Last weekend was a lot of fun @ Sonoma. I know I didn’t get to drive, but it was quite an experience being there as a supportive role instead of a driving role. Now that it’s all over, I’m so glad I was there for Nadine. It was her first major competition, and she totally needed my emotional support as well as coaching. I remembered the times when I felt like I needed help with the course, advice on what I was doing wrong, and just to hear “don’t worry, you’re doing good.” I was able to give that to Nadine, and I was glad. She did well… for a mid to high 3rd gear course designed to go straight into the judging booth k-rails, and having only 3 practice runs, I thought she did pretty good.

During practice she was trying to go too fast… combine that with her nervousness, the pressure, the fact that she tapped the wall during practice, and you can understand how she was feeling. I told her to take a deep breath and relax. Tone down her approach and forget about all the pressures. She did end up toning down her approach a lot, and she was able to pull it off.

In the end, I’m proud of her for standing up to the challenge of competing in a professional drifting series up against people who have been doing it for many years longer than her. And I’m proud of her for breaking through the mental wall she had in front of her, and actually initiating, following through, and finishing the course at least once.

It was nice being able to sit around and looking at everybody thinking about everything too much, trying too hard, and making it totally harder on themselves then it had to be. I’m going to take my experience with me to my next competition… it will be nice to compete again knowing what attitude I should have in order to drive my best.