dream | act | succeed

Racing is a form of art, an art of war. But fighting in real life can never be the same. In war, there are no rules. Sure, there are some, but they do not interfere in the same way as the rules on the race tracks around the world.

What we need is an empty mind and a clever plan.

But what does that mean? An empty mind describes the “busyness” of our brain. Do you know what to do? Are you well prepared? Or are you unfamiliar with one or all of the parameters? Racing is war. Do you know your equipment? Meaning your car. Do you know the terrain? Meaning the track. Do you know the conditions? Meaning the temperature, wind, weather, tires, grip level? Do you know your enemies? Meaning your competitors. Do you know their equipment? Meaning their car? And the list goes on and on…

Some people might just think that all of that can not be that important, but believe me, it is. The best way of fighting is not to fight. If you can win the battle in your enemies head before you have started to fight, you have won without loosing any actual time on track. Is that even possible? And again, this is very similar to the real art of war. Your reputation is everything.

If you are in your enemies mind, he has less capacity left to think it through. We see headlamps flashing and think that this doesn’t effect a good driver? It doesn’t matter what we think, the question is what the driver thinks. He might just say: “This doesn’t effect me in any way!” and hey the headlamps did their job properly. Our enemy is thinking about it. We distract him. Little by little. One step at a time. Sure, we could argue that this can hardly be the solution for a good overtake, but it’s a good first step. What do you think happens if you catch up to your competitor little by little? He will not just react in his mind to your headlamps flashing, no, his team will also talk about you. He needs to respond. Drive faster, get ready to defend, whatever it is. You will enter his thoughts. And maybe just maybe that is helping. Of course it can have the opposite effect as well. Your competitor can get motivated through it and drive even better. But at least you do not loose time getting stuck behind him for the next couple of laps.

There is a book about the art of war. It’s short and you can also listen to it while driving in your car. It’s about the ancient wars, sure, but it’s the key you have to understand.

See you next time!