Speed Secrets Podcast · Ross Bentley: Performance & Race Driver Coach

Stefan Rzadzinski: the Race of Champions

·49 min·4 clips

Stefan launched a frantic three-day campaign to gather votes for the Race of Champions, texting everyone he knew.

Stefan Rzadzinski recounts his experience competing in the Race of Champions after winning a fan vote. Host Ross Bentley interviews Rzadzinski, a versatile Canadian driver based near the Area 27 track in British Columbia. The episode focuses on Rzadzinski's journey from Edmonton to racing against world champions. He applied through a Facebook contest and launched a frantic three-and-a-half-day campaign to secure votes from his community. The event in Miami featured stars like Sebastian Vettel, Kyle Busch, Alex Rossi, and Petter Solberg. Rzadzinski shared a car ride with Vettel and Pascal Wehrlein, chatting about skiing rather than racing. He raced in three different vehicles: a NASCAR stock car, a rallycross buggy, and a ROC car used by Team Mexico. Rzadzinski lost to Kyle Busch by a tenth of a second but defeated Indy 500 winner Alex Rossi and Scott Speed. He notes Kyle and Kurt Busch took the competition most seriously, meticulously studying practice times. Felipe Massa maintained his European sleep schedule throughout the Miami event. Rzadzinski describes the mental challenge of transitioning from a Canadian winter to a star-studded Miami stadium. He credits a friend for researching drivers' personal interests to help break the ice in conversations. A key insight was realizing elite drivers are "just humans" and not superhuman, which boosted his self-belief. He approaches unfamiliar cars by first understanding brake feel and tire grip limits. Rzadzinski believes finding a state of calm and flow is crucial for sensing a car's limits quickly. He observes a common amateur error is over-attacking brake zones while sacrificing corner exit speed. His biggest "aha moment" involved learning how car setup changes, like softening a stiff suspension, can yield massive lap time gains. The tone is conversational and reflective, blending personal narrative with technical driving insights. Listeners interested in behind-the-scenes stories of major motorsport events will enjoy this episode. Those seeking highly structured technical instruction might find the anecdotal style less engaging.

As heard by us

A tight look at how racers read brakes, tires, and steering to build confidence.

The episode stays close to the work of learning a car by feel. Brake-pedal pressure, tire grip, lockup behavior, steering input, and the moment a lap starts to settle all matter here, and the conversation keeps returning to those concrete cues.

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Why you'd press play

Want the logic behind speed and not just the result? This one stays on the brake pedal.

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