About Jonathan Goring
Racing Bio:
I began my racing career at the age of ten, racing a 4-cycle Briggs & Stratton kart at Lime Rock. I come from a racing family, as my father, mother, and cousin, have all been drivers in various venues. In my very first go-kart race, starting at mid-season, I placed fourth out of a full field of karts. Thus bitten by the racing bug, I went on to win the Series Championship in the following year and graduated to 80cc Shifter karts at the age of 12. Oakland Valley Race Park in New York became the scene for my innumerable victories including six year-end Championships and several track records.
In 2003, in the CART Stars of Tomorrow Regional Series (my first national quality series), I won the Regional Championship in my first year, winning every race I entered. In World Karting National events, at the year’s end, I finished in the top ten nationwide in the hotly competitive 80cc Shifter class. During the summer of 2004, I got a job as a mechanic mainly, amongst other things, for the Skip Barber Racing School at Lime Rock Park in Lakeville, Connecticut. I drove the cars, worked on mechanical components, and helped the instructors in their school series. At the end of the year, I participated in the Three-Day Racing School at Lime Rock where my lap times rivaled the instructors. In the Advanced Two-Day Racing School at Laguna Seca California, I was very fast amongst a large group of more experienced drivers despite never having driven the track before, and only having driven a race car at speed once before.
In 2005, The stage was set to enter open wheel Formula Car racing. I ran in the Skip Barber Formula Dodge Regional and National Series. During my first Skip Barber Regional Series race at VIR (Virginia International Raceway), I placed 3rd in the pouring rain out of a full field of cars. In the National category, against world-class competition, and with limited resources, I won a National race at Road America in Wisconsin, and achieved many podium finishes at other tracks, such as Laguna Seca and Lime Rock. I also managed to become a semi-finalist in the Red Bull Driver Search and win two track championships in karts at Oakland Valley.
I then went on to the 2006 Skip Barber Karting Shootout in Sebring Florida where I won a $15,000 scholarship, barely being able to enter the event because of financial issues. My lap times at the shootout were very fast and consistent. Out of the whole twenty five minute session, I never had a lap more than one tenth off of the previous lap!
This took me to my first full season of the Skip Barber National Championship presented by RACER. I won four races, had three pole positions, and nine podiums. Those very consistent finishes paid off. I won the 2006 Championship winning the MAZDASPEED career enhancement prize, a value worth over three hundred thousand dollars.
After a ton of difficult thinking and decision making, signing with Andersen Racing for the 2007 racing season in Star Mazda put me in a very good direction for the rest of my career. A controversial call that ended not in our favor put me 5th overall in the championship standings. Had it gone our way, we would have finished 2nd in the championship. 2007 was certainly a big learning experience for me.
2008 has been the most important year of my career. It has also been the biggest step upward in my career that I have ever made. Winning nine out of eleven races, claiming all the pole positions, breaking all the track records, and claiming the IMSA-Lites L1 Championship, along with the team championship, was amazing to say the least. I feel that everything I learned finally came together and paid off.
With high hopes I am beginning to interview teams for the 2011 racing season. I will announce my official plans soon.
Exercise and Stength Training:
Jonathan knows the importance of being the best physically fit driver in the field. He involves himself in an intense fitness routine consisting of a variety of cardio and strength training exercises.
“In any professional sport if you are to succeed at the highest level you must be on top of your fitness. Not many understand the importance of this or choose to ignore it. Racing in particular is a huge mental game. If you are at the point in a race where you realize you feel fatigued, you have already been mentally fatigued for quite some time. Making mental mistakes worth a few tenths of seconds, lap after lap and corner after corner, you have fallen behind. And at this level, there is no room for falling behind.” – Jonathan
Jonathan a NASM (National Academy of Sports Medicine) certified personal fitness trainer and designs his own workout routine completely on his own. He has found a perfect balance between nutrition, exercise, and rest that has paid big results to his performance.
“I never finished a race worse than second place this past year. I never dropped wheels, went off, or made any sort of significant mistakes all year long. In all the races I never even missed an apex once. I owe that all to my exercise routine. When my body isn’t tired or stressed, I can think so much clearer. When I’m traveling 230 feet per second or more, I like to think about things other than being exhausted.” – Jonathan
Staying sharp behind the wheel:
In order to stay sharp behind the wheel Jonathan rides ATVs and dirtbikes, as well as go-karts. Understanding the risks and wearing proper protective gear, Jonathan has found ways to practice things you normally couldn’t in a real race situation in a safe way.
“Driving fast on any machine is all the same. You want to maximize grip, increase radius, and shorten distance. Every machine has a different way of getting there, and its interesting to learn how different machines react to driver inputs as well as setup changes. Despite these differences, I learn how and why some things would and wouldn’t work in a race car, and I always find myself learning, no matter what kind of vehicle it is.” – Jonathan
Jonathan uses ATVs, dirtbikes, and go-karts as learning tools. Jonathan performs specific drills and performs them back to back making changes each time. He then analysis the results and stores the information for when it counts.
