RaceCoin Podcast

Host: Jai Shukla & Guest: Sabine Schmitz   Q1 — How was childhood like growing up? When the weather is good, Sabine Schmitz raced alongside her sisters leveraging on some nice collection of cars like 918 Porshe. They had a healthy rivalry as the practices some times without Sabine's knowledge so has to beat me on certain days.   Q2 — From my conversations with other racing drivers, the career path of the male racing driver is slightly different from that of the female. Do you think that’s still a thing in the industry today? When Sabine Schmitz started motor racing, this was tough. At the moment, there is a big change as they have many good female drivers. We have a ladies team, we have lady mechanics and things are going well. This is a stark contrast to the time when Women (in South Africa) are not allowed to even vote. Q3 — So how did you make yourself known in the industry and get the opportunities that you did? When Sabine Schmitz started racing, it was not so popular for women to go racing. But she did not stop, she carried on. Sabine won the championship very fast. You have to be successful straight away, otherwise, it is too late.   Q4 — With everyone vying for the first position, what separated you from everyone else in winning the championship? Focus, fitness, the thirst to go forward and the pressure. Yes, old good pressure. When Sabine Schmitz was in the BMW team, she was the worst driver. So they have to do a lot of sports with the guys with JG late too and all the rival professional drivers. The path of a champion is tough.   Q5 — What would you change about the motor industry? I am not a fan of electric cars, it is not even green. Power comes out of the power station to power it. I believe there will be much better alternatives.   Q6 — let's be a little futuristic, would you have the cars fly soon?  I would like to turn the clock a little bit backward when racing was manual. No ATM, No power steering. I am a fan of the V8 and Pur thriving. Then, racing was pure driving. The Porsche and GT three are quite easy to drive just like a computer game. I will love to see how a driver will react to unexpected situations.   Q7 — What was it about hockey that made you want to join the show some years ago? I was part of the team since 2000 more or less with live shows and DVD with Jeremy and Top Gear. The opportunity came knocking and I said yes.   Q8 — Compared to racing, do you enjoy being on reality TV? I think it's a combination because I love racing. And that's what I can do in the show. So it's a perfect combination. Because I want to try every car to the limit, and that is allowed.  But racing is racing. Racing is more intense.   Q9 — In general, what do you think people don’t know of being part of a racing team? During the show, we do some of the battles completely to know who was better. For the show, we start with the following cars, cameras and so on. In some battles, we have only a chance to film. For some other battles, we film 4 or 5 times. But in all, it has to be as you see it on TV. It has to be true. We do some fun stuff too.  They don’t script me, they script the others.   Q10 — One of the things that you've managed to do throughout your life is not only winning races but just live a life that involves so many things that you are passionate about. What can you say to other people that would allow them to experience their version of their enjoyed, or an amazing life that is fulfilling? When you have a dream, you have to trust yourself. And then you must follow your dreams. If you stay at home on the couch is nothing will happen. Nobody will help you. You have to help yourself.

Host: Jai Shukla & Guest: Ben Hurst Q1 — How did it all begin in Oakville, all the way to Canada, and now you're the British GT? The dad of Ben Hurst stirred up the whole process when he took him to Bridgestone racing Academy to try out for a racing license. Ben Hurst got started in Formula Ford, here in Canada. He met one of the teams when he was at racing school there to get his racing license because Ben was just interested in trying. They eventually then won the championship after 3 years of persistence. The team he was with In the UK got partnered with an F3 team during the Formula Ford festival of friends. So that's kind of how Ben got introduced to everyone quickly in the UK. And that's kind of how all his opportunities came out. So it's kind of in one meeting after the next.   Q2 — You started off racing at age 16, did that affect how you saw the races approach the races? Yes, especially in F3 you have to be willing to either go into that corner and either crashed your car into someone else or if they back off. But Ben Hurst is not wired to go into a corner and just either Yes, he is going to make it or he is going to be out of the race. Ben always want to finish races, no matter what.   Q3 — So have you considered endurance racing something like Lemans? After watching it this year with Aston, Ben Hurst knew in my heart that there’s where he wants to be. Ben loves the level of preparation the teams go through. It's like an F1 car, but it's a GT car that goes for 24 hours.   Q4 — Between F3 and GT, what kind of differences are they in terms of pressure and atmosphere? I think there's more pressure because it's not only my race weekend, it's my teammates. Having a teammate does change the mentality a lot because you have to bring the car home for them because it's their race weekend as well. It’s always rewarding to get the results on track in the morning after your teammates may have put in the late night to get the car ready morning.   Q5 — How is your relationship with your partner and what is your advice on how to create a bond with your partner? For my partner, despite our different backgrounds, we have formed an efficient partnership. He is naturally quick but does not have racing experience. He helps me with qualifying for my outright pace and I handle the race starts. To build a great relationship with your teammates, I’d advise you to spend time together, train together, learn how each they work.   Q6 — Do you feel that racing is something you will want to continue for the rest of your life? Well, I've just graduated. And I took a degree that would help me with my racing career (Sports management) So I spent some time with the Renault F1 team, as a work placement in their sponsorship department learning how to how they get sponsors, I think that helped me.   Q7 — Can you share tips on how to get sponsorships? Its hard work, get a lot of verified contacts (email/phone lines especially) who are interested in what you do. Find the market you are in, look for companies that are interested in what you do. A blue ocean strategy will pay off big time. On what companies expect in return: Some opt for increased sales of their cars or other organizing coaching events. Expectations vary from one company to another. Be it Aston Martin, Renato or Renault.     Q8 — How did the university degree help you expand your knowledge about sponsorships?  I did my dissertation on how sponsorship works in Formula One. I also leveraged on the experience of the Head of my management team with 20 years of experience. He moved from the mechanic side to the commercial side of racing. Side by side, these two events expanded my knowledge on how sponsorships work. I’d say that Formula 1 sponsorship is about Business to Business partnership and getting introductions.   Q9 — Would you like to go into Formula One at some point? Or is it La mans and hundred percent endurance racing? I am 100% going to GT and endurance racing. I want to build my career with support from either dealerships or manufacturers at this level and work my way up to a factory role with one of the manufacturers. Rather than trying to find the funding for F3 for another year, FIA F3, for another year and then F2.     Q10 — So how do you manage to deal with that pressure of actually going into the car and feeling like everyone's ready and waiting for you to now deliver? If you're prepared, then you have nothing. That’s exactly my mindset. I think that the biggest thing I've learned is preparation. If I do my training, right, if I eat right, by the time I get to the race, I'm fully prepared and there should be nothing I'm got to think about other than going forward in the race that we're at.   Q11 — What do you feel is the biggest difference between watching and driving? So I think sometimes it looks a bit more intense on TV than it is in the car. Because you're calm in the car, you're just focusing on what you need to do. In the car, you're focused on what's directly in front of you and what's directly behind you. And you count on your team at that point for what's going on the bigger picture. As a driver, I keep a lot of things out of my mind.   Q12 — Have you ever been out of the zone? Are you ever in a situation where you feel like, today's just not my day when you're driving? More so, can you share with us on how you get yourself in the zone? I work hard at making sure I'm in the zone, I have a mine coach that works with my management company. And they help to keep that going system. As a routine, I usually do a warm-up of two to three minutes, jump on the skipping rope. And then I will go and find my own space for about 20 minutes, 10 minutes and listen to music. And then I commonly go put my helmet on. By the time my helmets are on, I keep my visor closed because I want to. I'm in the zone by that point. When I get in the car, I get the radios plugged in, and then I'm talking to my team. And it's all 100% of focus to what you have to do after that.   Q13 — What 3 tips can you share with racing drivers wannabes to put them in a position to make their dreams come true? Work hard. I am a fan of fitness. Have a notebook at the track or when you go-karting. If there are bumps and stuff you notice on the track, or if there's a line that works or a good overtaking spot, write it down. Make sure you know and write it down. It helps you. Don’t give up. You can't give up you have to keep going.

Host: Jai Shukla  & Guest: Mike Skeen   Q1 — So, what was it that got you into racing? You could say that it was his father’s love for cars that had him set up for success. Together, they’d work on cars until he was old enough to get into the driver’s seat racing karts. It wasn’t long until he was instructing for events and having others vying to get him into their cars.   Q2 — And how did your first break come about? Mike Skeen actually became a minor reality TV star on the Speed Channel, believe it or not. While not winning the final show prize, the exposure alone led him to a big fan of the show asking him to race professionally.   Q3 — How did you manage to secure your sponsors? And also, how do you build that fanbase that you can go to a sponsor with, as well? Mike Skeen believes that it’s always a struggle to find representation no matter what level you’re at. Even those with established careers are always on the hunt for the next thing. When it comes to his fanbase, he’s always been a grassroots rider. From being extremely accessible as a whole to hosting his own videos, he knows that the work involved on the ground level is certainly worth it.   Q4 — What do you think amateurs don’t understand about the industry, that professionals do? There’s seems to be a misconception that as long as you race fast, there will be unlimited opportunities to become a pro driver. Unfortunately, it’s not so easy.   Q5 — When did you jump onboard with Racers360 and how’s that been going for you? He started only earlier this year, but so far, it’s been going great. Mike loves that he can offer high-level pro coaching quickly and inexpensively for drivers all around the world, something that didn’t even exist when he was starting out.   Q6 — What sort of results have you seen from your students so far? He’s had returning customers already, one of which is now a podium contender under his instruction. It’s still a bit early for him in the program though, so it will take a bit more time to show the results that he’s been striving for.   Q7 — And are you a contract instructor? How does that work? Right now, it’s one-offs, simply pay-by-session instruction. It’s different rates for different instruction, but all of it is much cheaper than what most charge for a typical day.   Q8 — You’re also involved in Circuit Studies. Tell us a bit about that. Mike started Circuit Studies with another coach from the BMW Performance Center, its approach having racers study-specific tracks to help them place as best as they can. It’s completely online and reaches drivers from all over the world.   Q9 — What would be one of your favorite races that you’ve had? He really enjoyed the hard and aggressive sprint racing at World Challenge. Another mention is Pikes Peak, where rode against some high-level equipment. He loves cars and machines, so any chance to just be around top-level equipment clearly puts him in his element.   Q10 — Do you feel like there’s a difference between the type of people that love sprint racing versus endurance racing? Yes and no. So many of the endurance races nowadays have sprint elements, so, of course, the line gets blurred a little bit.   With endurance racing, you really need a great program behind with a great team, great pitstops, a great co-driver. It’s harder to control all of those variables as a single person. When you’re sprint racing, once you’re on the track, it’s more on you as a driver, taking on the pressure and the responsibility yourself. Mike admits he prefers sprint driving for those reasons, but thinks they are both a lot of fun, equally.   Q11 — To what degree do you feel like you’re in control as a driver inside the car? How much do you feel like, as a percentage, you’re in control? As a sprint driver, honestly, about 90%. The driver has to do everything incredibly well to succeed. Of course, there’s no substitution for a great team behind you, but obviously, the driver is a massive part of that performance, especially in a sprint race.   Q12 — Do you still get nervous as a driver? All the prep is hard work and situations like when you’re just sitting there on the grid waiting to go can be nerve-wracking, but once you’re in the car it all starts to become natural again.   Q13 — Making mistakes can be a killer in this industry. How have you gotten better at handling them? Usually, until he gets a good feel for the car, he’ll drive fairly conservatively. At this point in his career, though, he has so much experience driving in different vehicles, he knows his limits and knows exactly when and where to push them.    Mike Skeen also considers himself fortunate that he hasn’t made too many big mistakes throughout his professional lifetime, although he knows that they are always bound to happen to even the best drivers.   Q14 — What do you feel is one of the biggest things that impacts the way you’ve progressed positively as a driver? One thing he feels that has kept him on track is his analytical and critical personality. He’s the guy that will come home and watch hours of his video while critiquing it. Coaching has helped, too, as it makes him think about why he does what he does on the track.    Q15 — How much time do you think new drivers should be spending off the track, as opposed to on the track? Mike’s more preferential towards off the track because he’s a stickler for the fundamentals. The guys that have found success seem to have the driving part down quite naturally. It’s the off-the-track stuff that they’ve devoted time to that propels them to a more successful career.

Host: Jai Shukla    Guest: Kelvin van der Linde Q1 — What made you get started in racing? You could say it’s in his blood. His father and grandfather were both race car drivers and as a kid, Kelvin was always at the race track in his pram!   Q2 — How involved were they in your journey? Kelvin and his younger brother raced carts on the weekends, but it was really more about spending time with the family. They’d have their camper at the race track and set up a barbeque, definitely fond memories for him. As soon as he got serious about the sport, it obviously was going to become less and less about a family meetup and more about winning!   Q3 — What was it like beating your uncle’s record for youngest South African national champion? Kelvin van der Linde was only 14 years old when he started in the championship, unheard of at the time. His uncle, however, was happy to see him taking on the challenge and succeeding admirably.   Q4 — Adrenaline plays a huge part in racing. Do you partake in any other activities outside of the sport that are also quite daring? It’s difficult to match the intensity of racing elsewhere, but he participates in triathlons like many other drivers. Even though he doesn’t think he’ll ever find a sport that matches the thrill of driving, he sticks to outdoor activities… the more intense the better.   Q5 — I noticed you use the term “thrill” as opposed to “pressure.” What do you think allows you to interpret the intensity of racing in this way? Kelvin comes from humble beginnings, so, in his eyes, racing is still very much a privilege. It’s hard for him to consider what he does, even at his lowest moments, something short of a blessing.   Q6 — And how did you manage to change that mentality from “pressure” to “thrill,” specifically? It’s staying positive and staying thankful. It’s not going to last forever, so you might as well enjoy the ride!   Q7 — What are some other things in your world that you care about aside from racing? On the business side, he’s started coaching young drivers from South Africa, and on the personal side, he’s trying to spend more and more time with his friends and family. You have to balance both sides!   Q8 — You spend time coaching young drivers in South Africa. How do you manage that living in Europe? While he doesn’t have much time for literal hands-on coaching, he’s able to give lots of solid advice and context to drivers from abroad. He knows how drivers felt when they started and he’s quite enthusiastic to give guidance to those coming after him.   Q9 — What sort of pointers do you give to these young drivers? Management and politics are completely different in Europe compared to South Africa. He’s trying to teach them how to transition properly, so they don’t have to make the same mistakes he did.   Q10 — How did the opportunity in Audi Sport come to fruition? With a bit of financial help from his parents, he was able to win race prize money and put it into a season of GT Masters. He won the championship driving an Audi R8 and they quickly started discussing a successful future together.   Q11 — What do you think sets you apart from other drivers? The jump from South Africa to Europe for him meant that it was all or nothing, not even a plan B. It’s that willpower of saying “I’m not going to lose” that he feels makes him unique amongst everyone else.   Q12 — Nürburgring is considered one of the toughest race tracks in the world. How did you manage to train and execute that? Kelvin van der Linde admits that Audi took a gamble on him for Nürburgring, as well as being with the right car and the right teammates in that moment. He’s a big proponent of the stars aligning, his humility at work.   Q13 — One of your dreams is to win Le Mans. If you do win someday, what would you do beyond that? Do you have any other directions you see your career going? He’s not shy to admit he’d love to win Le Mans, but winning all the major endurance races before he retires one day would make him the happiest racer in the world.   Q14 — What kind of message would you like to leave with other drivers who are also chasing their dreams? There’s no escape from putting in the hours, but for racing, there’s no clear line. Occasionally it’s luck, there’s no way around it. But as long as you expose yourself and don’t have too many expectations coming into it, you’ll be on track to succeed. 

Host: Jai Shukla    Guest: Dion von Moltke Q1 — So, how did you get started with Racers360 and online coaching? After racing for ten years, and as it tends to happen, opportunities were starting to diminish, Dion Von Moltke began coaching as an offset to the situation. Drivers were recording their races and analyzing their performance, and he had the idea that he could have the drivers upload their videos online and get personalized coaching remotely.   Q2 — How are you able to get the coaching costs so low? It gets rid of travel expenses for the coaches and gives amateur drivers a lower cost barrier of entry to professional coaching. It’s essentially a win-win for everyone involved and has had proven results, the average driver is picking up an average of one second after just one session   Q4 — You said your father is one of your biggest fans and had asked you, “Is this what you want to do?” Is this a question that you use with your students to gauge their seriousness in the sport? Honestly, no, because most of their students are in the amateur ranks and are simply driving, at the end of the day, for fun. However, for the student that is looking to make a career out of racing, then yes, he would.   Q5 — Where is your biggest source of motivation for coaching coming from? Dion feels passionate about ending the high cost of entry for drivers to get professional advice, giving all drivers access to great, affordable coaching.   Q6 — What is the definition of a good day for you? When drivers tell their coach they just shaved off a couple of seconds on a lap or just set a new track record. The results get them more passionate and excited about the sport and only encourages them to continue driving.   Q7 — How did your original vision for this company compare to how you see your business now? The original goal was to see how we could make this sport grow. He knew that by making it easier to find events and being able to register easily, it would get more amateurs involved. Later on, the company ended up launching a small coaching program to bring in extra revenue and what they found was that the amount of success coming from their education program was so great that he decided that this was what he needed to be focusing on.   Q8 — Do you feel more relaxed now that you’re no longer driving and dealing with the immense pressure that it entails? He admits that for him driving is the greatest feeling in the world. He doesn’t call himself retired yet and if the right opportunity came about he’d happily jump on the chance, no questions asked.   Q9 — Being a driver can be incredibly nerve-racking, worrying about when certain things will end, be it a race, a sponsorship, or a career. How were your methods of dealing with that?  Dion is a big believer in meditation and related breathing exercises. He comments that when you focus on the breath correctly, it’s quite difficult to think about anything else. Also just as important is learning to let go of what you can’t control. This happens when you realize your goal and realize the rest is meaningless.   Q10 — That you’ve been so successful and the fact that so many people around the world want to be where you are, is that extra pressure of judgment something you’ve had to deal with? Dion doesn’t acknowledge added stress, just increased motivation. That he feels lucky to be where he makes him hungrier to utilize the opportunities he’s been given to their very fullest.   Q11 — And what do you do to let go? Not worrying about what you can’t control. Dion believes that once something is over, there’s nothing you can do about. You have to focus solely on the next goal or action and be giving it the best of your abilities, and the only way to give your best is to not focus on what you can’t control, the past.

Host: Jai Shukla    Guest: Kaz Grala   Q1 — You started racing at four years old and at an early age you were already winning championships. How did that affect your racing mentality as a child? That’s the biggest reason he felt he should stick with it. By the time he was six years old, he had essentially tried every sport out there and racing was the one he seemed to excel at the most.    Q2 — What other sports did you participate in?  Swimming, tennis, baseball, soccer, you name it, he tried it. He tried to gauge where his passion was and what he enjoyed the most. The answer was racing.   Q3 — What was it about racing that you knew this was something you wanted to do for a living?  He loves that “being in the zone” feeling from racing. Away from outside distractions, it’s the epitome of peace for him. Of course, being at a higher level of racing now there are more distractions, even in the car, but even today it’s still incredibly calming.   Q4 — It’s that “zone” that people talk about in sports. That perfect balance between doing something and yet feeling like you’re not doing something. Is that what you’re referring to? It’s in every sport. An athlete who is great at what they do gets into that zone. For Kaz personally, no other sport could give him that experience.   Q5 — Talk to me about your dad’s journey to America. Did that have any effect on your aspirations as well? His dad emigrated from Poland with his family when Kaz was 8 years old and weirdly enough it was because he wanted to buy a car! Kaz explains his dad grew up always wanting to race and it was he who passed the torch down to his son.   Q6 — You’ve been the youngest person ever to compete in countless racing events. How did this affect your mindset towards the sport? Did this make you want to be first in more things? Did you set out to do this? Kaz Grala wasn’t aware that he would be the youngest person to compete or win in these events at the time. It’s not something he chased, but a cool bonus. Racing fundamentally keeps you humble, he admits. For all the highs, there are certainly the lows to match them.   Q7 — And how do you manage the pressure of the extreme highs and extreme lows? The best thing to do is to just take it one week at a time. You’re always fighting to be able to just stay in the game, so all you can do is just keep your nose to the grindstone and focus.   Q8 — How do you train yourself to be able to do that so successfully? Racing his whole life, Kaz Grala doesn’t know any other way to handle that level of pressure and focus. It’s been intimately woven into who he is. He admits if he had gotten into racing later in life, he definitely would’ve had some struggles with the intense focus needed to be successful.   Q9 — It seems like doing what you love can feed the energy you need to avoid the mentally draining aspects of the sport. What are your thoughts on that? It’s definitely what gets him through the harder parts. Maintaining a proper balance between professional and personal life, however, is one thing that helps in addition to his passionate energy.   Q10 — In your time off, you’ve managed to create a competitive NASCAR team in just under two weeks. What was that like? It just so happened that a contract wound up being broken and Kaz was offered three racecars for compensation. Kaz Grala wanted to take advantage of the situation, so he rounded up some other racers to start a team and before he knew it, they placed in the top 10 of their debut race.   Q11 — How has that process of managing relationships and the behind the scenes team operations differed from just being solely a driver? Although it does take away time dedicated to driving, Kaz feels it’s made him a more well-rounded driver for the better.   Q12 — What sort of specific impacts has that had on the way you drive? It helps him appreciate even more the organizations he’s with, but once that helmet goes on, nothing’s changed.   Q13 — You were sponsored by a spicy ice cream company. How did that come about? It was a fan who told Kaz about this ice cream company whose owner was a huge racing fan. They forwarded him his info and from there they ended up as a sponsor.   Q14 — And what exactly does spicy ice cream taste like? It’s quite sweet, just with a spicy kick to it. It’s good!   Q15 — What would you now like to do with the level of fame and excellence that you’ve worked for? Driving is still his passion and he has no plans other than to focus on what he loves the most.

Host: Jai Shukla    Guest: Derrike Cope   Q1 — Explain to me a little bit about your journey. How did you go from a driver to now a team manager? It all started when Mike Kohler from StarCom Fiber wanted to sponsor Derrike as a racer. That opportunity led him to eventually managing the entire team!   Q2 — How has the pressure been different in the various roles that you’ve played? The pressure of being a driver is immense, as you’re performing at such a high level and you’re only as good as your last race. It’s a different kind of pressure when you own or manage a team. It comes from a broader perspective of competition, competing as best you can and not settling for mediocrity.   Q3 — Do you feel like you have more or less control as a team manager compared to a driver? As a driver, a lot of things are out of your control. You just drive your heart out and everything else is simply left to be. As a team manager, there are more aspects to manage while at the same time still focusing on the driving side since you also want to be able to provide the best environment for the driver to thrive.   Q4 — So, the message I’m getting from you is that each side has its own pressures and neither is necessarily more significant than the other. Obviously, as a driver, there is much more pressure physically, especially at the higher levels. As you run a team, the pressure is more in the numbers, making sure that your team can have the best possible parts and pieces, including the best possible working environment.   Q5 — Do you feel like you have a higher degree of control now? Derrike admits he feels like he has a ton of control, his wife and him essentially running the whole team themselves.   Q6 — What would you say is a significant difference in the way you have to approach your day as a manager? How is the mentality different from that of a driver? He’s constantly on the racetrack, even driving for his team just last year, so he honestly doesn’t feel too far removed from still having the mentality of a driver. His biggest struggle while he balances the driving mindset with the managing mindset is that when he makes suggestions, it needs to be for the benefit of the entire team. He has to be cognizant to not think only in terms of driving, but managing the team as a whole.   Q7 — Can you tell us what makes you happy right now? The fact that he can still be at the race track every week, waking up and looking forward to going to work. Also, knowing that at the highest level of motor racing he can still put a quality product on the racetrack and give the team a quality perception in the marketplace for the owners. Those are the things that make him happy.   Q8 — You treat your team as your own. How did you feel like this was the team you wanted to stay with and take ownership of, as opposed to, say, just another team you want to win with like any other that you would manage? The fact that the team owners had admired Derrike Cope as kids and wanted to sponsor him as a driver, and then subsequently asked him to be team manager meant that they put a lot of trust in him and treated him as part of a family.    Q9 — How have you and your wife managed to work together while still keeping the relationship intact? Derrike's wife loves the sport just as much as he does, which he believes is the underlining glue that makes them able to spend every waking moment together and still keep the relationship intact. It helps them keep their sanity!   Q10 — How did you and your wife meet? They met at a race while she was doing marketing for her father’s team.    Q11 — As a manager, what are some daily tasks that people might be surprised to learn that you still have to do yourself? He’s in charge of shock absorbers, so a lot of the time he’ll still run for parts. And since he manages the budget, he’s involved in most of the purchasing decisions.   Q12 — If you could do any race over again, which race would you choose and why? He’s quick to mention the 1998 Daytona 500, the race Dale Earnhardt placed 1st in. Derrike Cope says his car that day was faster than Earnhardt’s, but his victory was thwarted when he was hit exiting the pits. Until that moment, he thought he was going to win his second Daytona 500 and he’d loved to see how that race would have played out had he not been hit.   Q13 — Looking back at your 40 years of racing, management, and ownership, where did you originally see the trajectory of this journey taking you compared to where you ended up today? Derrike Cope is amazingly fulfilled when he looks at where his career has taken him. From the beginning, he always wanted to race stock cars and he was lucky enough to be able to do that for such a long time and with tons of success.  

Host: Jai Shukla    Guest: Andy Pilgrim   Q1 — When you first started you worked in IT to allow yourself to race. At what point did you realize that racing full time could become a reality? Andy Pilgrim had an old Kawasaki 500 street bike, and while had income coming in from his day job, he simply decided he would start racing, Andy being someone who loved anything with an engine in it. He wanted to just start racing, but his current income dictated that he would be on two wheels, not four. Without a car, his mate would drop him off and pick him up from the track, the latter, he says, if he wasn’t in the hospital at the end of the day.   Q2 — When you mention being in the hospital, are you saying injuries were common back then? Of course, he was being facetious in that statement, but Andy admits the sport was still actually quite dangerous when he started. The tracks were built for cars, so you had a much greater chance of getting hurt if you were on a bike.   Q3 — And you didn’t want to accrue a bit more money and wait to buy a 4-wheel. Why jump into the bike? Financially, it seemed so out of reach to him, so he never even gave it a thought. He wanted to see right now if he was any good and didn’t care if it was a car or not. After quickly starting to win, he realized he actually was quite good. This led to his first job in the U.S. He comments that said job could have potentially saved his life, seeing how dangerous racing was to him back then.   Q4 — So, you went to America with about 106 dollars in your pocket. You mentioned that you were lean on food for the first few weeks. Can you explain that for us? When he arrived in America, Andy Pilgrim was told he wouldn’t be getting his first paycheck for a few weeks, which meant he had about 100 dollars to live off of for nearly a month! He had to live with meager means to get by until his first payday.   Q5 — Is there any experience from those paltry times that you’d like to share with the audience? Well, believe it or not, Americans looked at his English accent as if it was some sort of speech impediment. Because he was broke, he had to live between a home for battered women and an overflow for a mental institution, which was all he could afford. He’s actually quite carefree about the situation when commenting that it was quite entertaining, to say the least.   Q6 — What do you feel the differences are between your life back then compared to your successful life now in terms of happiness? He says what he has now hasn’t affected his happiness at all. Andy’s generally a content person and doesn’t focus on the negatives in his life, just trying to take things as they go.   Q7 — And when did you actually get that break that enabled you to get these great opportunities? In 1987, he had three-thousand dollars to his name, putting all that money into two race weekends with his team in an endurance race series. He was out of money by the end but was allowed to race for the rest of the season given his stellar performance. They ended up winning third in the championship and he received nine-thousand dollars in prize money, which he considers his first big break.   Q8 — To bet everything on one opportunity is incredibly tough, and for a lot of people it might not have worked out in their favor. Do you feel any gratitude for your success? Of course, he feels incredibly fortunate for his victories and is especially grateful for being able to quit his well-paying IT job and start his own IT consulting business while managing to race full time.   Q9 — You’ve said that America creates a land of opportunity and if you’re willing to work hard and make the necessary sacrifices, you can go a long way. Is that something you still believe in? It’s still true, Andy Pilgrim asserts, the land of opportunity he calls it. Never having even been in a race car until twenty-seven years old, he tells racers of all ages to never give up on their dreams.   Q10 — Is that what your foundation is about? Andy Pilgrims ’s foundation is a traffic safety education foundation built as a giveback to the community and inspired by his mother and godmother who were big on helping people. It’s a non-profit organization where he gives everything away for free and these days it’s where you’ll find him spending most of his time.

Host: Jai Shukla & Guest: Pierre Kaffer   Q1 — You’ve been in the game for almost 30 years. What do you wish you would have known when you started? Unaware of Formula 1 racing as a kid, Pierre Kaffer found himself attracted to go-karts. Only after his first kart race did he realize that racing was the one thing he wanted to do.   Q2 — How did you manage to get into the sport? In his hometown in Germany, he’d constantly see people driving go-karts on the local track. He finally asked his father if he could drive, luckily he obliged, and the rest is history.   Q3 — How did you cultivate the unique strengths that allowed you to become successful? Never planning on a career, he simply raced for the fun of it. Over time, he gradually got better, just taking it to step by step, race by race.   Q4 — Talk us through the journey of getting your first sponsorships. How did you take this sport from a hobby and into something serious? In the beginning, he just looked to local businesses to sponsor him. When he started racing Formula 3, the higher budgets meant he could get bigger sponsorships, one of which recruited him into their racing family, his first big career milestone.   Q5 — Where do you think your strength lies in comparison to other drivers? Pierre Kaffer isn’t just a driver, but someone who also understands the techniques of the cars he drives. He honed his skills as a race car mechanic for Zakspeed and took those skills to race, where he understood how to improve racing techniques from a mechanical standpoint.   Q6 — Even today, what would you say your weaknesses are? Even he’ll admit that impatience can sometimes get the best of him, chalking it up to his immense love and passion for the sport.   Q7 — Are you referring to more on the track or off the track? On the track, of course.   Q8 — Explain how all this translates into endurance races which you do more than others. His fondness for endurance racing comes from the multi-faceted approach needed to be successful. Aside from driving, a lot of calculation and off-track strategy is required to win, from fuel and tire conservation to the synergy of the entire team.    Q9 — What is a common myth that is related to racing? The team as a whole can sometimes be undervalued. You need to build up your team to have the best support and the best race car. If you have all the cogs training, working together, and trusting each other, it allows for the best possible outcome. It’s a cost-free tactic that gives him an edge in competition.   Q10 — Have there been any resources that you feel have helped you along this journey? A good handling of his team and being able to bring everything together is one of the biggest resources he has. At heart, he is a people person and he builds his team to be the most successful they can be.   Q11 — You drove on frozen lakes in the Swedish Laplands. Can you tell us what that was like and what it's all about? Pierre Kaffer was able to rent a frozen lake, from which he then organizes multiple races. There are high speeds, varying difficulties, and freezing temperatures. He gushes that it’s a lot of fun with a lot of great people.   Q12 — You said that life is a race. If Heaven does exist, what would you like to have God say to you at the end? Hopefully, God will put him among the other former racing drivers, including former great James Hunt, who he’d love to chat with. Maybe there will even be a race track up there so he can compete against the greats of all time.

Host: Jai Shukla & Guest: Iker Lecuona Q1 — You got started at a pretty young age. Can you talk us through your journey of how you began riding motorcycles? His father rode a bike his entire life, so Iker Lecuona wanted to try just for fun. It wasn’t long until the bug got the best of him.   Q2 — What made you want to turn your inspiration into a career? He started to train at nine years old, although it was still just a hobby. He decided to turn it into a career after receiving his first sponsorship.   Q3 — One of the quotes you have is “Never stop learning because life never stops teaching.” Where did you get that from or was that something that you came up with? Improvement is the top priority to Iker and he truly believes you should never stop reaching to be better.   Q4 — Unfortunately, crashing can be a big part of the sport. Can you talk us through some of the safety equipment you wear to prevent yourself from getting hurt? Your helmet, your leather, everything is important. With proper gear, you can focus completely on the race and not be distracted by your safety. You end up driving much better, for sure.   Q5 — Can you talk us through how you overcome an injury after a crash? Believe it or not, Iker Lecuona actually tries to do the area of the track he crashed on faster and harder the second time. If you harp on the crash and are afraid of the turn, your performance suffers. You have to go at it again with even more confidence.    Q6 — You manage to get sponsorship and work with team KTM. How did that opportunity come about? He still can’t believe it honestly. He admits that just getting better and better at racing led him to the team. He wants to stay with them since he loves being apart of the family and everyone on the team strives to improve together.   Q7 — Tell me what things about a team someone should look for? Or is it even possible to know before you start? The most important thing to Iker is that the team acts as a family. The more it acts like one, the more beneficial it is for the rider.    Q8 — With the knowledge, you have known, what advice would you give to yourself 10 years ago? You have to enjoy the sport. If you are happy on the bike, you’ll never be stopped from improving. Riding can be difficult, especially at the top level. If you don’t enjoy riding, you’ll never succeed.   Q9 — You had your first podium win last year. Talk us through how that affects your confidence, your racing, and how you want to race in the future? It was the best moment of his life. Since then, he assures us that he’s improved a ton and only looks to win a championship in the near future.   Q10 — You have a few decades ahead of you in racing. Looking ahead, how would you like to go out? When age kicks in enough to stop riding, Iker Lecuona wants to teach riding to young riders, teaching and inspiring them the way his teachers did for him.

Host: Jai Shukla & Guest: Darren Turner Q1 — Tell us about your driving experiences when you were a child. What got you into it and made you choose this as a career? Although obsessed with Formula 1 as a kid, it still took Darren Turner a solid year to convince his parents to let him drive even a go-kart. He’d drive the local track pretending he was a Grand Prix driver, not even realizing it was possible for a kid like him to become one. That realization became a reality years later after showing off his talent as a Formula 1 mechanic, leading to his first driving position. Q2 — At what point did you decide to actually turn it into a career? It wasn’t a decision really, but more of an opportunity. Attending a racing school and winning the final sort of secured the deal in his mind. After that, Darren did everything he could do find enough money to start racing full-time. Q3 — I know a lot of drivers mention luck and right place right time to get to where they are. You ended up a part of the GT Championship. Can you talk a little bit about that? Most drivers don’t really get to choose where they end up. I mean, everyone wants to get to Formula 1! Unfortunately, there are only so many opportunities, so you really just end up where those opportunities take you. Darren Turner admits feeling lucky to have ended up at Aston Martin in 2004 as a development driver. Q4 — You’ve had quite the career, winning Le Mans three times. Talk us through some of these wins. We had some hiccups between ‘05-’06, so in ‘07 our victory was glorious. The pressure and the challenge make the win that much more bittersweet.   Q5 — What makes a race mean the most to you? The most special are the ones where you can look at your own individual performance and know you did great. Normally it’s a collective performance that gives you the win, but it’s knowing that I did the best of my abilities during a race that carries the most weight. Every driver is looking for perfection!   Q6 — What’s your take on having that mindset of self-improvement, trying to be that person you want to be in the car? Your development as a human is ongoing and if you rest on your laurels you’ve basically given up! He’s coming up on 20 years racing, and seeing the new generation of drivers coming up helps him learn to brand new things. The new generation’s techniques and approach is different, and while he’s always trying to improve on his own, having that fresh impetus definitely helps him evolve and stay sharp.   Q7 — What are some examples of things the new generation has brought to the sport? They’ve raced with different manufacturers, so they bring lots of technical expertise to the table. They see things in a different way and drive with different techniques from previous generations. If one of these techniques cuts one-tenth of a second per lap, in a Le Mans race that adds up!   Q8 — Can you talk us through some of the changes in your perspective about racing over the decades in your career? Honestly, not that much has changed. The motivation is still there -- he’s hungry for performance and hungry for results. Of course, some things have changed — he’s got a family now — so naturally, the motivation is a little different than before. But he swears he’s just as driven as he’s ever been. You can’t take that out of the driver!   Q9 — What would you say to someone who’s starting up and hasn’t understood the balance of on-track versus off-track? Number one is that you’ve got to understand that everyone on your team is on a journey as well. If you’ve got a lot of attitudes, you’ll have to purely rely on what you do on the race track, which will only go so far. You’ve got to get the balance right and put the effort into remembering that everyone is with you, but on their own journey as well.   Q10 — What would you have done if you hadn’t chosen racing? One hundred percent he’d still be involved in motorsports, but if he had to choose a profession that doesn’t involve engines and burnt rubber, then it would be something that lets him travel the world. He’s had so many great experiences traveling in motorsport that in hindsight he couldn’t choose anything else. He also has a love for yachts, so maybe he’d be sailing around the world in a boat.   Q11 — What do you see for the remaining of your career? If he had to quit right now, he’s already done more than he ever could have dreamed as a kid. There are a few more years left at Aston Martin, though, and he’s doing more projects on the road car side. However, he still wants to continue driving until someone forces him to stop!   Q12 — A lot of people I’ve spoken to have transitioned into teaching or coaching. Is this something you’re at all interested in? There are a few drivers he’s been coaching at Aston Martin, but he stays humble about it. Darren Turner admits he can be a bit too demanding and impatient sometimes, but his experience more than makes up for the few imperfections.

Podcast with Host: Jai Shukla & Guest: Dominique Aegerter Q1 - When did you first get into racing and get on your first bike? Dominique Aegerter started at 3 years old. he usually rides in front of his parent’s workshop in Switzerland. Domi's first race with Motor Cross was the start in his career.   Q2 - How did you manage to secure your first sponsors and the get funding that you required joining and racing? His parents always supported him by coming to his training and races. It wasn't easy to find a sponsor but Dominique Aegerter father helped him in finding some sponsors towards his career.   Q3 - In the Portuguese Grand Prix - how did that opportunity manage to get secured by yourself? At 13 he changed from Motor Cross to Road Racing. In the German Championship, Dominique Aegerter came 2nd. One team from the championship saw his riding - He got access to the Grand Prix.   Q4 - What are some hurdles you overcame? As a Swish Rider, the journey may be difficult to be a professional rider. There's no race track as yet for training and to develop your riding style. From the federation, you don't tend to get a lot of help. You need to be strong mentally - to have supportive parents and sponsors.   Q5 - Were your parents ever afraid that you would be in a risky situation or were they always supportive? My father was always pushing me in a positive way and my mother, on the other hand, is always fearful but always supporting me. My brother always lends a helping hand.   Q6 - What is it like at the moment you realize you're about to crash? When the tire starts to slide, you try to save the slide. When you eventually crash, you move your arms to your chest.   Q7 - Are you taught those skills of what to do in a crash? You train psychically and mentally to get fit so that you are fully concentrated if any crashing takes place; you will be able to manage better.   Q8 - What is your mindset towards a crash? I'm not afraid to crash because I ride in a safety track and I'm trained. I wear an air pack system that effective in helping me prepare for crashes.   Q9 - How has your career changed over the last decade and also in the industry? Every year there has been a lot of progress. I ride different bikes from different companies. 2013-2014 were my best seasons.   Q10 - What are the things you work on for training and to be able to concentrate? I do a lot of Cycling, Running, Gym - I also do Motor Cross.   Q11 - What about Simulations? You have to prepare yourself mentally when you’re on the track.   Q12 - On the day of the race, what do you do to prepare for it? In the morning, eat breakfast, get warm-up at tracks. I stay focus when I'm changing in my room, then do a little more warm-up.   Q13 - Is that when you play out the simulations in your head? I mostly think about what I will do in the race.   Q14 - What are some of the roles your teammates play while you're on the track - how do they influence the way you race on track? We prepare everything before the race. We can see the billboard when we reach the Start/Finish line. When we cross the finish line the number of laps, gaps, how many riders behind you on the Billboard.   Q15 - How has your experience changed the way you tackle a race? It's much easier when you start in the front row. I'm learning each race and this helps me to improve myself to be better. There are factors you need to do to be able to be in the lead.   Q16 - Throughout this journey - where do you find that source of guidance from? I learn every race and try to get help from persons, also mentors. I also try to learn by myself and from teammates. I take the information and see what works best for me.   Q17 - How many times do you watch back your own race? Most of the times, for example, I watch last year race to know which lap time and position. Normally after that race, I watch the race of this season.   Q18 - The whole mental training aspect - tell us more about that? I go to the track to prepare myself in my approach towards riding. I try to be as close as possible to my last race lap time.   Q19 - You say you have a trainer - what things do you go through with them? I train one time per week with my psychical trainer. He gives me the training plan of what to do in the rest of the week. The mental training is carried out one time per month.   Q20 - From your mental training session with your trainer, what are you taught to improve for next time? Can you share something so that the audience can apply something that you have learned in your sessions where you're getting trained mentally? It helps to always stay positive and be you. The training session helps to motivate push you into working harder.   Q21 - You took a trip to Brazil - what was that like? I went to Brazil to visit and sightseeing. It was a great experience.   Q22 - What message would you like to leave the fans who are listening? Enjoy what you do and try your best.

Podcast with Host: Jai Shukla & Guest: Anthony Peacock Q1 — How did you get started into this world of PR? It was actually an accident. Starting as a journalist writing primarily about motorsport, he found himself being asked by drivers about how to get more media exposure. After noticing his suggestions were quite well-liked, he decided to make a career out of it, gradually moving from journalism to PR. He believes that to truly understand PR you have to be a journalist yourself because you can’t answer to what journalists want without knowing exactly what those things are. Q2 — While journalists are attempting to uncover the truth, PR is about fluffing up the truth. Is that a statement you agree with? Absolutely. In journalism, you tend to get better results from being as honest as you can. The job of PR isn’t necessarily about trying to persuade people, but to present the evidence in a way to allow the audience to make up their own mind. PR people are very sensitive to criticism, but you just have to accept that. If the thing is bad, people have every right to say it is. If it’s good then hopefully people will say it’s good. If there’s one thing missing from PR it’s a higher level of honesty. Q3 — How often do journalists end up finding the truth? About ninety-five percent of the time. It’s generally a bad idea to cover something up because you’ll look like an idiot when it inevitably gets found out! Q4 — Have you ever attempted to cover something up only to learn a valuable lesson or was it your principles in journalism that made it seem unnecessary to even attempt it, knowing the ease of being able to find out the truth in the first place? He succinctly admits that even if it’s negative, he’d never even bother to try to hide it. Q5 — How do you work your magic to present the truth in a relatable way and have people feel positive about it? An emphasis on the positives works great. You can exclude the negatives as long as you’re not pretending things are different than what they really are. In the digital age of Twitter, any cover-up will be uncovered by someone just on their mobile phone! It used to be a lot easier to keep secrets than it is now. Q6 — How do you feel that’s impacted the way you’re able to do your job? Honestly, it hasn’t really impacted his career much at all. Again, If you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear. Q7 — Tell us about what you’re working on right now and what ongoing projects you’re involved in. Currently, Anthony Peacock is working with Pirelli and Formula 1, he just finished up at a rally in Portugal, and will soon be headed to the Canadian Grand Prix, supporting the in-house Pirelli media office. He’s branching out from motorsport as well, starting his own catering company. Even he admits pizza is about as far from motorsport as you can get. No two days are typical, though, an average day usually split into small chunks involving many different projects, some short-term, some long-term. Q8 — How did people think you even had the skillset to do PR coming from the journalism side? Anthony Peacock stays humble and isn’t even quite sure himself. He chalks it up to putting himself out there, making connections with enough people who could vouch for him, and having enough experience that they believed his opinion was worth having. Q9 — It takes a lot of time and effort to start a business. What was it like going from a one-man role to building up a whole team in your own company? It was a slow build. His team of five people happened gradually, starting from just his lonesome to adding people one by one. If you get too big too quickly, you’ll no longer be able to relate to your clients. Q10 — You started the business when the need for your services was already in place. That seems to be the right way to start a business. It grew organically with, honestly, not even much of a plan. Even Anthony Peacock acknowledges he’s not the best person to be able to sit down and write a business plan. The way the business grew was organic, not forced or contrived. Q11 — What characteristics did you look for when looking for your right-hand man? Skillsets are one thing, but the mindset is another. It can be difficult to find someone who’s willing to put the long, anti-social hours which come with the motorsport territory. Most people would prefer they spend their weekend nights with their friends and family or drinking at the pub, not writing press releases. The best person for the job is someone who can put in the hours and make the sacrifices. Motorsport PR isn’t just sipping champagne on the tracks. It’s hard work! Q12 — I think the biggest myth of PR is that you’ll simply be enjoying the journey of interacting with people that you would already love to interact with, when, really, it’s a lot of long, hard hours. I mean it’s both, really. For example, you can get to interact with racing drivers in exotic locations and that’s part of the appeal, but it’d be a mistake to think it’s just that. No one discusses the daily grind! But the people who love it wouldn’t rather be anywhere else. Q13 — What can people do to increase their reach in motorsport? In terms of drivers, it’s being available and proactive. Even the best drivers need to be marketable and provide journalists and their PR agencies with interesting stories to tell about themselves. A lot of drivers are young kids and they just don’t think about what makes a good story and how to sell themselves. They’re focused solely on driving the car quickly. The truth is, a lot of people can drive a car quickly, but not many can drive a car quickly and be marketable at the same time. It doesn’t have to be complicated. Something as simple as uploading some photos from a recent rock-climbing trip to social media can suffice. It all helps. At the end of the day, a motorsport career is about sponsorship, and if they don’t know who you are or what you’re about, you’re shooting yourself in the foot. Q14 — You’ve worked with many people within the last decade, if not longer. Do you have any interesting stories and anecdotes you’d like to share with the audience? He’s reluctant to share any stories, mostly involving drivers acting silly and immaturely, including an incident involving a driver and a hotel fire extinguisher, and a well-known driver attempting to fit himself inside an airport x-ray machine! He’d love to tell a few stories but rather prefers to err on the side of discretion. It’s a family show, Anthony Peacock says. However, he’s quick to point out that he’s worked with many great people who don’t participate in this kind of behavior. Q15 — Social media has changed the way we interact. What do you think the future holds in terms of communication? There will likely be less and less of a role for traditional PR. People will be doing more things for themselves, likely even running their own campaigns. PR might transition into more of a guiding role, with drivers doing more of their own groundwork. More things will happen in real-time. People don’t want to wait for news anymore. This means having to be up at 3 am to deliver live coverage of a news story if need be. Later than live is too late these days. A digital world also means it’s harder to cover-up any sinful activities. People will need to constantly be on their best behavior! Q16 — How does the PR world for motorsport vary compared to other industries? For example, in Formula 1 racing you’re dealing with big sums of money, so any consequence of a wrong decision can be costly. Because of this, people will naturally be more sensitive and aware of anything that could cause a mishap or mistake. But he’d say the guiding principles are still largely the same. Q17 — What is something you believe that is one-hundred percent right that not everyone agrees with? Many colleagues say you should persuade a journalist or spin a story in a particular way. Having been a journalist, Anthony Peacock believes that this is just counter-productive behavior. If you badger a journalist, you’ll only get on his bad side and that could easily come back to bite you in the behind!

Podcast with Host: Jai Shukla & Guest: Adderly Fong Q1 - What has it been like being a racing driver in Hong Kong, what sort of opportunities is out there? Adderly Fong started when it was quite a new sport which wasn't well known. Race Driving has its differences and can be difficult. The internet (Social Media Platforms) wasn't popular at that time when Adderly started out as a Race Driver. The first racing pictures Adderly Fong put on his Instagram Account were a couple of years in his racing career which was good in a sense.   Q2 - How has the attraction been back then comparing to now when you are still using social media?  You get to reach out to a lot more people but mostly in China. China has a different type of social media - its apps. I can use both social media (Instagram, Facebook) and other programs for the Chinese media.   Q3 - What sort of Pros and Cons are there for both platforms in terms of exposure? Do you get more of one compared to the other? Is it a little bit different in terms of the number of people that you can reach as well? What sort of variance is there in terms of that as well? Do you feel like other people who may be looking for racing opportunities in that region should also be using these platforms? It's an effective way to reach a lot of people and in China more specifically. Last 3 to 4 years I've seen a lot of fan following. I have done a lot of racing in Asia which also helps to boost my fan following. In China your whole life is based around the cell phone; one app takes care of social media stuff. You can do basically anything on 1 and 2 of these apps. Older generations use the mobile phone while being a lot more involved - in the USA.    Q4 - In some senses, less competition - is that true to say?  Yes, because of the new market European and American talent participating in these different championships. Asia's got a lot of tracks and also China. At the moment China has over 300 Applications for race tracks all around the country. Newly establish venues will allow new races and open up new markets.   Q5 - In Hong Kong, if I was a racer who wanted to get into racing, what sort of opportunities are there now and how would I go about it? There' no definite answer to that question. Every motorsports driver starts from a different place and meets different people along the way. You have to treat everyone good because you never know who may help you along the way. When I started racing in Asia at age 16, nobody knew who I was. But I build up my name there for 2 years and then building up my craft in Europe. It's all about building up old relationships because I met these persons again which gave me a lot of opportunities. You have to have a respectful approach towards persons along your racing journey which can lead to more opportunities. The Cons of being in Hong Kong is that if you go to a meeting in Beijing or Shanghai, they classify you as a person from a different country. They could sponsor us because we're Chinese also but on the opposite side, we're from Hong Kong.   Q6 - How do you get over that, what do you do and say to them to still kind of fight your case? Is there a way to win that obstruction that they're trying to throw at you? People believe Hong Kong is an individual country itself and that we're different sort of people and that we're part of China. We and Chinese people all eat the same food and look similar. I'm trying to convince them that I'm learning as well. I'm trying to learn different ways of how Beijing and Shanghai people act.    Q7 - What is their primary reason for keeping it so exclusive in some sense?  I think it's more of a tradition thing. People don't understand the outreach that this sport can connect to. Racing in China is quite a new concept. In such a huge population it's still a very small percentage.    Q8 - How did you find the Zun Motor Sport Crew, how did you get involved with them? It was the beginning of last year; I'm a friend with most of the Hong Kong race drivers. If we have any opportunities we tend to pass these responsibilities elsewhere to other drivers. In China, there's a race called CTCC (China Touring Car Championship). I got involve with this crew through another Hong Kong Driver. He had competed in this championship. I was one of only 2 who has never been in this championship.   Q9 - You did a 700 Kilometer race - what was that like and how did you get into that? Talk us through some of the stages of it?  When I started racing in 2015, through that racing we pick up a lot of experience. We learn how to put on seat belts, change drivers quickly, etc. We have something called the Pit Stop Time, which allows the driver to refill the car, change the driver, change tires in a safe but also a quick time without rushing. All these things were quite a different experience for me.   Q10 - So you are teaching them a lot more than what they're teaching you in that sense? We're helping them to build as a new team and also helping to teach them safety principles.    Q11 - A race that long, what kind of experiences in term of when you initially start? Are you a lot like in the zone, excited? What goes through your head 300 kilometers compared to the end? Most drivers go into the first lap and the first corner thinking you can't win the race in the first lap - there's more to lose there than to win. At the beginning of the race, you have quite a good lead into the first corner. For me, it was quite easy to maintain the lead.   Q12 - What kind of things do you do to build up that concentration and to be able to focus on driving so long?  Motorsport is like any other sport- the more you do it, the more you practice the closer to perfect your driving skill becomes.   Q13 - How do you secure some of these things and getting an opportunity in Europe?  I first started at age 16 at a race against time. Kids in Europe start at age 3-6. By the time they reach age 16, they have 10 years of racing experience. At age 16-18 there was learn as quickly as you can in Asia and then see if you can go and race in Europe and do schooling at the same time. I was going to University, so I stay and race in the UK. On a budget, I still had the support of my father. The 3rd year I ever race my results weren't great so finding sponsorship was very difficult. We found a really cheap car and got an engine lease and then open a private company. We try to run a race team, getting few of the guys to race in Germany. After that opportunities came. I met people in Hong Kong which wanted to support me in my pursuit in formula one. I met a manager in Italy who was looking for a 3rd driver. I took the opportunity and find the right people.   Q14 - Where do you now place your dreams and where do you hope to compete more and see yourself in the next 5 years or so?  When Adderly was doing formula stuff, it’s taken him into the US. Formula 1 is where he wants to continue. The ultimate goal for Adderly Fong is never growing 24 hours, to be able to win that race.   Q15 - Where has your sense of direction come from- have you have a mentor through all of this? How did you make these decisions? I've gotten these opportunities; I'm going to take it. How did you navigate through this path that is clearly not a straight forward one? Adderly Fong received lots of advice from family and friends. It's up to you to take yourself where you want to go. It wasn't a really happy environment for him because it was competitive.    Q16 - What advice do you have for people who are looking for sponsors, especially those starting out maybe in Hong Kong? Build up your connections and try to meet more new people. Down the line, you might meet a sponsor or race, team owner. You might use this connection later on to set a business deal for them. You can get a sponsorship and use this to raise funds for new gear, cars to go racing. You have to do your research and also ask questions.   Q17 - What's been one of your biggest lessons that you like to share throughout racing? The biggest lesson is to never give up. When Adderly Fong first started he was crashing every weekend. A lot of times he would question his ability and even ask himself if it's worth continuing. If you don't crash you don't know where the limit is, so push hard and when you find the limit, try to not make the same mistake twice. Apply that to life which has helped him out in racing.   Q18 - What experiences allowed you to have this mindset in the first place? Adderly Fong's parents gave him a lot of freedom when he was growing up. Adderly had the chance to try a lot of things. They have been given the mindset, Try first you never know what you're going to find. Adderly Fong had a mental coach that had to help him to build up confidence, self-esteem. She even taught him visualization.

Podcast with Host: Jai Shukla & Guest: Oswaldo Negri Jr Q1 - What got you into motorsport? On Sundays, Oswaldo Negri used to wake up at 7 am because there was a Go-kart race on TV. When Oswaldo was 8 that's when he realizes that is what he wanted to do and he told his dad about it. His parents had opposed him doing it because they stated that it was too expensive. Oswaldo Negri 's dad told him, that he could race one day if he's going to win the lottery. Oswaldo told him "I'm going to pray right now". Two weeks later my dad won the lottery.   Q2 - What God are you praying to, how did that work out? Oswaldo Negri just prayed. My Parents and Grandparents taught him how to pray as a kid.   Q3 - How would you like to be remembered? I would like to be remembered as someone who gave everything he could in everything he did as an honest guy. It doesn't matter what if you're allocating the time for it. As I can do something the best of my ability and be happy with my performance, that's the main thing, especially on the racing side. With Motor Racing business, you don't know who you're going to meet, so you have to keep your doors open.   Q4 - What will you say to people who are trying to still achieve what you are doing and have the work ethic that you have? I didn't give up. I went to England to try to be in Formula 1. I raced British Formula 3 in the early 90s. In the end, when I was close to approaching Formula 1, something happened that blocked that road. I thought all my dreams and my hard work it's all gone. In my opinion, it was probably not meant for me to be in F1. My story was here in the US. I thought I would never be happy. I was even depressed. At age 55 I'm still racing. You have to have options - sometimes doors close but a better one is going to open. Persons need to be ready for opportunities. When you approach these opportunities while enjoying yourself you perform well in whatever you're doing.   Q5 - What’s your motto in life? Balance of everything basically - the balance of my professional career and family. I do a lot of coaching. You have to find all the positive stuff that happens daily in your life.    Q6 - What is the most thrilling event you've ever participated in or potentially won? The biggest race that I won was Daytona in 2012. We won the race and it's hard to explain how much it takes to do it physically and mentally. That's one thing I won't forget, that feeling. After you taste something as good as that you go to a different level and that's what you will look for while on track.   Q7 - Who and what inspires you? I grew up in Brazil. It’s a great country, but it was going through a really rough time and there were only 2 idols at that time and every kid wanted to be one of them, Pele and Ronaldinho. I would love to hear Ronaldinho’s story.    Q8 - How has your definition of beauty changed over time? I don't think it changes, because you try to see the beauty in everything. I look at things positively, beautiful career, family and friends.   Q9 - You mentioned reading as part of your hobbies - is that something you still have time for? I used to do a lot more than I do now. I enjoy watching series that are not Fiction. I have a couple of books that I love reading, one of them I read every year.    Q10 - When you see your career almost coming to an end if you’re still being called into a new contract that's keeping you driving? As long as I'm enjoying it, I'll still continue. Just before I connected with you I was doing a powerpoint with driving notes. I was doing everything with very small details. I try to get as many details as possible, so when I arrive at a track I can get going as quickly as possible.    Q11 - In terms of your plan for when you do actually retire, what do you see the shift being in terms of your attention for time? I like to be involved in motor racing on the management side and have worked with many drivers. I had worked with a young American driver, Darren King. I took him to England a few times to test British Formula 3. I enjoy passing on to him what I know so we can cut his learning curve and help him. Throughout my career, I learned from my mistakes. I enjoy passing on to persons what I know from this career. My nephew started racing in Brazil at age 9, that’s actually the age I had also started racing. I went there 2 weeks ago to help him in one of the races; the whole family was there to support my nephew.   Q12 - Did you actually give either of these guys (Nephew and Darren King) the ultimate prayer for winning everything? If they win I feel like a winner also. When they do well I cheer and get extremely happy. That feeling is the same when I win a race and that's a very satisfying thing.

Host: Jai Shukla & Guest: Xavier Maassen Q1 – Tell us about your journey into motorsport? Xavier Maassen started when he was 15, for 3 years in karting and then after that, he went to Formula Ford. Xavier went to Silverstone to train just before that, and this was really helpful for the basics of racing. There on, went onto Formula Ford. The Winter series was where we started off and did 4 races in England. Q2 – How did you get those opportunities and what are the main differences between karting and cars? The dad of Xavier Maassen was into racing and he did his first race, and then it just snowballed. His dad told him to get sponsors, Xavier Maassen had to ask his uncle then. They managed to get sponsors from there. His dad was commercially responsible and had the time to assist him. Q3 – How did you shake off the nerves you had from first dealing with sponsors to now? You get used to it. The first time is always the hardest. It’s still thrilling but it’s cool. Finding the main sponsors.   Q4 What is a good deal with a sponsor? Lots of money. The bigger the deal, the better it is. A driver needs to get value for the sponsor. Relationship marketing is a big deal with sponsors. Showing VIP’s is a part of it. It’s a cost for catering and other things but it’s about how can you get it done. The value you create has to be higher. Q5 – Did you bring on the sponsors through your dad or was it a personal effort? In the beginning, it was for sure as Xavier Maassen was still studying in International relations. It was a backup plan and sports sponsorship was my thesis. Xavier's uncle, his dad’s relations, his dad’s sponsorship’s as well. At the start, it was 70:30 between him and Xavier Maassen. But after he graduated, he took it all in fully. Q6 – You’ve become a consciousness coach and a trainer as well – how did you get started? As a race driver, you want to be better than others. Physically and mentally. One of the owners of the gym where Xavier Maassen worked out, he came back from Africa after a 4-day course, he inspired him to do it too. Then he realized what he wanted from life. He was so enthusiastic that he started it up in the Netherlands – and Xavier wanted to make myself better at it. Xavier Maassen then ended up doing all the training, learned a lot about myself as a driver and person. Then did the training program, and qualified. He wants to do what he does properly. Xavier was really just interested in the self-development of the program. Then he realized, he wanted to help others achieve their dreams and got more involved. So now that Xavier Maassen is accredited, it’s amazing. Mixing consciousness and what Xavier has learned from racing. He combines those as a keynote speaker. It’s about the background of how he got there, the choices where Xavier had fears in my life if he was going to make it. Stuff that people want to listen to. The motorsport makes the stories he shares more interesting. Q7 – When did you first realize you wanted to be a trainer? When Xavier Maassen started, it was just about doing it for myself. And over time, he realized it would be great to help others feel what he feel too. Q8 – The irony of delusion is that you don’t believe you have blinders on and that you are not deluded – so you think you are the best decisions you know-how. How do you get them to see the real truth when they don’t know that they can benefit from opening their eyes? Yes, we all have blind spots. And it’s about the right questions --- to dig deeper into what you know and look. What would you do without any fear? Q9 – The same question can reveal new truths at different stages of life – so how do you get people to think they know the answer? It’s a matter of digging as you said. Connecting to them, feeling what they are saying and not saying – you can go deeper with them and get results which they didn’t even expect. Q10 – Can you give an example of something you discovered about yourself that you discovered which you didn’t know was there? When I was young, I had an older sister with a heart condition, they went to the hospital to see her – I was 8 when she finally passed away. What I learned from the situation when I went to school – I was with the neighbors, uncle and aunt, grandparents but unconsciously – my parents are choosing her over me. As an 8-year-old it wasn’t obvious that I was doing this and didn’t make sense to me. So what happens, you have 2 options, everything I do doesn’t matter so and be a rebel or be someone who tries to get attention, and proves you are worth the attention. This meant I did well in school, became a great racer. So in the past when I lost, I was pissed off for 2 weeks, it wasn’t the race, it was an attack on myself for not being good enough. Q11 – As you’ve learned these things – maybe your aims have changed? This was a huge self-discovery, and becoming conscious. The lesson was, I know I’ve done everything in my power, I’m not going to be sick anymore for 2 weeks. As a sportsman, I want to win, but the development and training have helped me be a better person. Q12 – What kind of stuff did you do when you were an asshole? Not being out the house, being grumpy. Throughout the training, everyone has a core drama, I’m not good enough to be loved, I’m not worth it. For example, if I have a fight with my wife, I still feel I’m not worth it, but now I see it. Q13 – How has your definition of success changed over time? If I have that sponsor then I will be happy. This was something that really drove me before. Success is different. Being able to do what I love most is something I consider. The proportions of the races you win are only 13-15% of the time. Then you are successful in motorsport. I was always trying to go for more and now I’m happy for what is. Q14 – What sort of myth, as someone successful yourself, can you help to debunk about success? I struggle with it, I want to possess a porch on my driveway. I believe in the power of aiming for a goal, go beyond what is possible for yourself. It’s finding a balance between always charging ahead while being happy with what is. Q15 – There is an extension for the goal? Simon Sinek’s video of finding you why was really helpful. My bigger why is ‘sharing my passion for motorsports’ with other people. And the other way is that I want to show people you can live your dreams. Q16 – Was that why you transitioned to GT? I wanted to set out for Formula 1 – but in 2007 I drove the World Series for Renault. When I saw the sponsorship you need, and knowing I wasn’t the top 20 in the world, so I loved the endurance race. In a sprint race, you have to switch off and just go, endurance is more analytical which matched my skill set more. Q17 – Was is it like to teach others? 35 entrepreneurs came where I had the opportunity to teach them and they wanted to enjoy a day of driving porches’ and just being a child on the track. Some others who I coach that come to really get better as it’s not their first time, I try and help them be better, it’s about sharing that same passion. Surrounded by people who also share it, you’re at Silverstone, it’s just a great experience. I get paid, and they enjoy themselves, they go away with a big smile. Q18 – What message would you like to leave others about how they can achieve their dreams? I have a video of me doing a James Bond dive off the cliff. It’s about getting over the fears that don’t exist. And taking fear under your arm.

Podcast with Host: Jai Shukla & Guest: Jeff Segal Q1 – How did you manage to get into racing since 2001? Jeff Segal grew up around cars as his dad had a passion for the auto industry. Growing up watching racing on TV, he tried to kick down the barriers of convincing parents. Q2 – What sort of barriers did you have? Convincing his mum isn’t the worst thing in the world. And as a kid, it’s one of the worst hobbies you can have according to a mum! They got Jeff Segal a backyard go-kart but he was in 125cc kart – this was way over his head and hard to handle. It was sink or swim. Jeff is still in touch with the guy that got he into the kart and asked him what he was thinking. And his response was ‘You didn’t die, and things worked out well!’ I got into the cars by the time I was 15, 16. Q3 – How did you go from a kart to cars? It was like a video game to Jeff Segal, the transition wasn’t hard and learned manual racing. It was a steep learning curve. Driving cars that he really didn’t know how to but it has been sink or swim for most of my life and fortunately, things have worked out. Q4 – How did you manage to get sponsorship and people to give you those opportunities to sink or swim? Right place at the right time. One of his team-mates moved onto GT, left and he managed to get Jeff the opportunity. And more and more just transitioned from there as they performed well. Q5 – People see champagne in your face but what’s the reality that people don’t see? The hard work is done away from the race. The race is just the last part of the entire thing. Finding the right people, the right drivers, the commercial backing. Jeff Segal managed to have a long and successful relationship with Ferrari and won some of the biggest races with. It took a lot to prove that the programs they had a worth supporting and gaining their trust to be able to compete at the highest level. But once you do it once, the barriers fall down and it gets easier and easier. Once you have some success, it’s easier to market yourself to other teams and be a part of that effort. It takes a lot to set it up. But it’s not that if you haven’t prepared you can’t win as you can always have a fortune but in reality, all the work is done away from the track   Q6 – What is the % of the on-track vs off track? I’d say 10%. Some high-level people just turn up and drive and that works for them but for me, it’s never been like that. I have to put in the work. I like to be actively involved, I like to know everything about the, team, the car, and the opportunities. And this really puts you in a great situation for the races. Q7 – Being a private coach for Ferarri and sustain this – how did you manage that? Better luck than good – is a saying. When I worked with Ferrari clients who want to learn how to drive who have no experience – they want to drive the cars and decide they want to become serious. Some go to GT3, and there is an eco-system which is easy to be a part of, with the dealers and the more relationships you create within the brand – the better it gets. Q8 – People have said great things about your characters – how did you manage to create this reputation very well? Probably owing to the traditional route. I have had to work harder as I didn’t have the long resume people normally have so had to prove myself. I have to understand the off-track components and tried to be upfront, transparent, but having a work ethic that is not just arriving empty-handed. Getting things done and being an active experience.   Q9 – How did you start a company for a driving simulation called GPX lab? Jeff Segal used to play video games and had a passion. But in FIA I had an experience in 2014, which was a race on the other side of the world, where I had never competed, and showed up blind for practice and had to share the car with 2 other drivers. You have minimal practice time, which is fair. Some other guys were up to speed straight away whereas I was still finding my feet. And after speaking to them, they said we used a simulator in Europe. It’s more readily available in Europe and the feedback is great compared to that in the US. So when I had a selfish necessity to use it and realized it wasn’t available in the market, I teamed up with some people in the UK. Purchased a simulator and we have a technical relationship with them too. And now we have found our own feet, added our own car models and things of that nature because I think simulations are needed for drivers. If you look at F1, Indycar and top-level racing – the big factory teams are preparing on a simulator and it’s really helpful. So if it’s helpful for them, it would surely be helpful for other people. Especially for a gentlemen driver and amateur drivers.  So it’s for people who need that time learning. Q10 – What is the biggest difference between a simulator and the real thing and how much of a difference does it make? The biggest difference is that there are no consequences for crashing. People don’t like to admit this but it’s true and highly affects the way people drive. It changes your philosophy. And what we try and push very hard on people coming to train is that what you put in, is what you will get out. You have to treat this like a real track. It’s okay if you crash, but it’s weird being in a simulator but if you are crashing 10 times in the 1st 5 laps it’s very unlikely that you would drive like that. I have a lot of clients that use it. Using the reference lap for data, and look at the gears, where are people braking – and emulate a driving style starts to work. You get to learn other people’s lines and learn from them. See what works. This was extremely helpful. You don’t feel like you are on a new track. You know what you need to do when you get in the car. Q11 – How are you spreading your time with so many things? June is typically crazy but I like to be busy. Le Mans is a major race. Being surrounded by good people – other teams, good coaches. There are quite times too so during that time you do your homework and prepare. Q12 – How can you help others to get to where you are today? Have goals – not just long term goals. What are you looking to do and why are you trying to get there. These are things you have to question about yourself. I wanted to compete at Le Mans – it wasn’t something I stumbled into. I took decisions that helped me get there each step of the way. You are trying to finish well but you interact with the right people to be able to do that. The co-drivers, the teams, the manufacturers, the sponsors and if the opportunities arise – take them. You have to have a plan and then execute on them. That doesn’t mean it will always work out, but it’s about giving yourself the best chance. Q13 – Discipline – how do you get it? This is a big thing about the simulators that I see all the time. So many talented drivers. But you see their work ethic in a quick snapshot when they drive on the simulators. They struggle – they give up straight away. And it’s really important in the industry where so many people want the spot you want, that you have to put in the work. Especially when people are prepared to pay for a spot that you want to be paid for. This makes it a very cut-throat industry. And it means that you have to be critical about many aspects to be able to improve. And it boils down to how badly you want it. If you are willing to make the sacrifices, and not go out, the lifestyle choices, partying with your friends. All these things feed it. And there are plenty of drivers that don’t have the dedication but still got it all and there are those who try really hard and still don’t have it. So that says that if you try you may not get anything. But if you don’t try are guaranteed to not get anything.  

Podcast with Host: Jai Shukla & Guest: Spencer Pumpelly Q1 – Put all the things in your life – in order? Being a husband and father obviously, that has to be no. 1. No. 2 has to be a racing driver but it doesn’t really define all aspects about me. No. 3 – a runner, athlete. Spencer Pumpelly competes in the 10k and 5ks locally. 2-3 times a week. 60,000 people racing right near my house in Atlanta. His helicopter license doesn’t happen often but Spencer Pumpelly loves it too. Q2 – You grew up watching your father race – how did that affect you? My mum and dad both supported me. My dad took me to the tracks when I was young and when I saw him in the late 80s, where he did the whole championships. He told me not to do it but the 90s was a time where people were still dying from it. Q3 – You started in 1996 – so it’s been over 20 years how have things changed? The car was loud, bumpy – and when you get into the kart – it makes noises, laying down in it, and helmet on its different. 3 days of training were over – but Skip harbor was where I tried to make my first steps.   Q4 How does your vegan diet get affected by being on the road and in different places? My favorite track in Virginia – there aren’t many options there. But some places don’t have much. But you go to the same places to race so you know all the places and have 4 nights with 20 different places to choose from. So you don’t really have to worry. A Couple of months later it’s easier. My dad had heart issues – so it’s something I wanted to live better and think about my health. My cholesterol has come down by 100 points. Q5 – How do you still fill the role of being a father and husband while being away on the road so much? Spencer Pumpelly lives in Atlanta which is awesome as its pretty close. For the most part, his trips are only 3-4 days and direct flights. 2-3 weeks stints I try and reduce it. Q6 – How many holidays do you squeeze in? A couple of months of downtime – which is awesome during winter. If you can secure the next year’s stuff then you are sorted. Q7 – You are coaching too – is that helping you become a better driver? Teaching for me in Skip harbor has taught me a lot more about driving than learning. Teaching concepts you have in your own head while you are speaking to people who have never done it before, you get challenged. First few times you get asked you to make up and answer and then you realize you don’t understand the answer. You therefore try and find a solution to that to ensure you have a better understanding and can answer it properly. Racing to be is like problem-solving and whatever it maybe – you have to understand these concepts better. It’s improved my weekends. Driving is a small part of racing and it helps with many parts to it.   Q8 – What do you do to stay at your best? It changes every week. Sebring – our test day, we had to take a worse line because we had to avoid the bumps – This challenge won’t be used to again. It’s my team is when I’ve won. Q9 – What are the aspects to driving people don’t know? Only the driver feels what it’s like to be in the cockpit. People don’t get a sense of what’s going on inside. Getting the car to comply – the guy who wins – is when you have the best cars. Some days it’s about keeping the car on the track – when it’s trying to kill you. You got to have good people with you to make it happen on the day and work out smoothly on the track. Q10 – What’s going through your head when racing? The car you know very early if it’s on your side. There is big-picture vs small picture. The small picture is things like how am I going to go round this corner and stay on the track – and the big picture is how long do I have left vs how much do my tires still have left in them. The strategy is about other’s positions – tactically what is important right now? T Q11 – You’ve had a lot of victories – what are memorable moments? I won Daytona in 2006 that was amazing as I saw my dad driving there. Heartbreak, when you think, could have would have, should have. The take away is that you will always have challenges that you don’t expect and having people you can rely on – whether that’s co-drivers, managers, strategists, engineers, the crew guys, that can fix something that has never broken before, they come down to the pit road and they fix it without you losing any more than a few seconds – having those types of people is very valuable. Q12 – When did you start playing the guitar? When I was really young and my wife – told me to get a real guitar. When my son got older, we played ACDC, guns, and roses. At the age of 3.5 years old! We put a couple of songs together. With a little amp – and started playing and then started a little band. At 6.5 years old now – he’s got even cooler things to do.

Podcast with Host: Jai Shukla & Guest: Miro Konopka Q1 – How are you at the age of 57 still winning races? Started in motorsport as a young boy. Miro Konopka had no money to start – he drove as much as possible. Q2 – How do you compete with people half your age? If you have the motivation – why not, what should Miro Konopka do? Sit at home? It’s his life, it’s what he loves. Q3 – How did you get sponsorship? His first word was ‘auto’. There is only one team in his country. They are a country for ice-hockey. Miro Konopka uses his money for motorsport that he makes through properties. Q4 – How do you distribute your time? 80-90% before was spent on the business but the last 5 years, now that I have sold off quite a few things, the distribution is a lot more towards motorsport. Q5 – You’ve participated in countless races – which one is your favorite and why? Endurance races are my favorite. I race in Africa, Australia. But I love Uberich because everyone can compete since it’s cheaper. Q6 – When it’s something like Le Mans where it’s high stakes – is there more pressure? Yes, of course, a lot more pressure in certain races. But I like endurance racing because of my ages – I think it suits me better. Q7 – How did you go from Civil Eng to real estate development to racing – was it all for motorsport? I started in Civil Eng – and as a developer, it was good work. But I wanted to race for a long time. Full time in racing. Q8 – When was the first time you got into a race car? I was 33 – and when I first raced – I was last every time. I learned, through stubbornness – I got better and better. Same lessons in business. Q9 – How do you keep up with people half your age in terms of training? In my country, we play ice-hockey and that’s what I do for fitness. I don’t like fitness, running or swimming. I have good genetics for ice-hockey. Q10 – Isn’t it dangerous? The players are nice to me and don’t play too rough.   Q11 – You’ve funded yourself – how did you find teammates and everything else? I’ve been known everyone for over 20 years and developed a reputation of paying on time, ensuring everyone is happy and motorsport is a small world so it helps. People contact me, various engineers – if I say something I get it done, so people trust me. Q12 – What effect has that had amongst the team members and how do you develop a good relationship amongst them? In team – drivers are friendly – but everyone is having a great time. The gentlemen class is always about having a hobby. Q13 – How do countries vary? Every country is nice. Kangaroos on the track – it’s all novel in its own way. Q14 – What do you feel people don’t know about motorsport? People don’t know about the back end. 95% is preparation, techniques, a lot of work. People see 5%. Young people have a romantic idea about motorsport. It’s getting harder and harder every year. Q15 – Over 25 years – how has it changed? All cars are much more expensive. Let’s cars and more people. Hard to get sponsorship.   Q16 – What message can you leave to help the fans to believe in themselves? Believe in yourself. And be ambitious that you can do it one day, belief in your dream. Luck needs to be on your side of course but you must try.

Podcast with Host: Jai Shukla & Guest: Mark Q1 – In Russia there is a very little opportunity – how did you make it work? Russians love football, hockey but motorsport wasn’t big at all. But my family is really involved – when I was 8 I started go-karting. My dad really supported me throughout this career of mine and I wanted to be an F1 driver. I live in the far east of Russia, near Japan. This is very far from Moscow and thus it was very challenging to race. Only 1 go-kart track and no proper race car tracks. This made it very difficult. Until I was 20, I didn’t get the chance to drive much but the academy and Darren helped me get into it. They help you develop better driving skills and the personality needed to race. Q2 – How did you manage to the opportunities even at the go-kart tracks? Initially, it was my dad but most people move countries to Europe but people near where I live go to Japan or Australia. Japan is very competitive too – for me, it was a budget issue as well. But when I went to Japan – you can feel the potential. Q3 – As one of the first Russians in LMP1 – how was that? I loved driving along with top drivers. It’s a shame that the project was closed. Q4 – How does the team make a difference to the way you are able to race? Funny question because it’s true. I went to France, America, British. British and Russian are more similar. Whereas the Japanese are very responsible – and work perfectly. USA – very positive. French people were the hardest – the English were bad and the connection to build was hard. You have to know French. Q5 – How does it really affect your ability to race? You have a different feeling – the Japanese do everything perfectly. Everything is worked on together. British family – we worked for a family. Q6 – What is your dream in racing? Hard to say – it was F1. As I get older and older – racing today is about marketing. It’s hard to find a place that isn’t about racing. You need a big budget. I want to be a great driver and the fastest – but if it’s about media, promo, outside of the car – it’s not easy for me. Q7 – What advice do you have? You should try it out – it’s unforgettable. It’s also about meeting cool people who have the same vision as you. I still race in go-karts and coach people. Q8 – What lessons do you bestow? 6-10-year-olds – it’s about braking, acceleration – basics about it. When they get older it’s for them to decide where they would like to take it but I try and do my best. Q9 – Did you learn this from your father? I’m trying to continue my father’s legacy and it’s a business at the end of the day but we really try and help drivers, learn and grow. Q10 – What message would you like to leave the drivers? There are many problems in racing like in GT. You should try everything, even if it’s track days, etc. whatever it is, drive everything possible. Take every opportunity. Spending time on the track is irreplaceable. Working with engines can help too.

Podcast with Host: Jai Shukla & Guest: David Cheng Q1 – How did you get started – back in 2006? Started in 2001 – a friend used to race semi-professional – David Cheng fell in love with it. I use to go to my friend’s house and convince them to take me go-karting. Mum wasn’t having any of it – she only saw what’s on TV with the cars flipping, cars on fire. She didn’t want me getting involved in motorsports. So I grew up – got my driver’s license – not to take a shot but to take it to the next level which was Road track karting. Professional karting races. Working 2 jobs, delivering pizzas and stacking shelves. Karting is expensive too – and bought a 2nd hand 1998 track magic chassis. With a decent road track engine – no rear brakes – it was the first go-kart. So much grip and speed and it’s the perfect training tool. Really enjoyed that time. Never picked up any great results. Got some lucky chances and lucky breaks through my friend’s dad – in karting shoot out opportunities. Got invited to the Formula BMW one – and got a spot in the regional championships – Skip harbor racing school. Q2 – How would you advise someone to get out of that situation? Convincing my mum came much later. I’d already been doing it for 2 years before she knew. Kept my karts at Dillon’s house – and my friend’s dad supported me. Said he had to come up with the funds myself. Had a comfortable typical living – but go-karts are $200 a weekend – and the expenses motivated me to start working as a 16-year-old. You have to walk in blind unless you know people. Find people to guide you. In your teens – you always think you know best. But as a kid I was naive. I dived headfirst in – and tried not to drown. That’s one easy way to push yourself beyond your limits. You need guidance – and pointing in the right direction. Q3 – How do you find guidance? At the go-kart tracks – speak to people, try and learn everything you can from them. Understand what it takes – ask what it takes. What is the right next steps? There are always people in the know but you have to take the time to speak to them. Looking in hindsight – the ladder is more simplified and clearer. Karting to F4, F3 all the way to F1. There are more ladders – and a lot of sponsorship money. Q4 How did you get into e-racing? Electric cars are at the forefront of the industry. With the government backing renewable energy. Especially due to traffic. The government is pushing for e-cars. It’s picking up momentum. Formula E – when it first started, of course, was much easier to get into but now you have some big names coming in. The budgets increases and becomes harder as a privateer. I think it’s the future – racing and industry will go towards zero emissions. Racing industry follows of the auto racing industry. Cars are more equal as it’s newer. Everyone wants to see a good race. Q5 – How did you become a team owner and get to know Jackie Chan? David Cheng had a history teacher – he uses to race too. China has a lot of opportunities as it is playing catch up in motorsports in some ways so I wanted to get involved. Jackie Chan – you have to listen to the podcast for this part! Q6 – What is your strengths and weaknesses? Tenacity. Never give up. What we don’t show is the hard days. As a business, it’s so hard and if I did anything else I really believe I could really make it. You have to do it because you love it. You have to have the passion to be in the industry.

Podcast with Host: Jai Shukla & Guest: Renger van der Zande Q1 – How did you start your journey and get noticed? Started in Go-karts by the age of 12-13. After a few years - Renger van der Zandes 's mum agreed to by a go-kart. Finished 5th in the world championships - when he first started and 2013 when he first started pro. Q2 – What was it like to be on the podium and experience of it all? Sometimes you do a race - it’s where you do well and nobody sees it. And sometimes you do ok but someone sees it and it’s a highlight of the website and motorsport news media. LMPC sometimes people didn’t see it, it just depends when you get noticed.     Q3 – The right team the right people around - how do you find these people? Finding the right co-drivers you don’t get any say. For example - Honda decides. It really depends on the no. of drivers, the situation, how long you’ve been with them, etc. Sometimes the manufacturer decides.   Q4 What does it look like behind the scenes when it comes to team building? Jordan, for example, is great. He and I have a great relationship. We speak on the level, respect, openness. No question of is he going to take it the wrong way. Honesty matters - if somebody feels attacked - you will have big problems. Q5 - What’s the best advice you ever received? Believe in yourself. Being clever on track - making the right choices on the track. A 17-year-old Renger van der Zande is coaching atm who is in LMP3 - reminding him - helps to remind me. And you learn from yourself. It’s something that you should always have. Have coaches for various aspects of life. Try to get as much information as you can and then filter it for yourself. Q6 - How has the industry changed over the last 10 years? It was about staying with 1 manufacturer and hoping they were nice to you but now with everything being open and information being free to access - from SM and quickly connect with people. It has allowed us to create more chances - so I like to be with different manufacturers, different teams. Of course, if you are in F1 and if you are Fernando Alonso for example. If you want to do as much as you want and as much as you can. Back when I was in F3 I was serious about being in F1. Q7 - What shifted you off that path? In 2008, I got a contract with GP2 and a sponsor had to pay for it. And it was a blow to my career. I had to pay debts and with the financial crisis - it made life very tough. I was driving for free, didn’t get paid much in DTM, and in hindsight - it was a bad choice. It was all about marketing there. After that 2012, no drive, no sponsorship I started a company in racing insurance for people to insure their cars. This was a way back into racing as I was speaking to all those teams again about their insurances. They said hey - aren’t you driving anymore? And I said I’ve stopped but I’m happy to try. This way I managed to pay off debts and make money as a race car driver. It’s been a great learning curve. Q8 – How did you get out of the debts mentally and create opportunity? Motorsport is a small bubble in a sense. The film Gentlemen driver, really shows what it’s like and many gentlemen drivers show what it’s like to create a business. You can do business with them much more easily if you are part of it. Q9 - Does this financial security, affect the way you race? Yes. Now I’m looking at every race and seeing the crashes and assessing how much damage that will be. I had a big crash in Macau and a pile-up and 90% of the field. A lot of claims were going to come in that weekend! Q10 – What do the next 5 years look like? With 2 kids - leaving the house it a lot harder. Weeks at a time is hard but I’m passionate about it. I get a lot of offers and I’m already racing - I have a business, and kids, I like to be busy and sometimes I have to say no. I love IMSA for the next 10 years. Q11 What’s your favorite car? Cadillac - we won Daytona with it. You need a good car for Sebring. Q12 - What message would you like to leave the fans? Thank you for being there. It’s amazing to see no matter the weather condition - it’s just fantastic to see the people involved.

Podcast with Host: Jai Shukla & Guest: Steven Odendaal Q1 – How did you start your journey and get noticed? It’s been a very long career. It’s been a long road to get to where Steven Odendaal wanted to get to. It hasn’t been easy at all. Especially the transition from South Africa to Europe. You don’t know which teams are worth trusting. But he is very thankful. Q2 – How do you find people to trust? A lot of teams mess you up like trying to take your money and steal your sponsors. Steven Odendaal could have cut off 2-3 years off his career path if he knew the right people - but this helps a lot. Steven started on the smaller bikes but kids in Spain start racing from the age of 5. Q3 – How can someone find the right people? Start out in Spain. Spain is the hub of racing. It’s literally like one of their school subjects. You will find a better team naturally over there. And maybe South Africa can provide this. There are so many great drivers coming out of there.   Q4 Are you thinking of this as a business opportunity? Sticking to racing for now! Maybe for sure, a couple of guys can get together and do this in the future but for now, Steven Odendaal just wants to work on himself. He loves giving back to the community. Q5 - What kind of projects are you working on with others? Steven Odendaal helps out on track days. Give people tips/advice. Nothing formal. People do it for money but he helps people out for free. Steven believes it’s the right thing to do. Q6 - How did you know this was what you wanted to do? His dad was doing it, and a track day at Darby - he fell with it. Steven has got petrol running through my veins. Very lucky to continue his dream with it? Q7 - Who were you racing for? Himself when he started to see what he could achieve, and then for his family too and then his country too. It’s amazing to have the South African support. Q8 – What is the feeling of winning races? It’s a fantastic feeling, all the hard effort, all the hard days on the gym and everything makes it worth it. It’s like a drug, the feeling of winning. Q9 - What does it take to win? Focus, dedicated and disciplined. Diet, training, can’t be too crazy, the right amount of effort and the other things that matter in life. Steven Odendaal kept his family happy, kept his fitness up and running at 100% of my capabilities.   Q10 – How do you not be a robot during the process? You have to change it up every day, if you don’t want to ride a bike - you run. Follow the intervals, but I'm very self-motivated. Q11 How do injuries like your current bone infection affect your racing? It happens. This is one of the worst injuries. It wasn’t a simple pain killer. This has been a longer mental hurdle for me. I still have another operation. It puts me out for another month. This makes you think that this is your opportunity and not able to do what you love, it’s hard. But at the same time, it’s motivating. You’ve been given the time off and you want to give it your best. You lose your touch, not your talent. And this injury has been much more difficult. You can’t be back on the track on 2 weeks. It’s already taken 3 months and another month to go. I’ve never wanted to get back on the track this much. Q12 - How do you redirect your energy and motivation that was used for training? Being off my feet means I have to work on my mental strength. Trying to give myself the best mental chance and also working with psychiatrists. Focusing mentally. I realized how much I was missing in the past. This time off has given me time to think of that. Q13 - What can others do if they are finding themselves in a situation where they lose something? Reading. Being positive. Reading a book called 1 second ahead. Teaches you how to think before you speak. How much more information you can give, instead of giving someone your half-hearted to chat. Talking to your tech guy, if you give him more direct information, he will make better changes and it will affect your performance.    Q14 - Does this have a negative impact on falling? Normally he just brushes it off. Steven had one of his biggest crashes in February - and hit one of Stevens fastest times straight after. Q15 - How has your wife played a role? She loves what he does. Steven wears a ring around his finger. Not much has changed. Q16 - The fans play a role - how does it influence you? You want to give your 100% as a result of that. They make you want to put in that extra effort. Some gestures like clay models, picture frames, it’s so motivating. The people supporting the sport is amazing to have. Q17 - What’s your closing message for them? Thank you for all your support. If you put your mind to it, you can achieve it. Your support means the world.

Podcast with Host: Jai Shukla & Guest: Alexandra Schieren Q1 – What got you into motorsports and how did you turn that passion into a business? It was by accident in the mid-’90s when Alexandra Schieren saw an ad in the newspaper. It was a steep learning curve and that felt it suited her. Q2 – What was your educational background? Languages and economics. Alexandra was not made to work in PR, but learned by doing and got additional training over the years. It’s really about common sense.   Q3 – How is your PR agency different to others as you recently set one up? It’s hers and Alexandra Schieren PR has her own personal touch to it. Being in motorsports for long and in media, for long she knew a lot of media and her client typically would like to be better known so it made sense. Or it’s to manage their reputation which are two different aspects to it. Q4 – As a female in a male-dominated sport - how does it influence the way you work with people? Alexandra Schieren is not mad about the sport and she has kept a distance - this allows me to keep a neutral eye.That helped when she worked with FIA. Alexandra kept her favorites to herself.It’s easy to stand out which is an advantage too. Q5 - How did you know when it was the right time to start your business? During the time while I was at FIA. When the time was right was about 5 years ago. I had enough of traveling and being away from home - 6 months at a time. Going in and out of hotels. And then finally the trigger point was during 1 winter I looked at the picture and thought it looked familiar but it was a picture from the previous year and that’s when I knew. Q6 - How is it different to work for yourself compared to when you are working for others? Before you certain types of customers with a specific interest. Now it’s more all-rounded types of work for associations, and meeting the needs of the clients. Q7 - Who are the most troublesome people to work with? I only work with people I get a good feeling with. This freedom allows me to be picky. I’ve been very lucky. Q8 – PR has many facets - how do you manage it? Each client has different needs. It’s about managing their needs. There are different elements - company elements, sponsoring events, SM, etc. Q9 - Where do you get fulfillment from? When they are happy. Managing a successful event. And then it’s also about the journalists picking up on your stories. It’s hard to know if the circuit got attention directly because of your work. Q10 – Who have you worked with and how do they differ? Pirelli, FIA - they all have different needs. One interesting one was with IndyCar - they wanted to do a push in Europe. This was just very interesting for me - as it was fun to see different countries and events being amalgamated to create something new. Q11 How does crisis management work? I’ve been lucky to not have had to deal with that. Not a major one anyway. This may be because of the prevention of them in the first place but when I worked for the FIA - my boss had an issue with women - and that landed on the front page. There is also dealing with accidents...and it’s hard from emotional management. Tires which exploded was a bad one too. This was my job to understand what happened. This was very bad for the tire manufacturer and it’s important. Q12 - By working in different parts of motorsport - does it help? In smaller formula - you have to get more media coverage whereas Formula 1 - it’s about managing it. It’s not harder just different. Journalists are hard to sell for lower formulae. Q13 - Your interview with Will Buxton - two sides of the coin journalism and PR? They are complementary and help each other in an ideal world. Your side of the story is different from the one they want to hear or write about. The information should never be a lie. As you will be found out.   Q14 - What can PR do for a client or a company as many may not understand its importance? Yes, many people don’t understand it and therefore they think I don’t need it. An example is someone who wants to drive and not be in the limelight. So then it comes down to the fact that 5000 other drivers want your position and why should someone pick you and that’s where PR comes in. It’s about finding your USP and ensure everyone knows it. PR is about making sure what you want people to know about you is what they do know about you.

Podcast Guest: Amber Balcaen & Host: Jai Shukla Q1 – You got into your first go-kart at the age of 10, what was that like? And you grew up around everyone who raced too - what sort of impact did that have? It was the best ever. At the age of 10 after begging and pleading Amber Balcaen finally got to race. She had to work on the go-kart herself and pay for it herself. So at the age of 10, Amber started knocking on doors to get $100 there and $100 here to support herself. That lasted for about 5 years but the first time she got into a go-kart she knew this is what she wanted to do. Q2 – It’s rare to find something you love doing so early on, who inspired you? Grandad, cousins, uncle, dad everyone was racing. It was never pressuring. Driving really fast - it’s so much fun. But as a girl - Amber Balcaen had to push harder to let them give her a go and also she won her first race which was amazing.   Q3 – What’s the real story behind how you got funding and how’s it been since? For go-kart racing, you only have to raise a couple of $1000. So initially she called her dad’s friend who sponsored him. And went to swat meats, sold racing stickers, the first job was mowing a lawn. Doing anything and everything. Q4 – So let’s fast track to now, how do you manage to fund your dream and secure sponsorship? Now it’s in the millions, so it’s a different industry when you’re in Nascar compared to dirt. It’s a full-blown business, dealing with companies and CEO’s and therefore more pressure. She has to provide value otherwise they won’t want to partner with her. Q5 - How do you provide value? ROI. In a lot of different ways. One big thing in SM and business is conveying your story. That is attractive. Being a woman - I have a unique story, so I’m an underdog. Then consider the marketing needs, company needs and your goals and how that can be achieved through your own racing. Find what is special and unique about you as a person and capitalize on that. She does that by using her weaknesses into opportunities. E.g. being Canadian, being a female in a male-dominated sport, not born in a wealthy family. Then you have to dig deep and figure out how to help their company through your racing. Q6 - Racing wives - how does that work with your dream of racing? “I get to share my behind the scenes story. This is a way for me to be resourceful. I created a brand and CMT reached out to me but it’s called racing wives. I’m not a wife but I have a business relationship with Samatha Bush, you see how we interact and how it fits into the racing world. So I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that I’m hoping this helps me get more sponsorship and help boost awareness for my brand. You have to create a brand and exposure that companies realize your impact, you have to call, email everything but nothing beats attracting them. So I’m hoping doing this will help them be attracted to want to partner with me.” Q7 - What do you do if you don’t have a brand or can’t afford PR agencies? “My dad was only known locally. So I’ve faced this exact question. I used FB - to let America know about me when I’m racing. Otherwise, no-one would ever know that I’ve raced or won. Posting pictures had a fan page then I created a Youtube channel about dirt, a little bit about my races and then also about dirt track racing. Also did some reporting, I knew it wasn’t what I wanted to do but it’s about networking and you have to be seen to make connections. You have to be real, authentic and I am always myself. “ A mom came up to me after a race saying - you wear makeup and you race?! That’s who I am - it doesn’t make me any slower when I race? Walk a fine line of being feminine and classy. I want moms to come up to me and hope they see me as a great role model for their daughters. It does happen - but Nascar was a big change. Q8 – SM platforms take time, courage. So you are having to a salesperson, marketer, driver, take care of your diet, regiment - how do you split the time? I wish I could do that. But you have to be resourceful. I read books - a 2-year business degree helped me. 10 years old was when I started, I was an entrepreneur. You have to learn how to do things yourself, I’m editing my own website right now. It’s trial and error. You have to figure it out. My parents knew my dream was crazy but if you have name and money. And unlike football where there are so many teams - there is only a limited no. of spaces in this sport. You have to be willing to be put in the work.   Q9 - Lot’s of risks involved other than sponsorship - physically speaking like crashing, how does that not deter you from racing? “Because I love it, racing is such an addictive feeling. We have extremely safe race cars - we can talk away from a 200mph. I always feel safe driving compared to a highway where people are texting. Everyone has roller cages - so this is why it’s so easy to make the decision.” Q10 – Where do you see yourself and where is the dream lying? This season Amber Balcaen is racing for Kyle Busch Motorsports. He is just amazing and I’m racing for his team and ideally move up to the trucks next year. My overall goal is to make it into the cup series, but there are quite a few levels. I want to go as far as I can go. And I want to inspire people that if Amber can do it with that little amount of resources and that little funding and basically did the impossible - then what can I do. As a female, I feel like I have a responsibility. Q11 Has there been a female who’s come up to you and said I want to come under your wing? She has mentored a girl, gave her tips and tricks. Amber Balcaen went to her races, she encourages anyone out there who is considering it to message Amber - I’m always looking to offer advice. And I do get a lot of DM’s but I want more. There’s a quote: ‘If you want something done, ask a busy person to do it’. Q12 - What does an average week look like? 8-11am emails. Gym - 2 hours. Meeting and emails - 8 pm on my comp. Sponsorship, merchandise anything to do with racing. Q13 - Where does training in a sports car fit into this? Racing costs $10,000-20,000 just to practice. The first part is gym, endurance, strength, cardio is super important. Playing a lot of Nascar video games, to learn the tracks. I-racing which is a racing simulator. Watching videos of past races, other races of other people to learn the lines and reading a book called performance thinking. His book helps with mindset. Also, I do quite a few speaking engagements. Q14 - What topics do you speak about? Kids in schools to sports events, dinners. It’s about overcoming obstacles, following your dreams, I’ve learned a lot. It’s built a lot of character.   Q15 - What tip do you have to inspire those listening today? Just never give up. Don’t let bad moment, race, year destroy your future. Everyone goes through adversities in their lives and hardships. They should make you go for it even more and keep a positive mindset. Make sure you be patient through the process.

Podcast Guest: Blake Koch & Host: Jai Shukla Q1 – You started at the age of 22 - why so late? At the age of 21 - The stepdad Blake Koch asked if he wanted to drive it. He grew up racing dirt bikes which weren’t fun. One test in Orlando and he fell in love with it. He was fast. 2 years later was signed with Nascar 2 years after that made debut at Xfinity. 6 cup races, and 200 Xfinity racers later - Blake Koch started his own company - FilterTime. Q2 – Talk us through the reality of it? Lot’s of ups and downs. It was a hobby initially during the last year of college.   Q3 – How did you transition from hobby to I want to do this seriously? ‘That’s just how I am. I want to be the best. Started watching it on TV, racing and winning. Racing and winning - I can do it. Taking it into his own hands. Firstly - started by calling all the Nascar teams. Everything single one of them - telling them that he was their next driver and they needed to see me and meet me but only a few gave a callback. Mike Dillon gave him the opportunity. Hey, we have an affiliate team and you should talk to them. After speaking to them, he flew out and said if you come up with half the sponsorship you can race with us. Back in 2008. In 2007, that was the first race he watched and by 2008 he was about to race. It was 25,000$ he had to come up with. He’s from palm beach Florida, made some phone calls and dad made some phone calls. Spoke to some successful entrepreneurs. So he was like wow, this is reality and I’m not even ready. At 22,23 he understood it’s business. Understood why people are looking for it. To make his debut he went and came 4th and then signed him on. Then didn’t win rookie of the year, had a lot of crashes. Q4 – What did you do for training? I didn’t. Q5 - So when did you start training properly? It’s a broad definition of properly. But I am now a trainer for 2 NASCAR drivers. Using the knowledge he has now to help those who are in his position. 2016, he started training properly. Hired a PT, had a nutrition plan, got a simulator, made the playoff, came 6th - won a pole, made a playoff and then that was the last time driving after losing a sponsor.   Q6 - How do you deal with the lows and losing sponsors? Some of the lows - after the first Xfinity start - he had a contract, commitments, a totally different career path - but in 2011 the deal fell apart. Sitting on the couch there is heartbreaking. Telling your friends. Q7 - How did it follow apart? New marketing director - changed who they wanted to sponsor. It’s such a humbling experience. It all gets taken away within a moment. Do you feel sorry for yourself? Give up? Not in his blood - started working on sponsors - and found a new sponsor and that’s how he got his full-time ride in Xfinity series in 2011. In 2012 moved teams again, lost the sponsor again in 2012, just bought a house - wife’s pregnant. Working different part-time jobs to pay the bills. In 2013, back on the track behind the car and qualified 2nd. That was a career moment. Q8 – Why at this point - why did you feel training yourself wasn’t the key if you were coming in around 25th and then losing and getting new sponsors? Because no matter how much you train, what coach you have if you have a slow race car - you’re not going to be able to show your skillset. So he put his effort into the business part. When the opportunity presented itself - he worked out for a 1 month, preparing, an allergy specialist. Didn’t have the money to hire people for training. Q9 - What advice you have for someone who was in your shoes? Blake Koch thought he needed experience. So it’s better to drive a quality car in a winning race car and run up front. Q10 – How did you come up with FilterTime? In 2013 - lost a sponsor - and thought, what shall I do? Trying to get big money, 3 weeks of super hard work. But not a single door opened. When he went shopping - he forgot the filters and that’s when he found out there was a need for it. As the ‘aha’ moment came. He didn’t get paid - so started driver coaching, FS 1 was an analyst - while building a business online. The doors that opened were unbelievable.    Q11 In 2019 you turned down racing? December 2018 - a once in a lifetime opportunity came - so had to chose that. Q12 - Where is the time for anything else? He decided the best thing for his family was filtered time. So he stepped away from racing, for the time being, get the business rolling. Still a driver coach, still an analyst and running filterTime so it was hard finding time for anything else. Q13 - What similarities are there between FilterTime and driving? It’s totally different. The downfall is pressure, constantly at the back of your brain, expected to bring in the wins, so take risks but don’t break the car so not too much risk, are you going to have a job next year, is your sponsor happy? A lot of anxiety, very few things under your control, always thinking about racing even when you are with your family, but there are perks to it - you have a PR person, you have your schedule you have press-release, SM, when you come out the car you have a hat, sunglasses, and a cold towel. So you are treated really well. But as a business owner, the results come out of how much work you put in. So now I’m able to put in all this work and not worried about someone firing me. So the effort I put it, especially since I like working, = customers, future for my family. Everything with FilterTime was from scratch, answering emails, SM the website it’s all Blake. It’s pressure - but you can trust yourself. You have a lot more control of the success - here is the similarity - it was all about fans. With filterTime feels like fans. Blake Koch emails them, talks to them and customer interaction. Q14 - What do you want to leave with the fans? Being passionate - you can’t worry about the results. Listen to the bible, podcasts, positive people - you can be happier no matter what you are doing. Set goals and chase your dreams.

Podcast Guest: Joao Barbosa & Host: Jai Shukla Q1 – How did you get started in Racing? Joao Barbosa started at the age of 11 - which was the minimum age. Since then he begged his dad to get him a go-kart. A deal was made to get good grades - for a go-kart which he managed and then got. This was back in 1987.   Q2 – How did you get your initial funding? ‘Costs were much lower in those days and my dad helped me buy my first go-kart.’   Q3 – 1980s-2019 How has your viewpoint changed? Grew up watching Formula 1 and wanted to be a driver in that race. Without the funding - it was not really possible. Q4 – Do you think it’s harder to get sponsorship? Gamble in a kid, it’s not like you pick someone at the top when you’re a sponsor.   Q5 – What goes on behind the scenes? 24 hour Daytona coming up. So much work involved especially endurance racers. There is no offseason   Q6 – What is the procedure to prepare? It’s like lego - everything gets disassembled. Checks being done. All the pieces are analyzed and then with every minute detail, it’s tested. There is a lot of what if’s. Be ready to attack what if and that’s what preparation happens. Strategizing.   Q7 – What happens if you don’t get along with a driver or a manager? Everything is fixed on the inside. The driver is chosen based on being a team player. Needs experience in sharing the car. And Joao has been very fortunate - winning or losing they do it together. Making sure they have good chemistry and share the same goal   Q8 – How do you go about getting that chemistry? Gym, beach, run, workout - fishing trips - team bonding. After races having fun and relaxing. It’s what happens on the outside that allows them to perform on the job.   Q9 – How did you overcome your obstacles? There are a lot of obstacles. When racing in the US - he was trying all over the place and managed to get an opportunity. A lot of sacrifices when you're younger.   Q10 – Give me an example of a sacrifice? Raced in the US - living with the team, traveling with the crew, driving back and forth, living above the shop of the team, helping them in the shop. Helped develop the cars in the US too. It was a sacrifice. He started traveling when he was really young when your 13, 14 or 16-18 you want to spend time with your friends and be able to go clubbing.   Q11 – 5-10 years where do you see yourself and career? It’s a tough decision, it’s not going to last forever. Atm - he’s only focused on the team and doing the best by winning as many competitions as possible. By being in the best possible shape. 3 wins so far and get more.   Q12 – How do you stay in shape? Cadillac speeds are very high, mentally being in the base shape too. It’s a nonstop year-long program. Biking, running, coupling with that a personal trainer - working out shoulders and neck to handle the G forces. Stepping up a lot more this winter and getting in shape a lot faster. And as ready as I can be.

Podcast Guest: Toni Calderon & Host: Jai Shukla Q1 – Tell us about how you got into Motorsport and created this new documentary? Toni Calderon has been in the motorsport for 17 years. Was a race fan who wanted to be up close and wanted to be a driver but parents didn’t let him. Got lucky by getting friends with a Mexican driver in 2001 - by saving money and going to the races with him- Toni Calderon. This way he got to be behind the scenes and eventually when his friend got moved up to Indy Car - he asked for a job. In 2003 - got to see be part of everything and started Speed Group a few years ago.   Q2 – By starting from the bottom and learning the ropes - it must have made a difference to your level of experience? You have to understand every level - you know what it takes to do those jobs and appreciate how hard they are. It’s not easy without knowing some simple tricks. The little nuances - it’s easy to show them shortcuts with his staff. It gives you legitimacy in the industry - so gives you a sense of community.   Q3 – As you’ve progressed into an executive producer, why did you choose to do it about the Gentlemen Driver? Toni Calderon says: The documentary is about really successful businessmen that race cars at the highest levels of racing. This is something that most people outside of the racing world haven’t heard about. In different types of racing - there are pros vs amateurs, which are endurance races. The amateurs who have millions get to play with the same people. In the documentary, Ed Brown helped to grow a multi-billion dollar brand. They take time off around 70-80 days to play with pros. So you can own a baseball team but you can’t play at the super bowl, whereas in racing you can. Toni was managing a guy called Ricardo Gonzales, a very successful business and when doing a promo video - Toni explained what a Gentleman's Driver is. Which is when he explained the concept to a few people and they said this would be really interesting for ‘other people to make’. They came up with a pseudo-trailer.     Q4 How did you go from a documentary nerd to a producer? “If I watched a documentary - what would I want to see, the topics, the theme and feel for it”. Then he made a trailer which really ended up with catching the bug for making it. Well maybe there’s a way to make it work, then asked a production company who were friends. Then after getting a budget and figuring out the stakes on it, then they would hire someone to make it. Then with the budget + trailer, they went to friends in the industry to see if someone wants to invest and in 3 days he had the money. If we hire people who can film this and in the racing world using the contacts it was underway. When they were in Austin - a lot of filming was done and hired a director. From then it was just winging it!   Q5 - What was the biggest misconception you had prior to completing this documentary? How long it takes. Underestimating time. The second one was a filming nuisance, underestimated editing. Putting it together is an art and hired an editor. It’s the most important position. Who’s going to take the 100’s hours of the story - turn it into a film. Bunch of mini-stories initially which made no sense. Making sure people are captivated the whole way through.   Q6 - How did you manage Speed Group while doing this documentary? Everything was happening in one place - so a lot of multi-tasking. And at home found off-hours to do it. But managing people and race car drivers is a cool experience but frustrating at times. Dealing with unique personalities. Some of the times you have to babysit. Starting with someone who can show you the ropes and do it all - be your racing consultant. So you can show up and drive.   Q7 - How has it transformed over the last 5 years. Now changed from drivers to teams. A way to scale. Changed from 1-1, and ‘the drivers are like my little brothers.’ Corporate sponsors - racing teams we are helping with teams and strategy. As an entrepreneur, you figure it out as you go along.   Q8 - What advice would you give to someone? For drivers - there is no right path, it depends on the person as there are so many different routes to take. Depends on age, country, funds, sponsors, personal money. Find somebody you trust and figure out your situation but don’t rush it. It’s very expensive. Don’t spend so much up front, and don’t have the experience and throwing money down the drain. Be fit, ready, mentally, physically, lower formulas before IndyCar   Q9 - Find people can you trust - where and how? ‘Talk to us!’ - it’s a small world. Ask around. Don’t be with someone who is jealous. A good reputation is likely to be good.   Q10 - What is Speed Group expected to look like in 5 years and the Gentlemen Drivers? 31st Jan the documentary will be released worldwide. He hopes it will inspire people. The guys in the documentary started from scratch. And set up a corporate team that they can run remotely, and some people want to join.

Podcast Guest: Mike Guasch & Host: Jai Shukla Q1 – The Gentlemen's driver movie has come out...how's the reception been? The recent launch of the documentary has led to great feedback and global launch in February. It’s going to be on Netflix too. Started in 2015 and then just got the cameras rolling and filmed most of the LMS form the 2016 championship. Primarily at Silverstone where he ended up winning. Q2 – Quote from the movie: To succeed as an entrepreneur, you have to LEARN TO FAIL, which means to learn from those mistakes rather than allow those mistakes to consume you. - How much has this mentality played a part in your achievements? Mike Guasch has been racing since the age of 17, from dirt track, raced jet ski’s - where he achieved 4th in the world and realized he couldn't make a career out of it. And then became an entrepreneur and in 2005 he wanted to get back to racing. He took a class and thought how he learned how to drive a car properly. You have to learn how to fail. It’s so much harder than it looks. He found himself dead last and had to come back to the basics. Q3 – As the CEO Molecule Labs what's that journey been like and what sort of parallels does it have to racing? So similar. It’s just a fight. Business is just the same thing. This is his 10th business in 20 years. You have wins and failures. And you just got to keep digging. Same thing for racing, eating well, preparing and it’s such a discipline. You have to stay disciplined and it will pay off. Q4 – 2011 British GT Championship - GT3 and 1st in 2016 - European Le Mans Series - LMP3 - many recent victories at such late stages of your career. What's the level of gratification of that? When in his 20’s he was on a local stage but soon it became national - and the wins were a lot more enjoyable. His business also became international and he was spending 3 years racing in Europe. As far as parallels to business - racing is a business. Q5 – Where is the pressure and drive stemming from? What makes him tick - racing drives him. Business is a means to an end. Something you have to do support your family but he NEEDS to race. It takes a lot of time to race. Q6 – Retirement - is it something you are considering? Considered retiring in 2008 and thought he was retired but to race properly you need time and money. To have both is really really difficult. You have to be able to train and work. So Mike Guasch was hoping to retire from the company and just take it to the next level in racing. Jealous of pros who get to do it all the time but they have very little money. Whereas he can afford to live well and practice and training. Q7 – What does typical week entail for training Going to the gym is major, trainer, full gym for racing, cardio machines, simulators, weights, neck work. At his age he has to out-train everyone. He has to work a lot harder and he doesn’t mind. Q8 – Throughout all the things you've done, worked, achieved - what has been the most important to you? Racing and business that`s all fine but he’s married for 22 years, it’s really having a great family. His wife is a sports freak and his kids come to the races. Daytona 24, they stayed up together. Daughters now 19 - she used a fake ID to get into the pits. They are part of it, watch him on TV. Q9 – What is the best way to have what you have to pursue their dream? Just keep digging and the biggest learning just focuses. Mike Guasch thinks he isn’t able to but it’s something to work. Doing one thing at a time. Not trying to train 15 different ways. No distractions for which cannot get you to your goal. All decisions should be towards that goal. It’s easy to say but hard to practice. So easy to say let’s just go out and do this and that, but you have to be disciplined. It’s about choices especially when you have money and time but it’s not going to be done well if you don’t focus on one thing. Always on time, prepared without that you are just floundering. Q10 – 2019 plans? Working hard to secure deals and get back to LMS in 2019.

Podcast with Guest: Marvin Dienst & Host: Jai Shukla Q1 – Let's kick it off with the most important question and what's on everyone's mind - pasta is your favorite food? What's that about... Pasta is what it’s all about in this biz! Q2 – 2017 was a great year with a 2nd place in World Endurance Championship - how was that? Incredible, from traveling, Le Mans, traveling the whole world - it was a dream come true. From there he got a couple of wins and competed as one of the youngest teams while performing so well and by far the best year. Q3 – Who inspired you and who are your idols? No parent or family member that raced before. His dad repairs trucks and car tracks and the owner said let’s go into it. Normally you aren’t allowed to drive there and then Marvin started to get into a passion for it, then got into German Championships. And suddenly jumped into a race car when he was 14. When you are young you only look at formula 1 but as time goes on - your opinion changes. Like crashes change you. For e.g. Alex Zanardi is one of his idols as he is someone who lost both his legs and carries on. Went onto Paralympics and carried on. Showed how much passion he had for the sport. Q4 – What is your biggest fear? The biggest fear is not staying healthy. If you have any fear of driving a car your in the wrong business. He trusts the car even more after his crashes. No matter what he does even crashing at 200km/h he still didn’t even break a single rib and removed his fears. Q5 – How far into the future do you like to make plans...1 year, 6 months, 5 years? Planning doesn’t work in motorsport. From tomorrow he can have no more cockpit, and you can’t plan. You can only plan 1-2 year at a time, this puts a lot of pressure on your mind and requires mental fitness. Every season you know it can be your last season and as a young driver climbing up the ladder, any mistake you make can be the last mistake you ever make. When you get used to the pressure and withstand it then you can carry on. But it’s quite a major step in the journey. Q6 - How do you handle the pressure? You have to be fit in your mind. They think about a crash negatively, rather than thinking about the experience of being alive and learning from it. He’s been to Mclaren MTC, where he learned about his brain and how to remove fear. To look at a different angle at life. In the worst things, find the light. It took a few years to understand when he was really young. Q7  - If you saw yourself 10 years from now, what would you say? Never give up. One door closes and another opens. Many times he’s come 2nd and life could have been easier if he came first. He was disappointed and killed him from the inside. So this is when he looked for the million other doors. And this was when he was able to open up. When you think too negatively about small issues, just go ahead and positive things will follow. No matter how bad it looks, just carry on and it will change in your favor. Q8 - Knowledge action gap between knowing you should move on and actually doing it - how to overcome it? You have to self analyze, and acknowledge something is wrong. Then step 2 is to think of a way to change. Q9 – What traits do you think allows any driver to come first and stand on the podium? You have to recognize something is wrong, then think about a way to change it. His trainer used to work with Usain Bolt before he won. His starts aren’t good - so the trainer's advice is to focus on your strength and turn it into super strength. So find something you are good at - and turn it into the best. It doesn’t have to be at everything. Motorsport has so many aspects like physical strength, mental strength, consistency. Q10 - What was the key point that changed your life? A professor walked in and said you can’t control your brain. Some argued and said clearly you don’t believe me. He said ok, please close your eyes and do nothing but breathing but do nothing else. Everyone thought 'Yeah - so easy.' Within 2-3 seconds your mind is distracted. And then your mind is floating all over the place. I was meant to just focus on my breath and here I am not even able to think of what I was meant to. And when traveling at more than 300 km/h in motorsport, 1 second is about 100m gone and this could finish the race, lead to a crash - this changed his perspective on life. Question everything in life and hopefully, it can help to understand yourself better.

Podcast with Host: Jai Shukla & Guest: James Allen Q1 - You have a quote: 100% effort, one team, one dream. - Let's dig into each of these what does it mean to give 100%? Don’t leave anything on the table. James Allen has been someone who has had one dream since the age of 4! So pursuing something for a long time and trying to perfect your craft can’t be understated. Q2 - Where does your drive come from for new ideas to execute rather than thinking you’ve already given it your all? Try everything that you can think of and if that’s not enough then it’s not enough. Q3 - How important is it to find a good team? What level of difference does it make? How did you find yours? So important many people face so many issues but he believes he was so lucky when the first team he joined 5 years ago helped him out to become who he is today. Q4 - How did it transform into a real team? It was never a snap decision - the more you work together, they mentor and guide you. Straight up and honest with you are important qualities to look for. Q5 - When did you know this is what you wanted to do? Dad introduced him to GT when he was a kid. He begged and pleaded to buy him a go-kart and his father finally cracked when he was 13. Australian champion by the time he was 16 and then went onto Europe to Race Formula BMW and that was it! Q6 - What would you recommend to someone who wants to become a driver? Make moves - James Allen was in single-seaters for 3 years and made a switch to sports cars after that and got noticed. Don’t give up. Q7 - Training - what’s that like? Started doing a lot more cardio. 2.5 hours of cycling a week. Building more muscle for future races. Progressive training but you have to push yourself. To push yourself to be tired of how you would in the car and still try and be able to think about things when you are that tired. Q8 - What sort of decisions are you trying to be aware of while training? Keeping conscious, shift points, braking points, accelerating. Core stuff so he doesn’t fail and crash out. Q9 - What about Japanese - is that something you would be thinking during training? Ahaoi Gozaimas Q10 - What’s it like to be on the Le Mans track? Le Mans is where you are trying to stay awake and making sure you don’t fall asleep and back up in 3 hours. There’s pollen everywhere - it’s a nightmare for some people. It’s worse when you are trying to sleep when you can’t even breathe. Q11 - How do previous races affect your attitude towards the next ones? Initially, you are less confident. E.g. Alps or Eurocup - everyone was super aggressive and crashes on the first corner of every race. But with experience, you can relax and be a bit more patient. Q12 - Does your position affect your mindset? You want to beat your previous result when it comes to championships. Previous race just helps to build confidence. Whereas in a championship if you come 3rd you want to come 1st. Q13 - Do you think about your position and the pressure of it while driving? Should not think about the position, for me, it’s rarely at the forefront of my mind.

Podcast with Host: Jai Shukla & Guest: Niclas Jonsson Q1 – Highlight of 46 years in racing Working with dad and kid brother but a huge factor. Winning petite Le Mans, the wins across time but also working with professional people behind the scenes. Racing is a real team sport. If the cleaners weren’t doing their job, others wouldn’t be able to do theirs. Q2 – Steps of becoming a racer You have to be passionate about it. Keep living your dreams no matter the ups and downs. Niclas Jonsson is someone who lived in a rental car for 9 months when he quit his job in Sweden and first came to America. Just traveled around handing out his CV until someone gave him a chance. Luck plays a part too of catching a break and meeting the right people at the right time. Now he’s created a management company to help others. Q3 – How does experience affect your drive? Age and experience vs reflex and pure speed when younger is a balance. Patience is something you develop in not trying to win the first corner or the first lap. There will be yellow flags and pit stops especially in endurance tracks. The importance of taking care of the brakes, the tires, the gears and having a good car to hand over to your teammate plays a crucial role in a team sport. Staying in shape gets harder as you get older no doubt but the journey is worth it. Q4 – 2018 – how was it & 2019 what can your fans expect? Things haven’t changed from a preparation standpoint. For Le Mans, he prepares 6 weeks out and wakes up in the middle of the night to work out in the gym for 1.5 hours to adapt his body and eating in a different way to be able to eat at 4 am. Hasn’t changed the way he prepared since the age of 20 just more pain when you get out of the gym. In 2019 haven’t decided what it will look like yet but discussing opportunities. But loves working with 3 students who he coaches by providing physical, mental, nutritional, psychological training – like a full package to help them transform into the best drivers possible. Q5 – What inspired you to give back? Very few people will ever make it. Meeting the car and your level of performance in line is key for reaching your long term aim. Why – because he has a huge passion for it. Q6 – At such a late stage, what are you learning? New technology is something you have to adapt to but the only way to do that effectively is if you learn the basics. Q7 – How does someone find a reliable team? Community small so it’s not hard to find. See how things work, reach out to people, talk to people and of course have a passion for it. Q8 – What makes you happier, your wins or your students? Feels so proud and relate to them and he’s surprised at how happy it makes him see his students progress.

Podcast with Host: Jai Shukla & Guest: Joey Gase Q1 - Making a real difference Brain aneurysm caused the passing away of his mother and she was an organ donor. Joey Gase puts honorary photos of people on his race car and ask people to paint his car with handprints and tries to bring about awareness to help the - 150,000 people in the USA on the waitlist. Q2 - The dream Racing in Daytona 500 - this has been his dream as a kid from Iowa – and sometimes getting flashbacks of seeing the races you see as a kid and then participating in them is surreal. Q3 - Pressure It’s always there when you are a driver but when you drive your just in your zone focussing on one thing and everything else just goes away. Q4 - What’s real-life like? Lots of stuff going on the business side from keeping the sponsors, going to sponsored events, to appearances and media all throughout the week. Training 3 to 4 times a week working on neck muscles, core muscles, and reaction time. Q5 - Training Sunglasses which cut out the vision so you have to catch a ball with only seeing for part of a flight and predicting trajectory. Visual improvements including peripheral vision. Even when tired being able to concentrate. 3-5 hours of racing and a split second could mean your career is over so mental stability is as important as physical if not more. Q6 - Lessons Always keep digging. Never give up. Staying balanced. Never go crazy. Q7 - Something Personal Shy guy. Hard-working. But racing is such a physical sport which isn’t obvious to a lot of people so staying calm is something he’s good at! _______________________ Visit the Facebook fanpage of Joey Gase: https://www.facebook.com/joeygaseracing/ _______________________ race-coin.io