Communication is
just as important
as performanceDrivers have to rely on
instinct in the nightAUDIGRUPPEC23AGONY AUNT
1 AUGUST 2019SEND YOUR QUESTIONS TO
[email protected]NEXT ISSUE LYN ST JAMESUsing practice to tweak ABS settings
can reap rewards in the racesHaving a smooth driving
style definitely helps for
endurance racing, so this is
a plus on my side. It doesn’t
matter if it’s a night stint or
during the day, you have
to be fit for 24-hour races
because it’s about keeping
concentration and not
making mistakes, so I do a
lot of workouts and outdoor
training, going cycling and
running. When you drive,
the target is always that you
have some free capacity in
the car so you can be really
fast, not only fast.
Night stints are alwayssomething special.
Everybody expects to be
slower because you can’t
see the apexes so well, but
somehow you just drive
more on instinct. You rely
on your instinct and even
sometimes talk to yourself.
When you feel tired or hot,
you are not concentrating
100% any longer, so then it
can be a situation of talking
to myself and saying, ‘You
need to push’, or speaking to
the team on the radio just to
have someone to talk to. But
you really feel one with the
car – I like racing at night.Nine years is a long time, but so far
I have been chosen every year – so
that’s good! First, you have to be a
hard worker to join the group, and
then it’s not only up to Audi Sport
Customer Racing to find us a drive
every year, because we really have
to take care of our customers. You
do that by communicating well
and doing a good job at setting up
the car to keep them motivated.
Each team-mate is a little bit
diff erent, so it’s our job to adapt
quickly and to get a feeling for what’s
needed in each case. I raced with the
former Swiss World Cup skier Didier
Cuche at the Nurburgring in 2014 and
when working with
a sportsman who
always was crazy
competitive, you
would maybe
speak with him a
little diff erently.
But mainly you have to choose
simple words so that customers can
understand the processes involved in
driving. They have to learn to feel the
flow and understand that everything
they do changes the process. The
faster they learn this, the easier it
is to improve their driving style.
Being patient and learning to
listen also definitely helps as well.
Sometimes it’s better to take one
step back, enter the corner a bit
slower and concentrate more on
doing one thing aft er another, first
the braking then release the brake,
turn in, try to carry the corner speed.
It’s always step by step!