Speed Secrets: When S*#t Happens
Changing focus and letting go.
It doesn't matter what level or type of motorsport you're involved in, it's pretty much a given that bad stuff is going to happen to you at some point — or already has. Things like:
A blown engine, or some other type of mechanical failure
You crash and damage your car
Someone else hits you, damaging your car
An official makes a decision that goes against you, and you know you're innocent
Someone in your network of friends and/or helpers/team members does something that either pisses you off, or worse
Youʻre not able to turn the same lap time as you did in the past, and you begin to wonder if you've lost it
Someone — a friend, or someone you barely knew — gets hurt at the track. Or worse.
As the saying goes, there are two types of drivers: Those who have crashed, and those who will. If you spend enough time driving fast around a track, you will crash. If you haven't crashed yet, you will (or you won't drive fast enough or long enough to crash). It happens.
Pretty much the same thing can be said of having a major mechanical failure. You may have caused it (an engine over-rev, a mismatched downshift, driving over the curbing at the exit of a corner and damaging the suspension, or whatever), or “it was just time.”
If you're human — and I suspect you are — then it's only a matter of time before you have some level of doubt about your abilities. It may not be in the beginning, it may not be right now, it may not be in the near future. But I can guarantee it will happen. You either have had, or will have confidence issues.
No matter how strong your beliefs are about yourself, if you participate in this sport long enough, you're going to doubt yourself at some point. I would bet that even Max Verstappen has doubts about his abilities every now and then. Okay, maybe not Max, but every other top professional! They may not admit to it, just like you might not, but it happens. The best superstar athletes in the world have doubts about themselves at times.
Have you felt that way? Have you ever started to doubt your abilities, wondered whether you ever had any ability, or whether you'll ever get this sport figured out?
You're not alone.
It's not a matter of when or what, it’s what you do when s*#t happens that matters the most, right?