When thinking about a high-octane sport like motorsport in which you often travel at ludicrous speeds, it is quite easy to think of dangers that could be involved. A stalled car on the track, smoke blocking your view and perhaps even cars spinning on the racing line. The possibilities of such wild events taking place before your very eyes as a driver are very high and avoiding them is key to finishing a race.
While some hazards may be visible from a distance, the others may not offer you the luxury of time as they may appear in front of you in a matter of split seconds. How do you dodge these obstacles and make your way past unscathed?
It often boils down the instincts and the reflexes of the driver. Take a look at Fernando Alonso’s start at the 2016 Italian GP or Charles Leclerc’s start at the 2017 Austrian F2 Race for instance. By virtue of their brilliant reflexes, these drivers were able to swerve past their obstacles at the correct moment. This is a skill that can come handy to racing drivers anytime; circumstances that demand your reflexes to work at full potential on the racetrack don’t arrive with a prior warning.
Is racing all about reflexes?
So far, we have learnt that having good reflexes is crucial but can you simply rely on them and be a good racing driver? We asked this question to Alex Yoong, Malaysia’s first and only Formula One driver, who is also a three time Audi R8 LMS Cup Champion.
As a legend of Motorsport in Asia, Alex Yoong, used his wealth of experience and gave a brilliant piece of advice for young, budding racing drivers.
“If you rely on your reflexes, you are always going to be slow. Its all about being calculative and decisive, and once again it comes down to your mental strength.”
– Alex Yoong, 3 Time Audi R8 LMS Cup Champion
“For instance, if you are doing a marathon run, the mental side is very much trying to be relaxed and trying to get to the meditation stage so that you cut out the pain and can push your body harder. You can’t do that in motorsport because motorsport needs you to be fully conscious, fully aware of your surroundings. So while you are running, you have to do calculations, math, sums and whatnot and doing all this at 300km/h, you can imagine how challenging of a task it is. I’d say that no other sport is as mentally demanding as racing an F1 car. Especially at tracks like Monaco where the intensity is like no other sport I have done,” said Mr Yoong in an exclusive interview with soumilarora.com.
The Final Verdict
His answer encapsulates the importance of having a very strong mentality as well as ill-effects of relying solely on your instincts. To be a fast racing driver, you must be calculative, focused and prepared and being a three-time Audi R8 LMS Cup Champion and a recipient of the 2007 BRDC Bruce McLaren trophy, Alex Yoong has proved that he certainly has what it takes.
