Paul and I met up many years ago at the Jim Russell Racing Driver’s School where we both had an association. I still remember vividly sitting listening to him in the classroom where he perfectly described the intricate balancing act the car and driver do at the first moment the brake pedal is pressed, through to the apex, applying power and the corner exit. It was obvious that he had a way of bringing the interaction of man and machine into words and sensations that we can then translate into lap time.
This book pulls on all of those world experiences, on and off track, taking you from the very basics of driving to the qualities and skills you need at the top level. Even if you have won World Championships, all of us can still learn, and the day you stop, is the day you finish second. I promise you’ll learn something so read on …
Allan McNish, Formula One Driver, Three Times Le Mans Winner, WEC/ALMS Champion, Television commentator and analyst
Most people may find the concept of a book about driving, NOT published by the DMV, to be peculiar at best. Living in a “driving culture” where we almost universally have contact with a car or even a steering wheel on a daily basis the thought of reading more than we absolutely have to in order to take advantage of this beautiful freedom might seem asinine. However, while ‘Optimum Drive’ is more about human potential than human transportation, more about racing than actual driving, I still believe that if for some reason we all had to dribble a basketball to work, the NBA players would be the best commuters out there and we would all be practicing our dribbling skills. So, while this book may not be about daily driving it is rooted in a subject matter that a vast majority of us can relate to on some level even if, sadly, we don’t all dream of racing cars.
Fortunately, for those of us who are driving fanatics, ‘Optimum Drive’ is a tactile guide to improving every aspect of your passion—with a twist: Within these pages driving seems almost like a vehicle to teach ridiculously poignant lessons on living a fuller, more capable life; It’s a clear map to accessing and concurring facets of our human condition that typically restrain us behind the wheel and in life. Consequently, after reading this book you may be a much faster, smarter driver but you might also be able to grasp the bosonic string theory and its 26 dimensions of space with a bit more verve.
As a racer and a biology major I find Paul’s physiological and psychosomatic perspective of the “driver” strangely refreshing. When driving at the limit it’s easy to feel that virtually all of the instincts we have capitalized on to become the most successful specie in our planet’s history do exactly nothing for us on a racetrack. Paul leads us through a clear path of logical progression identifying and celebrating parts of this innate wiring not just for their shortcomings in a car but for how they can be utilized to find our true potential. He pulls the veil off of what is sometimes called driving talent, breaking down the ability to learn driving skills into their components while offering a chronology to the lessons that results in an enhanced learning ability. I have always considered the rate that a driver can learn to be a measure of their talent but Paul’s concept is viable and awesome!
I’ve known Paul for nearly 20 years and have always been amazed by his combined acute observation skills and a bizarrely effective ability to communicate. When you mix in a pinch of intellectual juggernaut and a dash of self-effacing humor you have the makings of a great writer that in this book hits the proverbial nail on the head more times than an ironworker.
There are so many tools supplied in ‘Optimum Drive’ but their virtue is in their accessibility. I have no doubt that after reading this book you’ll be surprisingly inspired, as I was, and as soon at the last page closes you’ll be off to the kart track for some training!
Tanner Foust, Three Times Global Rallycross Champion, Nine Times X Games Medalist, Two Times Winner of the Formula Drift Championship and Television Automotive Personality/Host
The Vanishing Art of Greatness
Holistic (/hō’listik/) is one of those new age words that is usually used to describe a form of all-encompassing health care; its meaning, however, goes well beyond medicine and really applies anywhere. It defines how things operate in complex systems and that you cannot describe or understand the individual part unless you understand the system as a whole. It holds our feet to the fire and tells us that greatness is all or nothing, it must at times be earned step by agonizing step. With our constantly distracted lives today, we operate under the illusion that we have evolved into amazing multitaskers; we have actually lost sight of what our potential truly is. To compensate, we as a society continuously lower the bar of what constitutes excellence. We rely on “google” masking for intelligence; we operate as cogs in a giant machine but don’t fully understand what the machine actually does or why it exists. We are slowly relinquishing our true potential as we lose that holistic vision.
With the bar lowered, life is indeed easy; we can feel that we are accomplished in more things than prior generations, but it all is as shallow as it is hollow and ultimately unfulfilling. We are wired for so much more, we are wired for potential, for real old-school greatness.
Greatness has many shapes and forms; it is elusive and rare, yet it exists everywhere if you know how and where to look. It is achieved in all walks of life when an individual does something at such a level that it becomes transcendent and becomes art. Greatness is born out of curiosity about our own potential as human beings, and the unusual, some would say obsessive, drive and focus to see it through. ‘Good’ is easy; ‘great’ delves so far into the realm of diminishing returns that most almost sensibly fall short. What happens when curiosity fuels obsession, which then ignites into intense unwavering focus? A mentality that takes us beyond the merely good at the expense of nearly every other aspect of our overly complicated lives is a trade that few will gladly make to reach a level that is purely an act of selfishness or of ego, for it is only done for ourselves, because we wonder just how great we could possibly be. Even though that type of motivation pushes someone to the very edge, the result can be beautifully pure and yes, great, the ultimate reward of someone who possesses Optimum Drive.
Why the World Needs Another Driving Book.
Auto Racing, and of course racecar driving, are two of the best examples of an environment that regularly breeds and encourages greatness on all levels. It is a pure objective sport where the winners and losers are bluntly defined every weekend of the season. Due to the harsh reality of Motorsports, much has been written over many decades detailing the various qualities of success; however, while the sport’s results are objective, the driving is not. This creates the issue of trying to describe something subjective in an objective way, like trying to describe feelings with math. Because of this, driving books are typically about the mechanics of driving and provide reams of solid physics and math to back up their approach. The correct way to actually drive a vehicle at its limit has been in print for many decades now. Concepts like the friction circle, slip angle, and load transfer have been explained countless times. That begs the question of why isn’t everyone who reads one of these books a great driver? Just read the book(s), memorize
