Originally Posted by Darthchaffinch:
“buy a dslr”
Won't get rid of the problem though.
Its just the focus "lag", that exists on all cameras, period. Although the differences in speed will vary. And its not specific to digital cameras - it existed before on auto focus SLRs and compacts. It didn't exist as such when everything was manual though.
As PrinceGaz said - prefocus is your answer. If you know where the action is going to be taking place, pre-focus on that area (hold the shutter button down halfway), and then when it happens, press the rest of the way.
I remember hearing about some people trying to take photos of the bikes at the TT - even with an SLR (and a good one), catching something flying past at 160+mph is practically impossible without pre-focusing.