It's Not Enough
How to set yourself up for a career as a Racing Driver, and how simply 'wanting it' isn't enough...........
IT'S NOT ENOUGH
Written by Wes McDougall
“I want to be a race driver.....if I WANT it more than anyone else I will succeed!”
I hear this type of quote a lot from younger drivers looking to make it in the big, bad world of motor racing on a fairly regular basis. And whilst confidence, single-mindedness, focus and ambition are all healthy attributes to have when starting out, unfortunately these days, it is simply not enough.
RELATIVITY
Drivers (and parents!) that are new to the sport will often have the proverbial 'blinkers' on when it comes to working out how to carve a career path in the Motorsport landscape. With regular occurrence, these fresh-faced, wide-eyed newcomers will spend their early years hoping and believing that if they want it enough, they will get it, and succeed.
What is lost in this un-holistic attitude, is that 90% of the other drivers that they compete against, also have this same approach. So if you are sitting on a grid, surrounded by other likeminded individuals, what is going to set you apart? What is going to show the world that you are the 'next big thing'?
None of this is to say that the enthusiastic drivers are wrong or foolish in their beliefs, rather that, as the title states........It's not enough. Being coachable, adaptable and putting a system in place, are all, as we will see, important foundations in setting up for 'success' in motorsport.
THE EARLY YEARS
Some drivers take to driving a car like a duck to water. Others need to work harder at it than others. There is a wide gulf of skill level amongst drivers in their first year of competition.
In Chapter 3.4 of The Complete Race Driver titled "What Is 'Talent' And Does It Actually Exist?" - I touch on the topic of how some people start off with certain skills being inbuilt from childhood experiences (i.e. simple building blocks, school sports and more), whilst others have to 'work at it' more than others.
So in the beginning there can be this disparity of talent on display - and wanting it ('success') badly - is simply not enough. Rather, in the early years there is an opportunity to mould, shape and refine your skills so that come year three (for example) you are just as fast as that kid, that supposedly has 'natural talent' and is THE NEXT BIG THING.
And trust me, learning the why and how to improve your skills is going to put you in much better stead than simply talent alone. Motorsport is littered with drivers that were undoubtably quick, but failed to make the grade. As you progress up the ladder of motorsport, you will unquestionably drive different cars of differing grip, downforce and power levels. Does a Toyota 86 race car require the same technique as driving an Indycar? No, but a knowledgeable and adaptable driver can hussle both.
BARRY AND TREVOR
I often am reminded about a handful of drivers that were 'hot-shot' karters around the turn of the century (making myself feel old here!) and were competing in a competition / test day to win a subsidised year of Formula Ford. All of these young karters were determined, eager to win, and most importantly; fast.
So how would they be judged? If they are all fast, and all set the same laptime, and all of them have the same burning desired to be champion.......who is the best, and what sets them apart? How do you chose?
If my memory serves me correctly, all the laptimes were very close, but there were two drivers that were little bit ahead of the rest. Lets call them Barry and Trevor. Barry was the karting champion, ready to take the leap into cars, and Trevor was perhaps a year behind Barry's trajectory.
Barry immediately was on the pace in his first few runs - each run he would go out and set a fast laptime. Trevor started out a little more cautious, but made improvements everytime he went out onto the track, and improved his technique in the areas the engineers were pointing out on the data. In notime at all, Trevor was as fast as Barry, and making minute improvements each run, whereas Barry had stagnated, unable to change his technique in certain corners to lower his laptime.
In the end, both drivers would go on to race in Formula Ford, and then progress through different categories and even end up competing against each other in Supercars. But it was Trevor that became a Supercars champion.
THE 1% IMPROVEMENT
The reason I started The Complete Race Driver was to hopefully try and help drivers of all skill levels be able to improve their driving. And do so by offering structured advice from someone who has seen all the trials and tribulations that you are going through, many times before, and to help steer you in the right direction. (Pun intended)
Throughout the course, I try and explain things in such a way that you can use the knowledge you learn and translate it directly into driving the car. There is a lot to take in, but slowly and surely, I am confident that if you take these learnings into your driving, that you will be able to achieve some great things.
It may not feel like it, but if you do your homework, and improve a little bit each time, you are going to see some really big gains. However, be aware - perhaps one of the problems of trying to improve - is that often the enhancements are so small and miniscule, one could easily discount that any progress has been made at all.
There is a great book / audiobook called 'Atomic Habits' (a #1 New York Times Bestseller written by James Clear ). There are a number of a key lessons in the book, but two really stand out for me, as I believe they are directly translatable to the art of race driving.
The following are direct quotes from a summary of the book by the author.
Lesson 1. Small Habits Make A Big Difference
It is so easy to overestimate the importance of one defining moment and underestimate the value of making small improvements on a daily basis.
Meanwhile, improving by 1 percent isn’t particularly notable— sometimes it isn’t even noticeable—but it can be far more meaningful, especially in the long run. The difference a tiny improvement can make over time is astounding. Here’s how the math works out: if you can get 1 percent better each day for one year, you’ll end up thirty-seven times better by the time you’re done. Conversely, if you get 1 percent worse each day for one year, you’ll decline nearly down to zero. What starts as a small win or a minor setback accumulates into something much more.
It doesn’t matter how successful or unsuccessful you are right now. What matters is whether your habits are putting you on the path toward success.
Focus on getting 1 percent better every day.
Lesson 2: Forget about setting goals. Focus on your system instead.
Goals are about the results you want to achieve. Systems are about the processes that lead to those results.
If you’re having trouble changing your habits, the problem isn’t you. The problem is your system. Bad habits repeat themselves again and again not because you don’t want to change, but because you have the wrong system for change.
You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.
So why not implement a 'Race Driving' System right now? Put aside your goals for one moment - everyone else who is completing against you, has those same goals as well. Instead, build a system or a method that works for YOU.
“What better system or method to have to take you on your journey, than a purpose built Online Race School......sign up to The Complete Race Driver today!"
