CONGRATULATIONS Todd Hazelwood! The Complete Race Driver Coach has won the Bathurst 1000!
From a student of The Complete Race Driver to now a coach, Todd has worked relentlessly hard in pursuit of his dreams. On Sunday, his efforts paid off, when in conjunction with Brodie Kostecki, he stood on the highest step of Australian Motorsport - as winner of the 2024 Bathurst 1000.
I first met Todd in 2015, and we have worked alongside one another on many occasions - the highlight being in 2017 when we won the Super 2 championship. As I engineered and coached Todd in his formative years, I knew that despite his young age, here was an old head on young shoulders. He worked relentlessly hard on finding sponsors for his racing - that is certainly well documented. But perhaps what is not as well known is the work he was also putting into himself trying to improve and get better as a racing driver.
Todd would constantly be looking for constructive criticism about his driving, and ask me how he could go faster, or where he could improve. I was instantly impressed by his lack of ego, the willingness to learn and his openness to being 'coached'. Countless days and nights were spent at the workshop and racetracks around the country pouring over data and video in the pursuit of this improvement.
Thus, he and I formed a tight working relationship over the years, that turned into friendship, culminating in Todd joining The Complete Race Driver as a Driver Coach earlier this year.
It might seem like an 'easy option' that I chose Todd as a driver coach. Yes, he is a friend, but to me, I hoped he would act as an inspiration for many and a wide array of race drivers. His approach of using the engineering and coaching tools at his disposal to make himself a better driver, for me, is something that all aspiring professional and amateur drivers should look up to.
Here is a driver that took a motto of "Dream Big" and then worked tirelessly at the steps needed to achieve that dream. As I have often stated, having the dream or goal of 'winning' is the easy part. Setting yourself up for success by having a system is the hard, but crucial process that is needed.
Well Done once again Todd, may many victories follow in the future, and thank you for representing The Complete Race Driver!
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