[Outlaw 06]

The bottom line up front is that motorsport is an inherently dangerous activity that is not for the risk averse.

Ernest Hemingway famously stated: “There are only three sports; bullfighting, motor racing and mountaineering; all the rest are merely games.” In other words, Hemingway’s definition of a “sport” is an activity where participants choose to routinely risk their lives.

Of course, there are different levels of risk associated with each feeder level of motorsport. The lowest risk motorsport activity is probably indoor carting, followed by autocross and controlled driving schools like BMW’s M School, Porsche’s Sport Driving School and various other high performance driving schools (which are all MUCH less dangerous than any form of “motor racing”). Controlled driving schools such as the few I mentioned above represent a very low level of motorsport risk in my opinion.

The paradox is that as drivers become more talented, they must assume more risk as they climb each step up the motorsport ladder.

Drivers must also recognize the level of risk they're willing to assume (concerning their finances, life, limb, etc.) and then go for it, or not...