Motorsport On Monday: mind games

In the first of his new weekly motorsport columns Dan Prosser examines how to think your way to the top

The phenomenon of the dominant motorsport competitor has always fascinated. My curiosity doesn't lie in one driver inexplicably operating on a level that his rivals - themselves world-class competitors - can't reach, but rather the crushing psychological impact it must have on those who are being defeated week in, week out.

True grit: McGuinness showed champion mettle

Most sporting professionals count self-belief as their single greatest asset, for all the God-given talent in the world means nothing without the confidence to trust it. How harmful it must be for a champion of any sport to watch a younger rival emerge and, on the face of it, just be that much better. This champion, who for two decades, perhaps, has been lauded as the next best thing, or comparable to the greatest of all time, witnessing a less experienced competitor achieving heights he can't comprehend. Maintaining self-belief in the presence of a suddenly dominant rival is perhaps as much a mark of a great champion as dominance itself - witness John McGuinness's comeback Senior win at the TT after a week of domination by an apparently unstoppable Michael Dunlop.

The pity of such dominance from a spectator's point of view, of course, is that it just doesn't make for compelling viewing. We know it's churlish to dismiss one-sidedness as boring, but when we tune in to be entertained and the sport fails to deliver the exciting competition that we crave, we absolutely do feel let down.

Champions all but who wins mental battle?

So it was in 2013 for many motorsport series. Sebastian Vettel dominated Formula 1 again, perfectly in the second half of the season, while Sebastien Ogier existed on a different plane entirely to win nine of 13 World Rally Championship rounds. Marc Marquez' six wins in 18 MotoGP races isn't dominance of the same order, but he was reliably the quickest rider out there in what was his rookie season.

The sheer mental strength that such as Alonso, Raikkonen, Hamilton, Hirvonen, Latvala, Lorenzo and Pedrosa will need in order to return in 2014 with the belief that they can win is beyond my comprehension. For some of those guys, it may even be beyond their own comprehension. For the victorious competitor, dominance breeds confidence, which compels dominance. It's a virtuous cycle, as one S. Loeb well knows.

For F1 and WRC competitors and fans alike there is, blissfully, much to feel optimistic about ahead of the new season because the status quo in each is being upset. The most comprehensive regulations overhaul for many years will very probably mean that the 2014 F1 season bears little resemblance to the one that went before it, and given the complete change in machinery Vettel's pursuers mightn't have to rely solely on something from within themselves in order to get back on level terms with the German.

Audi's dominance may finally be challenged

In the WRC, meanwhile, Mikko Hirvonen returns to the team with whom he won 14 rallies, M-Sport, and Northern Irish flier Kris Meeke finally has the works drive with Citroen that his immense outright pace has long deserved. In both series just enough is changing to convince us that it might not all be the same again.

The situation in MotoGP is unique because Marquez is so inexperienced at the top flight compared to his rivals, so there's intrigue aplenty in his ability or otherwise to become the totally dominant competitor in the mould of Rossi, Loeb or Schumacher (for whom, of course, we continue to wish the best).

Beyond those three series, the World Endurance Championship welcomes the factory Porsche team alongside the existing Audi and Toyota squads to tee up the most enticing sports car season for a generation.

For all those reasons, 2014 is shaping up to be a vintage year for motorsport. My fingers remain tightly crossed for no one competitor to have it all his own way.

Kubica is making his mark as a rally winner

As we wait patiently for the higher-profile racing series to get going, the 2014 motorsport season is already underway following the start of the Dakar Rally and the European Rally Championship. Robert Kubica scored his first ERC victory as he snatched the lead of the Jannerrallye, a tarmac event, in Austria on the final stage. The F1 race winner is due to compete in the WRC this season with M-Sport in a Ford Fiesta WRC, and his performance in a similar Fiesta Regional Rally Car over the weekend bodes well for Rallye Monte Carlo, which kicks off on January 14.

It must be said that the level of competition in the ERC falls some way short of WRC standard so we should keep our expectations of the Pole in check, but he certainly does seem to be adapting to stage rallying very well indeed. The outright pace is there; now he's learning how to win rallies, too.

Additional photography: LAT Photo

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chrisironside

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