We have just seen the potential championship decider in Moto GP and witnessed Valentino Rossi in a furious fight with Marc Marquez which ended with Marquez face planting the tarmac.
Both of these riders were in a battle of words before the race so when we saw them going toe to toe you just knew that something was going to happen, this was war.
Rossi was frustrated because he believes that Marquez is helping his championship contender so is intentionally holding him back. This belief created negative emotions within Rossi which in turn influenced him to intentionally over slow and force Marquez wide, they touched. This destroyed the race for both of them.
Do you think that Rossi would do things differently if he could do it all again……errr yes.
We have seen all the greats lose their head and let the situation control their thoughts and actions, I want this to be a lesson to you.
Lesson No.1
Everybody, yes everybody can let emotions and outside influences control them.
No matter who they are, how many championships they have won they are still a child on the inside with insecurities and stresses that force them into making dumb decisions in the heat of the moment.
Even though you will fall for the same trap from time to time I want you to endeavour to control this part of your psyche. Emotional control is something that drivers overlook but if you can keep calm, stay in your own performance zone as others around you lose their minds then you will prosper in some way every single race weekend.
A Little Secret
Most of the drivers out there are emotional wrecks, they worry about their results, they have attitude problems with certain drivers, they think they deserve more, they think they are better than they actually are and they have a misleading way of seeing reality.
These outlooks that they have cause them to drive desperately and make unnecessary errors, it can be seen when they over drive, lose time over defending in a race, etc.
I want you to be sensitive to this at the next meeting, take a look around and see how the above outlooks are bullying certain drivers and how it is affecting their results.
Once you notice this you start to feel above things, start to realise where you are maybe letting this affect your performance and how you can take advantage of this. You can then start your journey into controlling your own emotions.
Lesson No.2
Use their weaknesses against them when fighting with them.
When you are pressuring a driver in a race more often than not they are going to be experiencing one of the following emotions:
Stress
Overwhelm
Worry
Fear
Most drivers allow the situation to mean more than it actually does which then creates a certain emotion within them and they act/react according to that emotion.
It could be an important position, they may be fighting with a driver they don't like, it could mean that their sponsor drops them because of the poor year they are having, whatever the scenario the defending driver will see it their way, and the attacking driver will have a different viewpoint, a different emotion.
This often creates a situation where one of you cannot be trusted, one of you is going to drive in a desperate way and sometimes screw the other one over on purpose in order to get what they want.
Think Smart
From now on I want you to be the 'Bigger Driver' when in a battle with someone, when you are attacking you must quickly analyse who you are approaching and the situation they are in, you need to become a kind of mind reader in order to be a good racer.
With your intuition you can guess quite accurately what that other driver is thinking and how that thinking will make them react to your onslaught.
This may seem a lot to take in but it can all be done in a split second once you use this awareness a few times. When good at it you can often start a cause of events that play out in front of you as if you made it happen.
For example if you are coming up to a driver who is in an unusually high position for them, and they are known for their erratic driving you can play with them until their weakness emerges. You can force them into braking too late or get them to frantically watch their mirrors in a series of important corners or get them to go into a combination corner off line and just watch them screw up their exit.
A driver like that is easy to manipulate as long as you stay calm and do not join their mental battle and fall for the same trap that they are.
A Common Weakness
These common mental distractions that drivers have are as lethal to their performance as it would be to a boxers or to an athlete going for a gold medal. It will always be their downfall but I want you to make it a priority to master this side of your mind.
Emotional mastery is key to any performer, make it your mission train in this area.
If you want to be a great driver then you must let go of the ego, you must embrace failure as a lesson and you must drive mentally in the moment to allow your natural ability to flow.
This is as important on a qualifying lap as it is in a battle.
Your racing is too important to allow something within your control to destroy it all, take control!
