Various and sundry

[SmartWombat]

I almost always use the center for focus, that's where I'm usually trying to put the subject if it's going race speeds.

Ah, eventually you'll get creative. Once you're comfortable putting a focus point on a part of the subject and holding it there as you pan.

For example this one with a focus point on the right gives plenty of space for the sponsors to use for text and their own logo.