[lukevanoort]

Racing games and robot driving make use of some similar natural (and developed) aptitudes. If I have naturally fast reflexes and strong hand-eye coordination then I am probably better at both racing games and robot driving than a similar person lacking those qualities. However, this is true of many things; for example, competitive martial arts share even more qualities with robot driving (rapid strategizing, hand-eye, reflexes, peripheral vision, stressful environment), but its pretty clear that holding a martial arts tournament is probably not a great way to select a driver.

In the end, the only way to really determine if someone is a good driver is to have them drive at a competition. I have seen people who are quite good drivers in testing lose a lot of their talent when placed into the stressful competition environment. Conversly, some people perform much better under stress. So, since you can't really hold a full competition just to find drivers, your best bet is to replicate the competition environment as closely as possible, find the person who performs the best, and then let that person practice as much as possible. (practice being the key element, even a terrible driver can become decent with enough practice)