damage your performance in the all-important grand final after a long, hard weekend of racing. You’re able to make small and consistent adjustments to the controls without a loss of concentration.
7. Tyres connect you to the track. No matter how good your engine and whatever you do as a driver, the only point of contact you have with the track are those 4 black rubber circles. Get those right, treat them well and build from there.
8. Practice at every opportunity. Modern specialty simulators are fantastic training tools and teach you so much if you focus as much as you do in real life. A cheap way to get on the track, too!
9. Slow in, fast out. Smooth is key: go in slower to retain control and exit faster. In a lap you spend longer on straights than in corners so improve your lap times by leaving the corner as fast and straight as possible.
10. Finally and most importantly… have fun! Being stressed damages your performance and stresses the people around you, so relax and enjoy it, whilst trying your hardest, of course!

In summary, small things add up to big gains. Things that you can’t see, such as team morale, can make the difference between getting your voice heard and much needed changes to the car getting made, as opposoed to an unmotivated team who just want to go home.