Tag Archives: positivity

Getting my head into gear

18 Monday Apr 2022

Posted by in Fitness, Formula Vee, Uncategorized

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I don’t want to be a racing driver.

I like the thought of it more than actually doing it.

Many people have told me I’m no good at it .

It’s a waste of time and money, and I can barely afford it, anyway.

I’m socially anxious at the thought of having to talk to 40 other drivers and their crew.

I have some physical problems at the moment that will stop me doing it.

We’ve had so many false starts to get back racing in the last few years, it’s just not meant to be.

There is just too much against me.

I’m just letting everyone down.

I don’t deserve it.

All of those thoughts have gone through my head since I last raced in 2018. Some of those were even eating away at me before then, if I’m completely honest.

Which is all a bit alien, considering that I’m a very positive person who strongly believes that every one of us can live our dreams. Most people also know how chilled out I am about life in general, even under the heaviest of pressures in the most dire of circumstances (“I’m so laid-back, you can see the soles of my feet when I’m walking” as my Dad would say).

I know mental health has become a much more open and acceptable topic over the last few years, but it’s still something racing drivers aren’t expected to get into – unless you have a ‘real’ diagnosed condition with a fancy name you can put to it. The rest of us are just sort-of left to fend for ourselves… and writing that I realise I am assuming anyone else out there ever feels anything like this?

Maybe they don’t, but I’m pretty sure most people do, whether they race or not.

I guess my main issue is self-doubt. Imposter Syndrome.

But despite any of these thoughts creeping into my head in the past, I can guarantee one instant cure for it:

When I drop that visor down, this is my moment.

This is the best I can be.

This is my chance to push myself to the extremes and show myself what I’m capable of.

This is life and being alive.

And you know what?

I am good enough.

I can do it.

I love being a racing driver and I’ll always have that in my blood.

My time to do this is limited, and I don’t want to have any regrets about what I was too scared to do.

I’m not the type to be scared, and I’m certainly not the type to give up if others don’t think I’m good enough.

By the time you read this, I will be at Donington Park GP circuit on an Easter Monday in the year 2022.

Whatever the rest of the day offers me, I’m going to take it with both hands.

It feels amazing to be back.

Half way through my first season

13 Wednesday Jul 2016

Posted by in Formula Vee, Racing, Uncategorized

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Half way through my first season

It strikes me that this year we’ve been battling against the odds. If it’s not bits on the car breaking, mistakes, or my own self-doubts, it’s food poisoning or technical infringements!

I have to justify this stuff to the press and sponsors, and sometimes it seems hard to answer the same questions.

I think what a lot of people don’t realise is that racing is all about being on the edge. It’s a very fine line between blowing up your engine and not giving it enough revs and losing out, or lightening a component which then breaks under stress.

Driving as fast as the Formula Vee drivers do is totally alien to me – and I’m not known for taking life slowly. To lap at a respectable pace for a track day will see you way down the back of a Formula Vee grid. To get my brain to make the jump from flinging it into a corner going over my own abilities (and then hopefully catching up and controlling it), to doing that 20mph faster like the front-runners do, is a massive struggle.

Already I’m half way through my first ever full season racing, and it’s only now I’m starting to shake the vague nagging voice telling me I’m not good enough to be out there racing. What most people may see as pretty poor results, to me, have been massive in letting me see that I CAN get there, and I am on the way.

It’s everyone’s dream to get into a car and win right from the start. To play football and instantly be top goal scorer. It would be quite easy to see an 18th place result as a bit of a failure – until you realise that you’re actually the 18th best Formula Vee driver on the planet at that moment!

There’s nothing stopping anyone else from doing it – but you’re the one out there, and that’s pretty special!

I’ve been getting a great response to this blog, and from the emails that people send a lot of you are finding it interesting or useful, so I’m happy to try and help out.  The local press have been picking up my reports in the Bromsgrove Standard, with a lovely feature in The Village Magazine, too!

The support from everyone is still mind-blowing, but shows how many people want to be involved in motor racing, and get genuinely excited to see someone like me living his dream and enjoying every second of it.  It’s nice to be able to surround myself with so much positivity.

For the last half of the season, we’ll be looking at the gear selection problems to try and get second gear reliably.  There are still some modifications that Glenn wants to do to the front suspension to improve things, and at some point I’d like to get out my hand-me-down race suit into something newer (and less ‘snug’!) and have some of my own sponsors logos on there!  

Speaking of which, I hope to have JooVuu-X stickers on the car soon – check out www.joovuu-x.com for the excellent cameras I’ve been using.  There’s currently a special offer on them so if you’re after a dashcam there are no finer ones out there for the price!

Off the track it will be more analysis and reports, and I’ll be answering a few questions people have emailed that they want to see on here. 

I’ve also just upgraded my iRacing setup to a new wheel to see if that can improve things in the real world, so I’ll write some more about that!

In the mean-time, I’ll be getting my head in the game and “pushing very ‘ard” to get closer to the front of the pack!

Thanks for all your support, and I hope to see you out there!