Driving Posture was My Biggest Unlock

Watching a notoriously quick karter from the passenger seat of a road car was what made everything click into place for me as a driver.

In the passenger seat of a fully lit nineties XR4i was where I first learnt about driving attitude.

Sitting in the passenger seat of a white Sierra XR4i I was in position to observe a quick karter drive fast. What I observed was confidence and physical dominance of a man over his vehicle, and although it took time for me to get strong enough physically to apply it, I know it was a transformative moment for my own driving performance.

What I mean by transformative is that as soon as I acted on what I saw, I won. This was an immediate consequence of a simple realisation. What you do with your body in a kart counts….Big time!

So, what did I see that was so important?

• He was rock solid, his body was not shifted at all by the car. Whatever the car did his body was fixed.

• His arms were locked out when cornering and through the apex of the corner, he held the wheel in one position.

• The vibe he gave was absolute dominance of the vehicle, the road, the terrain - everything was under his command.

Now this was a case of karting habits in action, where your bodyweight is so influential on the handling of the kart. Being rock solid in a kart is super important, you simply can’t be flopping about.

But the biggest factor wasn’t physics - it was about power. The power of your own strength over the whole situation, whatever the track says, or the kart/car, tyres whatever - you stay. There’s no capitulation to the will of the vehicle over yours. The steering may want to move under caster forces or torque steer. A kerb may thump the wheel so hard the steering wants to tear free of your grip…. you don’t give a damn, you set your course and the vehicle will be held to it.

Here the body is a manifestation of a strong mind, a powerful will and when you see it in action you can feel it. Once I understood I could be in possession of that feeling of power over my own kart - bang, I was a winner.

Now, its up to you how you actually sit and address the steering wheel in your own kart or racing car, but you must feel powerful. You must feel that your will shall be delivered to the vehicle and road by a totally capable body. I spell out options in my book at length - there are plenty of methods to explore. But it’s not rocket science, look at images of your favourite drivers and pay attention to how they hold themselves. Just mix and match what you can see until it feels right for you, which is strong and powerful.

Cheers

Terence