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The Important Difference Between Pro Drivers And You

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#1
Johnny D

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There is an old adage that says something like "the difference between rich people and poor people is that the rich have more money". This is true, but not very insightful. I'd like to suggest that often drivers think along similar lines and say "the difference between pro drivers and amateur drivers is that pros are faster". You might substitute "talented" for "faster" but the idea is similar. And, again, while this may be true, it isn't a very useful observation. I'd like to propose something more useful.

 

We work with many drivers, and we enjoy the challenge of figuring out a driver's needs and working to address them. We end up working with younger drivers because we have programs (e.g. SM, Spec MX-5 Challenge, Global MX-5 Cup, TCA, TC and TCR) that form the bridge from karting to Pirelli World Challenge or IMSA.

 

Many drivers face a challenge that is epitomized in younger talent. Basically, young drivers often show up having worked for years to be able to do fast laps. Not everyone is equally skilled in this department, of course, but lap times are thought to be the sine qua non of driving. And you can understand why pace is a powerful part of a driver's psychology when you realize it is almost always a) what they had to work hard at and B) it is what eventually separated them from other drivers. It is natural to focus on the talent than got you to the next step.

 

The problem with this focus on pace is twofold.

 

First of all, most drivers who are fast and moving on to MX-5 Cup or another semi-pro series are suddenly pretty average. Sort of like the high school valedictorian who gets into Stanford and suddenly finds that she suddenly isn't the smartest person in the room any more. The upshot of this is that drivers have to continue working on pace and every 0.1 second at this level is pretty hard won. One important difference between pros and drivers who are stuck in the amateur ranks is that the pros have a mentality that helps them keep progressing and drivers who are stuck do not. Stuck drivers focus on being acknowledged and rewarded for the skill they have; drivers headed toward pro status focus on learning.

 

The second issue with the focus on pace, is that it is fairly blind to the study of race craft. There is, quite simply, a big difference between drivers in their approach to a race, when to push and when to cruise, when and how to pass, how much to learn about car setup, how to find and learn alternative lines, how much risk to take and even what finishing position to try for. Pros are often lifetime students of this part of racing; stuck drivers don't put in the effort to build race craft skill.

 

The two issues feed off of each other. The faster you are, the more race craft options you have. And, sometimes, the more you work on race craft, the more you learn approaches that make you gain pace. The common denominator that limits skill development (both pace and race craft) often seems to be the choice to be on the "Blame" rung of the ladder, rather than the "Learning" rung as illustrated here:

 

 article%202%20BODY%20NEW.jpg

 

In summary, the difference between pros and stuck drivers is the rung of the ladder they are on. Now it isn't so easy to move up to the learning rung. But, if you can catch yourself blaming, you can start to switch to the learning questions and eventually those questions become habit.

 

Of course, pros have other advantages like seat time and bigger teams. Those may be outside your financial capacity. But switching rungs on the ladder isn't.

 

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#2
Danica Davison

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"First of all, most drivers who are fast and moving on to MX-5 Cup or another semi-pro series are suddenly pretty average . . . One important difference between pros and drivers who are stuck in the amateur ranks is that the pros have a mentality that helps them keep progressing and drivers who are stuck do not."
 
Okay, no disrespect to the author but, as always, I like to create a debate:
 
Is there anyone else here who disagrees with the bold (pun intended) statement above?  If you are average in SM, you are going to be relatively average in MX-5 Cup. If you are fast in SM, you are going to be relatively fast in MX-5 Cup. This isn't stepping up to F1. This isn't even a subjective opinion. The results don't lie that just about every fast SM driver than has ran in the Global Cup, has had success. 
 
Fast SM Drivers who have done well in the Global Cup almost immediately:  Nathaniel Sparks, Todd Lamb, Matt Cresci, Mark Drennan, Tyler Kicera, Selin Rollan, Nikko Reger, etc.
 
Average SM drivers who have been average in Global Cup:  ... eh better not go there lol.
 
 
I will agree that a common difference between an average driver and a great driver is their mindset, preparation, attitude, etc., but this has nothing to do with Pro vs. Amateur.  You will find both average and great drivers in Pro and in the Amateur ranks.  You will also find that there are amateur level drivers that practice the same mental side of the game, and the application to the wheel never materializes, and they could be in the "pro" rank. We all know what it takes to go "pro". You either earn a good sponsorship before you run Pro, which is rare, or you buy your way in until you can hopefully get one, which is also rare. 

 

In my opinion, many amateur drivers that are truly great drivers are in that "stuck" in the amateur ranks are there because:

 

1.) They can't afford it / can't find a sponsor.

 

and/or

 

2.) They choose to stay in the amateur series.

 

 

Thoughts?


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#3
OrangeCrush86

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The message of this article is good, but I think I can rewrite the difference between drivers that can go pro vs. being stuck in a single symbol: $

 

Being around racing my entire life, I've come to a simple and obvious conclusion. The population of pro drivers are NOT the best of all drivers, they are the best drivers of who could afford to be noticed. Racing is not like other sports where you can actually get places by playing the game. You can't get a racing scholarship, you can't get recruited, etc.

 

When I went to IMSA last year in Canada and walked through the F4 pits it was incredibly frustrating for me. Around every corner was a 15-16 year old kid with a $100k budget and a semi truck full of parts. Just having a "learning" focus is a tiny portion of what it would actually take to go pro.

 

I've never gone pro so I don't know what it takes, but I do know what it takes to try really hard and in the end have to complain about SM7s only going 4 heat cycles on the internet because I'm low budget lol. :)


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#4
JRHille

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I think this article would have made more sense if it took “pro” out of it altogether and just said “successful” and “unsuccessful” drivers. Professional drivers have mastered other areas of racing, mostly off track. They were better at the business end of it, building relationships, taking risks, promotion, or maybe just being lucky. Drivers who are successful in almost any class pro or amateur have a special ability to learn more effectively, and all ranks have the “stuck“ drivers
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#5
Richard Astacio

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Average SM drivers who have been average in Global Cup:  ... eh better not go there lol.
 
 
 

 

 

I agree with this comment. I wanted to try Mx-cup this year however in my opinion the best drivers are in SM.

Regionally I can win races however  Super Tours or Majors away from my home track I can not....so why waste money racing "a pro series" if you have no shot of winning. 

That is why I sold my NC and going to concentrate racing regionally and also sprinkling in Super Tour races. 


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#6
Armando Ramirez

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"First of all, most drivers who are fast and moving on to MX-5 Cup or another semi-pro series are suddenly pretty average . . . One important difference between pros and drivers who are stuck in the amateur ranks is that the pros have a mentality that helps them keep progressing and drivers who are stuck do not."
 
Okay, no disrespect to the author but, as always, I like to create a debate:
 
Is there anyone else here who disagrees with the bold (pun intended) statement above?  If you are average in SM, you are going to be relatively average in MX-5 Cup. If you are fast in SM, you are going to be relatively fast in MX-5 Cup. This isn't stepping up to F1. This isn't even a subjective opinion. The results don't lie that just about every fast SM driver than has ran in the Global Cup, has had success. 
 
Fast SM Drivers who have done well in the Global Cup almost immediately:  Nathaniel Sparks, Todd Lamb, Matt Cresci, Mark Drennan, Tyler Kicera, Selin Rollan, Nikko Reger, etc.
 
Average SM drivers who have been average in Global Cup:  ... eh better not go there lol.
 
 
I will agree that a common difference between an average driver and a great driver is their mindset, preparation, attitude, etc., but this has nothing to do with Pro vs. Amateur.  You will find both average and great drivers in Pro and in the Amateur ranks.  You will also find that there are amateur level drivers that practice the same mental side of the game, and the application to the wheel never materializes, and they could be in the "pro" rank. We all know what it takes to go "pro". You either earn a good sponsorship before you run Pro, which is rare, or you buy your way in until you can hopefully get one, which is also rare. 

 

In my opinion, many amateur drivers that are truly great drivers are in that "stuck" in the amateur ranks are there because:

 

1.) They can't afford it / can't find a sponsor.

 

and/or

 

2.) They choose to stay in the amateur series.

 

 

Thoughts?

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