How do I improve my skills?

A good first step, and one that many people do not heed, is to think about yourself.

Are you fit enough to go racing? Okay, a 10-lap sprint at Mallory may not require the stamina of a marathon runner, but a reasonable level of fitness and upper body strength is always a good idea. If you are looking to do longer races, you will need to be moderately fit. And that's not just about going down the gym twice a week. Take a long hard look at your diet, drinking and smoking. We're not suggesting you become a teetotal lentil-muncher, but a sensible approach is needed. If you do drink, make sure it is not the night before a race meeting. Random drink and drug testing is carried out in motorsport, sometimes as early as 9am on race day. The penalties for anyone failing are rightly draconian.

The logical way to improve your on-track performance is to enlist the services of a racing school and/or a driver coach. Just like any sport, there are professional coaches who can seriously help you improve your lap time, and money spent with a good coach is likely to bring a much better reward than spending money on the car.

If you run a data-logging system and allow the coach to drive the car during testing, you can get some very useful data overlays to identify exactly where you can find those elusive tenths of a second – or more! Data logging itself can also help by comparing your data with a team mate, or even just analysing your performance on its own - for example comparing laps and looking at cornering and braking g-forces to identify areas where driver performance can be improved.

. Intro
· How do I get my race licence?
· What equipment do I need?
· Which championship or race series is right for me?
· What type of race car?
· Do I rent or buy a race car?
· Do I run it myself or go to a team?
· How do I improve my skills?
· How do I get sponsorship?
· Where can I find out more?