Rising American Star Conor Daly is the Newest Online Instructor
Like so many of his peers, Daly began his career in karting, and has carved quite a reputation for himself since making the step into cars with the Skip Barber Racing Series in 2007. He won the championship convincingly in 2008, earning himself a MAZDASPEED Driver Development scholarship to progress into Star Mazda (now Pro Mazda) for the following season. Daly also was awarded a prestigious Team USA Scholarship, which he used to excellent effect by becoming the youngest ever winner of the Walter Hayes Trophy Formula Ford event at Silverstone in England.
After a solid learning year, Daly romped to the championship during a record-breaking 2010 campaign with Juncos Racing, claiming a second MAZDASPEED Scholarship. He then set his sights on returning to Europe. Daly split his time between Indy Lights and the GP3 Series in 2011, finishing third on his Indy Lights debut at St. Petersburg and then winning at Long Beach before concentrating his efforts on GP3. He has become known as one of the finest overtakers in the business and finished a career-best third in this year’s championship standings. Daly also has broadened his horizons by winning the inaugural MRF Challenge series in India in 2012/2013; making an impressive GP2 Series debut in Malaysia, where, driving for a brand-new team, he scored points in his second start; and being offered an opportunity to drive for IndyCar legend A.J. Foyt in the Indianapolis 500. He began the association somewhat inauspiciously by crashing heavily during the first week of practice, but bounced back well and overcame some pit stop dramas to finish a creditable 22nd.
“After seeing so many great drivers answer questions on the website before, I am thrilled to be a part of that group and spread any racing knowledge I can," said Daly, who yesterday celebrated his 22nd birthday. “It was an absolute honor to be invited to join the RRDC and it is fantastic to see their efforts to educate and inspire young drivers. I think with all the European experience I've had over the last three years, I've learned a lot about the sport and hope to share the knowledge with more up and coming drivers."
SAFEisFAST.com is a free online resource featuring video tutorials on a wide variety of topics including safety, fitness, mental skills, race craft, career development, sponsorship, marketing and more to assist the careers of drivers in all forms of racing. The website’s popular “Ask A Pro" section, in which top industry professionals answer questions on a similarly diverse range of subjects as “Online Instructors," previously has featured Formula 1 World Champion Jenson Button, two-time Le Mans winner Alexander Wurz and Indianapolis 500 champions Dario Franchitti and Gil de Ferran, as well as fitness guru Jim Leo and mental preparation expert Dr. Jacques Dallaire. Since its launch, there have been over a half-million views of the online tutorials from visitors representing more than 130 countries. The videos are available to a global audience with the inclusion of closed-captions in 71 different languages.