By Peter Hill

Taking up motor racing can often be an emotional impulse rather than a decision.

The word “decision” carries connotations of consideration, options, and rationality. Although these should precede a move into the sport, I suspect that most of us simply had a dream, and before we knew it, we had a car and a shiny new race helmet.

As the author states, this book wasn’t written to discourage dreams. What it does is reveal the options and the practicalities. It provides food for thought and consideration that will help newcomers to the sport make sensible choices. It could well save you from an expensive mistake.

As Martins states at the end of the book: “Getting into Racing was written to help newcomers understand the realities of motorsport before committing significant money and energy to the sport.”
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Pierre Martins is the South African racer, test driver, performance evaluator, coach and instructor who wrote the recently reviewed Supersede Control.

As the subtitle informs us, this is a beginner’s guide to circuit racing. It’s a hefty tome of some 395 pages. But as with his previous book, it is easy to read and reference, with wide spacing between sentences and large print, making it easy to absorb the book’s message and ideas.

The book’s primary audience is people contemplating entering motorsport, and I, having been around the track more than few times, found many practical ideas and tips that will be helpful to amateurs already competing.

The book comprises six parts, with a total of 25 chapters. Parts 1 and 2 cover some of the practicalities of costs, time, risks and fitness. Part 3 lays out the various types of events, categories, and track car options.

I found the chapter “Electric Cars & the Future” particularly interesting, revealing the different challenges involved in driving an EV quickly: managing the battery and energy consumption, dealing with the weight, and monitoring battery temperatures. And, questions like: If you intend to drive your EV at a track day, will there be charging infrastructure at the track?

The later sections include: people and relationships, the buy or build question, safety equipment and the mental approach to competition. There’s advice about using your everyday car for track work. There are tips for those who plan to buy a racing car, plus tips around purchasing safety equipment and budgeting for your season.

There was the risk that this could have been very dry reading, but the author has avoided that by interweaving stories of his personal experiences and those of other amateur drivers. As he has raced motorbikes, karts and track cars, he has a wealth of experience and knowledge. He has made mistakes and has seen others make mistakes, and he shares these so that his readers can avoid repeating them.

This book is full of practical, down-to-earth advice. For example, we’ve all been tempted to throw money and time at car upgrades while chasing faster times. Martins doesn’t beat around the bush: “Sometimes the best upgrade is inside the driver’s head. Track time remains one of the best investments you can make.”

As he did in his previous book, the author has provided clear paragraph headings and concise summaries at the end of each section. Black-and-white photos and sketches complement the text. Spending $35 on Getting into Racing will be a sound investment. It could save you many, many times that amount.

The book is printed on demand by INGRAMSPARK in the country of order.
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Copyright 2026 Peter Hill
(speedreaders.info)

By Peter Hill

​This book is decades too late!

For me.

Where was Pierre Martins and Supersede Control when I first pulled on a helmet and buckled myself into my Triumph Spitfire, imagining I was Jim Clark but driving more like Jimmy the Chimpanzee?

Pierre Martins is a South African who has been involved in motorsport for more than 30 years. He has raced motorcycles, Superkarts and cars, recording countless wins and podium finishes. He works as a test driver, performance evaluator, coach and instructor.

And he is a thinker. He has thought long and hard about the dynamics in play when racing a vehicle. This book is the result of all that thought and his years of experience.

At the beginning of his book, Martins lays out the elements of what he calls The Supersede Control Model. He states that Supersede Control is a framework for governing performance under pressure.

His six interdependent layers are:

Perceptual Authority – See early
Environment Modelling – Read the conditions
Load Governance – Balance the platform
Input Velocity Management – Control the rate at which inputs are applied
Physiological Regulation – Stabilising the nervous system under pressure
Slip Authority – Operating on the edge of grip without escalation

Each of these layers is explained, described, and dissected in the following ten chapters. But, by interweaving real racing stories and relating his and others’ experiences, Martins makes the theoretical real, and the book enjoyable.

If you have ever driven in competition, or plan to, this book will make you think. You won’t read it once, then put it down; you will refer to it for years to come as you use it to improve your competition driving. I have been lucky enough to share track time with professional racing drivers who have shown me how to tackle a particular track in a particular car. They have shown me where to brake, where to turn, and where to accelerate. They showed me how. This book made me think about, then understand, why a car does what it does.

One of the stories Martins uses is a fascinating observation made by his ballet-dancer wife. When he was discussing movement—anticipation, balance and sequencing while driving—she immediately saw and explained the similarity to her dancing. It’s an interesting and useful comparison that helps the reader understand a racing vehicle’s slip envelope.

This book is not text-heavy. Sentences are widely spaced as Martins emphasises key points. There are clear paragraph headings and concise summaries at the end of each section. The text is complemented by black-and-white photos and diagrams.

Supersede Control should probably be in your racing bag (it’s a compact 6 x 9″) with your overalls, gloves and helmet, and used just as often. More books are planned.
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Copyright 2026 Peter Hill
(speedreaders.info)

CLICK HERE to see this review on the Speedreaders website