Sensori-Motor Lateral Preferences of Amateur Motorsport Drivers

Vision-related aspects of motorsport activity have been little reported. We consider here oculo-visual influence upon hand and foot action for the kart racing driver as investigated through an assessment of patterns of sensori-motor lateral preference. Functional lateral preferences for eye, hand and foot were determined by a self-administered questionnaire, initially amongst a population of kart racing drivers (N = 60, 90% males, aged 10-52 years) and subsequently for a matched control group of optometric patients. Further comparative laterality data were located in a published study of healthy male subjects in the general population (N = 2,756, 94% aged 8-55 years). For each modality the kart drivers recorded no statistically significant difference in degree of right preference compared to either the matched control group or the larger general population; 70% were right-eyed, 85% right-footed and 90% right-handed. Lateral congruency of sensori-motor combinations was statistically similar in motorsport and non-participating individuals, being only slightly more ipsilateral than chance would predict. Patterns of lateral association between the sighting eye and the preferred upper/lower limbs of kart drivers were no different to those recorded for a non-motorsport population. This outcome is considered in the context of the physical restrictions imposed on the driver by the race equipment and the specific motion dynamics of competitive kart racing.