SECRETS OF PRO-AM RACING REVEALED
The world has changed a great deal since Autosport last produced a Performance supplement in October 2019, for obvious reasons that we don’t need to go into here. But what the pandemic hasn’t changed is the appetite to get involved in competition. And, for those who have made that leap, to learn skills that will ultimately help them to get better as a racing driver.
For those that have been on this journey for some time, the margins of improvement will become ever smaller, and many valuable lessons will have been learned from prior mistakes. But it’s our hope that, whatever your level of experience or budget, there will be something in these pages for you.
The cover feature for this return issue considers an aspect of motorsport that is growing ever more relevant by the year. The continued success of GT3 competition owes much to the support of amateur racers, and their desire to learn by pairing up with a hotshoe driver. This offers opportunities for those who have fallen off the single-seater ladder – or who never had the budget to climb it in the first place – to benchmark themselves against factory drivers, and even join their ranks. But the learning process isn’t one-way. To get the most out of their amateur co-drivers, there’s a significant mindset shift that pro aces must adapt to (page 10).
One man who knows all about Pro-am racing is Adam Carroll, who has sampled just about every form of motorsport aside from racing in Formula 1 – although he tested for BAR in the mid-2000s. The Northern Irishman will be back in British GT this year, and joins Autosport as a columnist sharing his top tips. You can find his insights into preparing to drive a new car for the first time on p4.
And if you’ve yet to take the plunge but have an itch that needs to be scratched, Stephen Lickorish speaks to the MG Car Club about how beginners can start racing the “incredibly cheap” MG ZR (page 20).