In days past, any sports car owner got a certain amount of extra satisfaction in pulling away from a stop, popping the clutch in and out, and shifting through the gears.

As gearbox and transmission technology has advanced - Series manufacturers are building better road cars one race at a time! - so seemingly have preferences for automatic or semi-automatic transmissions ... at least as far as Joey Hand is concerned. BMW Rahal Letterman Racing's American star told the New York Times that he won't give up the semi-automatic sequential shifter in his BMW M3 racer. “I personally love driving the racecars without clutches,” he's quoted as saying.

“I’m a left-foot braker and the sequential shifter (upshifts and downshifts are done via pushing or pulling the gear-lever forward or back) helps keep the car’s attitude more stable,” he explained. On demanding tracks, where a driver might have to shift a manual transmission dozens of times every lap, Mr. Hand said the semi-automatic saves time and lets him focus more on braking points, car balance and acceleration.

While admitting a manual transmission can make for more of a sensory experience on public roads, Mr. Hand says anything that makes him quicker on the racetrack is better. “The old school way is to use a clutch,” he said. “Every time, I’ll take the semi-automatic.”