Insider Secrets of Racing – Part 2
We have talked about how to master your Karting career in Part 1 of our Insider secrets article. To recap, here is what we talked about:
1. Driving Skills
Don’t focus too much on your equipment. Make sure that you are driving well before investing in expensive data logging equipment or a new chassis. Whilst the kart has a influence on the lap times, 90% of the time, the main component for reducing lap times falls on the driver, which is you.
2. Kart Technical Knowledge
Knowing your kart well is essential for attaining good results. If you can’t work out what is wrong with it, your mechanic will have a harder time trying to figure it out, using trial and error methods.
Think about it as if you are trying to drive with your eyes blindfolded. It will be virtually impossible. Thus, it is important to understand your equipment and know how it behaves. Only then, will you be able to work with your technical team to come out with the best possible set up. Even in more competitive levels of motorsport, it holds true. If the driver doesn’t give good enough feedback about the car, the technical director will find it harder to do his job, and that is to get you to the podium.
3. Fitness
A race is a test of not just your physical strength, but your mental fitness as well. You should take an all rounded approach to developing yourself. In order to succeed, you must train yourself mentally to do so. Otherwise, you would just be hindering yourself and reducing your chances of finishing in top spot.
If you haven’t been working on your physical training, you will find yourself struggling to maintain your pace as the laps go on. Without even realizing, simply because your body is becoming fatigued, you will start to drive in a less aggressive way that reduces the pressure on your body.
Either way, you need to know your limits, both physically and mentally. Only when you understand this, and you take steps to improve these attributes, will you be able to race at an optimum level.
So what comes next after Karting?
On a weekly basis, we receive hundreds of emails by enthusiastic parents asking us how to get their child a career in motor sport after they have mastered Karting.
The first thing we always ask them is:
“Please define what you mean by Mastered Karting?”
Majority of the time, they will tell us that their child has won a number of races on a club level and has been Karting for about 5 years now. Their child has joined the Rotax National Championships and has been to all 5 grand finals. They believe that their child is ready to rise up the ranks of Formula Single Seater Racing.
Now that maybe where the problem lies.
There are many mistakes that parents make when deciding if their child is ready for Formula Single Seater racing. Here are some:
1) Parents make the decision solely on the child’s age. They try to push them into a Single Seater by 16. Whilst it may be harder to move to Formula Racing at a later age, it is never wise to make a decision for your child based on his age. What would be more important, would be to understand his/her development, seeing whether he has already peaked at his maximum potential in Karting, before moving up the ladder. We strongly advise against moving too quickly, because it may have a lower chance of getting far over the long run.
2) Parents usually look at their child’s racing results based on the club or national level. Motorsports is extremely competitive and the difference in time between the best driver and the driver behind him may only be a fraction of a second. However these are the very fractions of seconds that are crucial in determining whether you are on the podium or not. What you should be doing is to see if they are competitive enough in Karting on the international level. This would be a true test of their ability to face stiff competition and would do more good than rushing in Formula Single Seater. So take the time to analyze your position, it will work out.
As a rule of thumb, here are some guidelines anybody who is currently Karting and intends to move up to singe seater racing. Once you have achieved this level of Karting, you would be ready to take the leap to Formula:
1) Have been Karting competitively for at least 3 years
2) Won podium position in at least 70% of all races entered
3) Taken part in Rotax Finals and finished top 10
4) Taken part in Italian Winter Cup and Finish Top 10
5) World Series of Karting and finish Top 10
6) Have driven for a factory team for at least 1 season
If the first thought that pops into your head is “Aren’t those requirements a little too demanding?”
Yes it is! And that is what is needed
to succeed in this competitive sport. Karting is the most fundamental level of racing and it is the most important category for every aspiring Formula 1 driver. Even in the Karting level, there is a huge level of competition and it is VERY difficult to achieve the results stat
ed above. However if you are able to do so, then it would certainly be worth investing more time and money into developing a career out of racing.
That is why we advise that if your child has not achieved these results, try to take some time to think of an alternative to sending them into Formula Single Seater. Maybe driver training on specific areas of driving is all they need. The funding for Formula Single Seater can be very expensive, so you will definitely want to think twice before you make that leap of faith decision.
So lets look at some of the cost involved.
Racing Cost
Let us look at the cost of racing in 2 scenarios.
Scenario A: Cost of 5 years of Competing in Karting nationally and Internationally
Scenario B: Cost of 3 years of Competing in Karting and 2 years of Formula BMW
Costing for 1 season(Euro) Scenario A Scenario B
Winter Cup 15,000×5= 75,000 15,000×3 = 45,000
WSK 125,000×5= 625,000 125,000×3 = 375,000
Rotax Championship 20,000×5= 100,000 20,000×3 = 60,000
Formula BMW Europe 300,000 x2 = 600,000
Total 800,000 1,080,000
The difference in cost is prevalent. It is approximately Euro 200,000 more expensive to jump into Formula BMW when you’re not ready with a lesser chance of getting a good result.
It is much harder to find a sponsor to enter in Formula BMW when you have not had great results in Karting. But if you have great results in Karting, sponsors will be more willing and likely to sponsor you.
With these simple tips, you can be sure that your child will not have a large problem in terms of funding his racing because you’re ensuring he is getting the right exposure at the right time to attract the right people.
Below are examples on drivers who were groomed from Karting into their current positions today. This will give you an idea of how important Karting is to sponsors and teams.
Nyck de Vries ( Age: 14)
2008 – 2009 WSK KF3 Champion
2008 – 2009 European KF3 Champion
2008 – 2009 German KF3 Champion
Result: Signed by Mclaren into Driver Development Program
Sebastian Vettel ( Age: 22)
European champion ICA Junior 2001
German Junior Kart champion 2001
Winner of the Monaco Kart Cup in the ICA Junior class 2001
Winner of the NRW Cup in the Bambini A class 1998
DMV Süd Landesmeisterschaft champion in the Bambini A class 1998.
DMV Bundesmeisterschaft champion in the Bambini B class 1997
DMV Süd Landesmeisterschaft champion in the Bambini B class 1997
Winner of the NRW Cup in the Bambini B class 1997
Result: Signed by Redbull into Junior Team which led to F1
Will Stevens ( Age: 17)
Third in WSK International Series KF1 2008.
Second in Andrea Margutti Trophy – KF2 2007.
Asian-Pacific champion in the KF2 class 2007.
European champion in the KF2 class 2007.
Italian Open Masters champion in the KF2 class 2007.
Second in South Garda Winter Cup ICA Junior 2006.
WSK International Series champion in the ICA Junior class 2006.
British champion ICA Junior 2005.
Third in Torneo Industrie 100cc Junior 2005.
Stars of Tomorrow National champion in the Rotax Mini Max class 2004.
Result: Signed by Brawn GP ( Now Mercedes GP) into Driver Development Program
As you can now see, the Formula to glory is Simple. Stick with the basics and do it well. If you aren’t winning in Karting, it is difficult to win anywhere else.
In the Next Installment, We will talk about Motorsport Development beyond Karting. Stay tuned.
“Fundamentals is the key to being a great driver”