[...] Racing drivers lean overwhelmingly to the right. A journalist who once shared a cab with Michael Schumacher emerged pale with shock having listened to the four-time World Champion's political views. Ex-Formula One driver Carlos Reutemann, a right-wing Peronist, may run for the Presidency of Argentina next year. NASCAR in the US is a Republican stronghold. In Australia, drivers Peter Brock, Allan Moffat, and Murray Carter have all campaigned for conservative political parties. Larry Perkins once said that if he was elected Prime Minister, he would privatise the public service. Allan Grice quit racing to become a conservative politician.

I once asked Grice why racers were right-wing. "Because we're businessmen," he said, "and because we understand the value of risk." So what explains the fact (or perception) that lefties are bad drivers? Any theories?