Racer's was an online magazine devoted to track driving in France. Its first issue came out in spring 2013, and EuropaTrackdays was already welcoming the initiative, with a tone that was "both professional and relaxed". The magazine's motto said it all: "the magazine for trackday drivers.. written by trackday drivers". Free at the start, it was later offered at 2 € an issue.
A simple idea: learning to drive calmly on a circuit
Often shunned because wrongly lumped in with dangerous driving on the road, circuits were attracting more and more sports car owners. Racer's wanted to give them all the keys to driving with peace of mind. Its writing never claimed to replace the advice of a qualified driving instructor on the spot, but to serve as a foundation before heading out alone on a track, or for improving.
Every issue brought together the same regular features:
- a track test of a car, often rare or modified, carried out on a circuit and not on the road;
- a driving feature: racing lines, load transfer, braking, heel-and-toe, driving position;
- a technical subject: the turbo, suspension set-up, tyre warm-up;
- "La bonne traj'": a circuit under the microscope, with the ideal racing line and the braking points;
- news, photographers' portfolios and, depending on the issue, reader trackday drivers in the spotlight.
Marc Peraldi
According to the introduction published in the first issue, Marc Peraldi is a state-qualified driving instructor and mechanical engineer, and he put this twofold experience at the service of Racer's readers. He was then an instructor at renowned driving schools, such as the Porsche Sport Driving School or the Le Mans driving school, and a volunteer in the organisation of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, where he drove the Safety Cars or worked in race control. He built up his driving experience at club track days, then kept progressing by rubbing shoulders with professional drivers. He was thus as close as possible to what readers go through all year round: preparing their car, fine-tuning their driving and looking for the best car to drive.
A team of enthusiasts
Marc Peraldi was not alone. Three professional instructors, Dimitri Enjalbert, Vincent Capillaire and Guillaume Greuet, each had solid international racing experience and had been teaching driving for many years. Racer's gave them "the pro's eye" at the end of each article, and they also wrote features: driving position for Dimitri, the Sébastien Loeb Racing LMP2 for Vincent, tyre warm-up for Guillaume. Dimitri Enjalbert has his own page among the EuropaTrackdays instructors: see his page.
Professional instructor
Professional instructor
Professional instructor
Photographer
On the pictures side, two passionate photographers. Kevin Goudin, based in the south-west, covers as many events as possible at the circuits in his region, notably the Racercar and GT de Série races at Nogaro. Loïc, in Belgium, an amateur driver of a BMW M3 e46, photographs the circuits in his region and the Nürburgring, where he covered the Nissan GT-R test in issue 3.
The issues, one by one
- Issue 1 (April 2013): test of the Porsche 997 GT3 RS, racing line theory, the turbo, the ideal lines on the Bugatti circuit at Le Mans.
- Issue 2: test of the Nissan GT-R, load transfer, Magny-Cours in F1 layout.
- Issue 3: test of the BAC Mono at Spa-Francorchamps, braking.
- Issue 4: test of the BMW M3 E92 DM Performance, heel-and-toe, Nogaro, insurance.
- Issue 5 (November 2013): test of the Mégane RS 330 hp, suspension set-up, driving tips for Dijon-Prenois.
- Issue 6: more than 1,000 hp gathered on the Lurcy-Lévis track, the French Evo Days, driving position, the Sébastien Loeb Racing LMP2, racing lines at the Chambley circuit.
- Issue 7 (August 2014): test of a Ferrari 355 Challenge, the right lines at Issoire, advice for beginners at track days.
- Issue 8 (February 2015): test of a Renault Clio 3 Cup, racing in the Clio Cup, tyre warm-up, readers' trackday drivers.
Racer's articles on EuropaTrackdays
Some of the magazine's articles have found a new home here, with Marc's agreement:
- Porsche 997 GT3 RS (issue 1)
- Nissan GT-R GLR 600+ (issue 2)
- BAC Mono, put to the test at Spa-Francorchamps (issue 3)
- Heel-and-toe (issue 4)
- BMW M3 E92 DM Performance (issue 4)
- Renault Mégane 3 RS (issue 5)
- Suspension and chassis set-up (issue 5)
- Renault Clio 3 Cup (issue 8)
- Warming up your tyres: the method (issue 8)
- The driving position (issue 6)
- Racing lines (issue 1)
- Load transfer (issue 2)
- Braking (issue 3)
More Racer's articles will be added over time.
