Driver coaching in the snow? All in a day’s work at Levier

1 May

I didn’t imagine I would ever build a snowman in the middle of April. But that’s exactly what happened when I visited the Levier track in Switzerland recently to do some driver coaching for some of my junior KartBox team-mates.

The weather was crazy. We had sunshine, rain and snow – all on the same day. While it was mixed, I would say it was also perfect. It provided the ultimate test for the drivers I was supporting and allowed me to explain lots of different techniques to improve their confidence and lap times.

I love coaching and giving other drivers the benefit of my experience. As a two-time Swiss champion, I’ve learned a lot about how to be fast in a kart and how to fight for position. I feel I have plenty of good advice that I can share with other drivers that dream of winning races.

In Levier, I was coaching a small group in the IAME Series Switzerland. For some it was their first race weekend of the season, and for others it was their first-ever karting experience. I coached on the Saturday before they raced on the Sunday.

I taught them how to use the wet line on a circuit – both in a train and individually, showed them how to warm up the brakes in the wet, explained where they can brake later into corners, taught them some good battling techniques, and we also reviewed some video footage in the awning. It was a busy day but we saw an instant improvement.

By having the confidence to brake deeper into the corners for example, some of the group went two seconds a lap faster. Initially, they didn’t know how much further they could go without bumping themselves off the track. But their confidence grew with every lap and that was fantastic to see.

The group’s results on race day were also impressive. For one of the girls it was her first event but she finished P5 out of 12 in her qualifying and one of the other boys also got a P2 which was great for him and the team as a whole.

As well as doing some coaching, I also did some learning in Levier myself. I was responsible for preparing and running my own kart at the track. That involved prepping my Praga chassis on the Wednesday before, and then making sure it was in good working order when I was coaching on the track.

Even though I’m primarily a driver, I recognise it’s important for me to learn the mechanical and practical skills of karting as well. If you understand the engineering behind racing, it helps you to be a stronger racer.

Whether those skills will help me to build a better snowman is unknown. But I’ll keep you updated – hopefully in the winter when it’s supposed to snow!