Speed Secrets Podcast

127 – Kostas Sidiras & Serxio Veiga: One Lap Heroes & the Nurburgring

Lawrence Loshak joins me to talk about all sorts of really interesting & helpful topics, such as how to prepare for an event, simulators, adapting to your car, trail braking, left-foot-braking, being proactive with your driving, “taking a set,” comparing front-wheel to rear-wheel & open-wheel to closed-wheel, and transmissions. And he shares 3 Speed Secrets with you! Lawrence is currently leading the Trans-Am championship, and has won five SCCA championships, as well as receiving the Mark Donohue Aw

James Colborn joins me to talk about making his comeback to racing after taking more than a year off from it. Not only has he made a comeback, but he’s done it in an open-wheel car – not something he’s driven before – and on tracks he’s never seen before. So, it’s been a bit like starting all over again, but with a solid foundation to start from. He started with HPDE events, then club racing, some pro racing in production-based race cars, and now is racing a Formula Ford in the UK.

Kevin Boehm, who’s won the SCCA Runoff three times, shares what he’s learned so you can win the Runoffs. Yes, he’s sharing his secrets - from driving and car prep to his overall strategy towards the event, you’ll hear how Kevin won 3 out of 4 of the Runoffs he’s raced. Kevin is an engineer for Honda R&D, working at the Marysville, Ohio facility, and has raced in SCCA as well as IMSA. In 2019, he’ll be heading to VIR, looking to gather his fourth win at the Runoffs. Kevin’s Speed Secret: do

Jim Mero shares about the Corvette, his contributions to its development over the past decade-plus, life as a development test driver, lapping the Nurburgring as part of one’s job, and what’s ahead for Corvette. We also discuss how test drivers rely on their subconscious to drive the car while the conscious mind is focused on developing the car. Jim spent 34 years at General Motors, with the last 15 as a Ride & Handling Engineer focused on the Corvette.

Bill Thomas joins me to talk about… well, lots! All of the various things he does, including his William Thomas Roadsters, Drakan Cars, Performance Garage Club and importing the CAV GT40. Bill shares his experiences with Ferrari, Lotus, GT40s, and Hellcats. Oh, and we talk about his own track driving experience - specifically, about when and how to experiment with your driving, and why you should do that.

Steve Spano joins me to talk about how we can use technology to drive faster, and specifically, the RaceVoice device he helped develop. This device plugs into your existing ECU and data system, and then provides auditory information to you – everything from corner entry and minimum speeds to when to upshift or whether your engine is overheating. I used the RaceVoice recently and absolutely love it, so I wanted you to learn about it.

Ingrid Steffensen discusses expanding our comfort zone, getting into flow, what we learn about ourselves from track driving, writing, learning, and her book Fast Girl: Don’t Brake Until You See the Face of God. Which, by the way, is an absolutely great read! Ingrid started in the HPDE world in a Mini Cooper S, graduated to a Lotus Elise, and is now about to upgrade to an Exige Cup car. When she’s not at the track, she’s probably writing her next book – or even another article for Speed Secrets W

Johannes van Overbeek and I reminisce about the time we spent together at ESM Patron Racing, and he gives away all of his secrets about winning endurance races. We then compare right-foot with left-foot-braking, how a driver can be a nice laid back guy out of the car and yet be a killer behind the wheel, and why he recently retired from regular race driving. Johannes's won the Rolex 24 at Daytona, the Sebring 12-hour, Petit Le Mans, raced at Le Mans, and won the Thunderhill 25-hour race six times!

Johannes van Overbeek and I reminisce about the time we spent together at ESM Patron Racing, and he gives away all of his secrets about winning endurance races. We then compare right-foot with left-foot-braking, how a driver can be a nice laid back guy out of the car and yet be a killer behind the wheel, and why he recently retired from regular race driving. Johannes has won the Rolex 24 at Daytona, the Sebring 12-hour, Petit Le Mans, raced at Le Mans, and won the Thunderhill 25-hour race six times!

Trevor Ashline shares the latest in head & neck restraint devices. As VP of Engineering and Product Development for Simpson Performance Products, and a motorsport enthusiast himself, Trevor knows his stuff. Should a HANS or Hybrid-S device be used with airbags? With standard OEM Seatbelts? How long do these devices stay safe? How do they interact with seats & roll cages? There's one device that is FIA certified to work with OEM belts: the Hybrid-S, invented by Trevor.

Richard Kelley talks about his experience of capturing some of the most incredibly powerful images of F1 drivers. His photos of Niki Lauda, James Hunt, Jackie Stewart, Alain Prost, Nelson Piquet, Gilles Villeneuve, and others will either make you smile, get goose bumps, or cry. His perspective as someone who has closely observed some of the best drivers in the world, as well as raced himself, make his advice about visualization, situational awareness, and sensory input hugely valuable to every driver.

Spencer Pumpelly shares what karting doesn’t teach, how to use ABS to rotate the car, why an early apex is better than a late one, when a pass really begins, corner entry speed, and the importance of eliminating the fluff (that part throttle stuff that does more harm than good). Oh, and we also touch on the similarities between flying helicopter & performance driving! Spencer currently races for Magnus Racing and TRG, and has won in almost every level of racing he’s competed in.

Peter Puffer joins me to talk about why we do what we do (driving fast around race tracks), the psychology of instructing a driver on track, and what makes a great instructor (hint: observing and paying attention to the student is a good place to start!). He also talks about how too much, or too little, anxiety can negatively impact performance. Peter, a psychologist, grew up around motorsport and started driving in HPDE back in 1997. Peter’s Speed Secret: always be a student.

Wallace Bradley talks about that thing we don’t want to talk about: when to stop driving. Whether it’s age, money, risk, or “been there, done that,” there comes a time when we all need to make a decision to cut back on our driving or stop cold turkey. How should we make that decision, and then do it? Wallace started high-performance driving ten years ago and participates in PCA events. He started instructing shortly after getting involved. Wallace’s Speed Secret: Commit to yourself and your fit