Eseries race car driver – Madison Down shared his professional and personal story!
Madison provided us with captivating insights on his passion for car racing, iRacing as a training tool to practice, key differences between reality vs virtual racing and much more. Are you ready to race on in and read about Madison’s racing journey?
- Date of birth: 22/08/1994
- Place of birth: Camden, New South Wales
- Lives: Camden South, New South Wales
- Outside of racing: Mountain Biking, Listening to Music, Socialising
- Personal vehicle: Holden Commodore VF Series II SSV Redline
- Engineer: Tony Woodward (BJR), Brock Salmon (Trans-Tasman Racing)
About Me:
Day-to-day you’ll find me at Supercheap Auto as a Store Manager. My role as a Store Manager is to lead our store team to exceptional results and provide industry leading customer service to our customers.
In addition to my day job, I also provide coaching and data to the sim racing community through Virtual Racing School. Customers can analyse, compare, and download data to ensure they can make the most of their hobby and learn from the best drivers through Virtual Racing School.
Outside of work, you can find me investing lots of time into racing, both in reality and through simulation. I have raced in the Aussie Racing Cars Super Series at the 2013 Sydney 500 which was an opportunity of a lifetime, my goal is to find the funds to get back into a racing series again. To maintain my skills, I use iRacing as a training tool as well as a hobby. I race in the iRacing V8 Supercars Series and have a record ten Championship Titles to my name as well two V8SCOPS series title. In recent years, I have competed in all three Supercars Pro Eseries’ finishing 4th in 2019 and 3rd in 2020. In 2021, I am representing RYCO 24•7 Racing in Car 14.
Inspirations & Passion – Q&A
- How would your friends and family describe you?
A laid back and easy to get along with individual that talks too much! I enjoy racing and often get carried away in conversation. Despite being quite an introvert naturally, when comfortable around friends and family I love being social out and about. I think the one thing that every person I have ever met would say is that I love racing and should talk a whole lot less about it!
- What are your strengths as an Eseries Race Car driver?
Consistency. So much of my success over the last decade has been as a result of being consistently at the pointy end of the field. Be there to capitalise on every opportunity and maximise every result.
- What are some challenges you face as a Race Car driver?
Pressure. The pressure to perform at the highest level in any racing in which you compete whether it be Real or Virtual is a huge challenge. You don’t get many second chances in racing so capitalising on every opportunity you get is crucial. The nerves in those pressure situations like nailing a lap in qualifying, sitting on the grid waiting for the start or fending a driver attacking from behind is tough.
Racing is also different to other sports in that there’s only one winner and a whole grid of losers. So, there’s a lot more lows than highs but it makes the highs oh so sweet when they do come! That moment of winning in racing is hard to describe to those in other sports.
- What inspired you to start driving?
My family has always had an interest in Motorsport but has never actively competed. At the age of 2 back in 1996 my dad had a computer with some games on it. Originally, the aim as I got older was to be faster than my old man but by the age of about 5 or 6 that had been achieved.
At 7 years old, I got a Go Kart for my birthday and was fortunately able to translate that love for racing from sim to the real tracks. We never raced competitively but spent many years at racetracks recreationally as a family having fun. That has never really changed over the years, now we’re just playing with a Shelby Cobra Replica at Track Days instead of a Go Kart!
From those early years as a kid, I could’ve never dreamt of the opportunities that sim racing would bring me 15 years later not only on the sim but also in real race cars such as Aussie Racing Cars and Supercars.
- What are the key differences between reality vs virtual Racing?
They have their differences but in the end the end goal is the same. The objective is to get a car around a track faster than anyone else. I find that there are a lot of similarities between the two, techniques to get the most out of a car are all quite close. I believe the biggest difference is the lack of practice and testing that you get in reality. For simulator drivers, there are no testing restrictions and costs involved in practicing, so that part of it is endless so it becomes about how you manage your time to perform the best. In reality, practice and testing are so limited due to regulations and costs that when you get to the track every single minute is precious.
To follow Madison’s driving journey visit:
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/madison.down
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/madison_down/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/madisondown
- Lindedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/madisondown/
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