Top Racing

The Start: Ten Seconds That Can Make… Or Break Your Race

The Start: Ten Seconds That Can Make… Or Break Your Race

The old saying goes, “No race has ever been won in the first corner, but many have been lost there." Well if that’s true, then why do so many drivers go for it at the start?

By Winding Road Staff | August 29, 2022
sponsorship
By a Racer, For Racers: Finding Target Brands for Sponsorship
By a Racer, For Racers: Finding Target Brands for Sponsorship

For young racers looking to make the step into racing professionally, a singular topic is always at the forefront: sponsorship.  Current Idemitsu Mazda MX-5 Cup challenger Aidan Fassnacht dives deep into the prospect of finding funding to secure a racing seat; the first of a four part series - By a Racer, For Racers.

By Winding Road Staff | September 27, 2022
electric vehicles, formula e
The Vancouver Formula E Debacle
The Vancouver Formula E Debacle

This is a spectacular case of how not to promote a much-anticipate race.  After just finishing it's 8 season of around-the-world racing, Formula E has endured multiple debacles throughout it's growing phase (Miami, Montreal, & London to name a few), so it's not entirely surprising the young Series fell victim again to over-promises and under-deliveries.

By Winding Road Staff | September 02, 2022

Racing

Features , Racing
WR TV: 2015 Subaru WRX STI Flying Lap at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca

Subaru is quite confident in the new WRX STI’s on-track abilities. So much so, in fact, that they invited us to Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca to put the new winged wonder through its paces around the course.

By Winding Road Staff | February 19, 2014
Features , Racing
The Seven Habits of Highly Successful Driving Instructors

Ross Bentley, the man behind Speed Secrets Weekly and Brake, Brake, BRAKE- The HPDE Instructor Manifesto along with Brian Ghidinelli, the founder and creator of MotorsportReg.com, will be conducting a free webinar on Wednesday, February 12th, offering an in-depth look at some of the finer points held within Bentley’s HPDE ebook, as well as a Q&A with the experts at the time of the event. Whether you’re an aspiring HPDE instructor or a veteran of the trade, Bentley and Ghidinelli’s considerable amount of experience in the field can offer unique insight and perspective that should help just about anyone become a safer and more effective HPDE instructor, regardless of one’s level of expertise.

By Winding Road Staff | February 04, 2014
Features , Racing
Speed Secrets: “Braking” Down The Data

When we analyze data, we do it in a number of ways. One of the most popular is to compare the data from two different drivers (often using a professional driver as a baseline), to see where one person is faster. We also look at how proficient and consistent a driver is in basic skills such as braking, throttle application, and steering inputs. In fact, fellow SSW contributor Peter Krause is often heard telling people that the single biggest differentiator of drivers is the consistent and correct execution of these fundamental skills. Without a solid foundation of the basics, none of the advanced techniques will help.

By Ross Bentley | February 03, 2014
Features , Racing
Enter WRR’s Fantasy Racer GP Contest and Win Free Stuff!

You may be familiar with Winding Road’s Fantasy F1 contest from previous race seasons in which we invited you to go toe-to-toe with WR staff and fellow readers managing a fantasy F1 team for a season in order to win fabulous real-world prizes. We’re back again for the 2014 season, but this time it’s even better.

By Winding Road Staff | February 01, 2014
Features , Racing
Speed Secrets: Sponsorship Secrets

In this installment of Sponsorship Secrets, we’ll walk through some basic, but critical, pieces of sponsorship sales programs. This article is geared to professional racing programs in which branding and media value exists through the following: television coverage; the opportunity for at-race activation in the form of fan interaction; and corporate hospitality and entertainment. (I’ll talk about how these components can translate to more grassroots programs in an upcoming installment).

By Ross Bentley | January 21, 2014
Features , Racing
Gallery: Ayrton Senna Meets the Williams FW08C

Before committing to a team, Senna tested for McLaren, Brabham and Williams before choosing to race with Toleman. It was Williams for whom he tested first, and this was the very car in which he did it, putting the car through its paces at Donington Park on July 19th, 1983.

By Winding Road Staff | January 20, 2014
Features , Racing
Required Reading: Brake, Brake, BRAKE: The HPDE Instructor Manifesto

Ross Bentley, the man responsible for the invaluable racing tips found in the Speed Secrets articles posted here at Winding Road and at Speed Secrets Weekly, has just released new downloadable ebook entitled Brake, Brake, BRAKE: The HPDE Instructor Manifesto – an essential handbook for would-be and current driving instructors everywhere

By Winding Road Staff | January 09, 2014
Features , Racing
Speed Secrets: For The Kid In All Of Us

Never grow up! For many readers of Speed Secrets Weekly, that phrase is more than advice. It’s a lifelong theme.

By Ross Bentley | January 09, 2014
Features , Racing
Speed Secrets: Fit To Drive

How does a professional driver’s preparation relate to the gentleman driver, who is perhaps attempting to win his or her first race? We at Performance Physixx have worked with a wide variety of drivers and teams from Formula One, Indy Car to professional Sports Car Racing in the United States and worldwide. I may not be able to give readers a simple answer, but anyway, here goes!

By Ross Bentley | December 31, 2013
Features , Racing
Speed Secrets: Simulated Or Real Fun?

As a “veteran” sim racer, I can see several benefits to computer-based driving simulations that everyone can apply to real-life driving. Most people think that all a simulator can teach you is which direction a track goes; it really only helps you if you’re going to a new track, and even then, you have to hope the track you’re going to is actually modeled in a simulator to begin with! The reality is, for those who are willing to put in the time (lots of time, BTW) to really get a feel for your virtual wheels, the benefits of simulator training can outnumber those of driving in real life.

By Ross Bentley | December 18, 2013
Features , Racing
Speed Secrets: Time To Hit The Rental Kart Track

So it’s the off-season. Unfortunately. Most racing is finished up for the year, and won’t start up again until March. Most of the drivers you know will be hanging their helmets up, sitting by the fire and bench racing until springtime comes again.

By Ross Bentley | December 12, 2013
Features , Racing
Speed Secrets: Gearhead in Winter

The last track event of the season is over. The race car is packed away for the winter. The next time you get to bust her out of the garage is months away. The helmet has been Febrezed (an APB to all you track rats out there: is there anything that truly gets the stink out?). The ice chest has been wiped clean. MotorsportReg sits idle on your desktop. The cold, slow, dreary months of winter are all you have to look forward to.

By Ross Bentley | December 04, 2013
Features , Racing
Speed Secrets: Data For Everyone!

I’ve not met a club racer or gentleman driver who isn’t motivated by the sheer thrill and excitement that racing brings. Similarly, I haven’t met one who isn’t also driven by the fact that racing has tangible gauges of success. Racing is measurable. Races have results. Racers have performance indicators and input. Whether it’s time, effort and/or money, results are more often than not measurable against these indicators. Said another way, the more you put into racing, the more you get out of it. Hire a coach: find a second. Learn about setup: develop a better handling car. Purchase a data acquisition system: see your areas of development. Right?

By Ross Bentley | November 26, 2013
Features , Racing
Blog: What Makes Vettel So Fast?

If Sebastian Vettel cares whether he’s considered one of the all-time greats of Formula One, he needs to drive, and win, for another team. One of the things that established Michael Schumacher as a great, and perhaps the greatest, is that he won for two different teams. Even more importantly, Schumacher made these teams winners. Before he joined Benetton and then Ferrari, neither team was World Championship-winning caliber.

By Ross Bentley | November 12, 2013
Features , Racing
Speed Secrets: The Eyes Have It

No matter your experience level, you’ve likely heard—and heard again—one major theme in all types of driving: “Look up!” Every instructor and coach has those words etched in their memory just as much as their students and clients have.

By Guest Contributor | October 29, 2013
Features , Racing
Speed Secrets: MI + A = G

If you have a very clear and strong Mental Image (MI) of what you want to do, and an Awareness (A) of how close you are to doing that, your brain will make you achieve that Goal (G).

By Ross Bentley | October 23, 2013
Features , Racing
Speed Secrets: The Big 2 Questions

In my opinion, the race engineer’s primary job is to get the car to do exactly what the driver wants it to do. Some good engineers disagree with me; they only focus on the simulations and what the fastest set up is from a theory standpoint, then expect the driver to get the most from it. I figure if the car is to the driver’s liking, he can show me what he has… he has no excuses.

By Guest Contributor | October 08, 2013
Features , Racing
Speed Secrets: Four Wheels With & Without A Motor—An Interview With Bucky Lasek

Bucky has adapted to rallycross much faster than most people will ever know. When you consider that he typically gets fewer than a dozen laps of practice before his couple of qualifying laps—and then it’s right into the races—it’s amazing that he’s battling with guys like Ken Block, Tanner Foust and Travis Pastrana (all of whom seem to live in a car!). From my perspective, it’s what he brings from skateboarding that allows him to just jump in, mix it up, and adapt so quickly.

By Ross Bentley | October 01, 2013
Features , Racing
Speed Secrets: A Starter’s Perspective

Dennis Paul has been the official Starter for the American Le Mans Series for the past 15 years (the only Starter the series has ever had). When I raced in the IMSA/ALMS series I always felt I had an advantage over my competitors at the start because I could “read” Dennis. He’d been the Starter at my local road racing circuit, Westwood Motorsport Park, early in my career (the early ’80s). In some ways, we both moved up the ranks of pro racing together, and more than one driver I know has said he’s the best Starter, period.

By Ross Bentley | September 17, 2013
Features , Racing
Speed Secrets: Data Acquisition Basics

I’m sure everyone reading this knows about data systems. We’ve all seen it in other people’s cars, maybe we have one, and have watched the cool traces on TV in all the racing series showing a driver’s throttle or brake application and speed. If you are a fan of F1, ALMS, Grand Am, or one of the other big race series, you’ve seen the pit boxes full of computers, monitors, and a myriad of race engineers.

By Guest Contributor | September 04, 2013
Features , Racing
Speed Secrets: Sponsorship For Amateur Racers

It’s ironic that there are so many amateur racers who are bringing in a larger percentage of their annual racing budget from sponsorship than many “pros” are.

By Ross Bentley | August 20, 2013

Categories

Most Popular

Driver Gear, Features

The 10 Best Auto Racing Helmets

September 22, 2022

Features

Gear: CG-Lock Performance Seatbelt Add-On

September 09, 2013

Features, Racing

The Guide to Road Racing – Table of Contents

November 03, 2020

Features, Racing

CycleKarts: Vintage Racing For The Rest Of Us

May 04, 2015

Cars, News

Tesla Stock Dives After Elon Musk’s Catastrophic Call

October 20, 2023

Tesla stock cyber truck

The Guide to Road Racing: Winding Road Magazine's ultimate guide to getting your start in racing.

Table of Contents

EMAIL SIGN UP

Get the latest driving and racing news straight to your inbox.

no thanks

Begin typing your search above and press return to search.