"A driver has over 90% of the team potential in their hands so being at your peak is very important," said Brodie Kostecki (2023 Supercars Champion)
When I asked him about how important it is to have human performance support on race weekends or away from the track.
Successful drivers consider the human performance element and don't just rely on driving skills or car performance. It is clear that more than ever, drivers are viewing themselves as athletes and considering where additional performance advantages lie. Research shows physiological stressors are similar for drivers to other sports such as football, basketball and baseball, requiring optimal mental and physical fitness. However as reported in 2006 drivers have far less involvement overall with sports medicine staff than many Olympic athletes, tennis professionals and footballers of all codes. In my observation over 10 years in Supercars and Australian motor racing, this is still largely the case in 2024. Wider input from experts in all combined fields of Strength and Conditioning, Sports Nutrition and Dietetics, Sports Psychology and Physiotherapy has the capacity to create a performance advantage for drivers committing to more intensive regimes.
Racing drivers are required to perform physical inputs with complex cognitive processing under pressure for long periods. Co-ordinating both motor control of the steering wheel with paddles or gear shifter using the upper body while controlling multiple pedals with the lower body. Cognitive processes involve visual and auditory processing, reactions and decision making which are complicated by track traffic, incidents as well as communications via radio from the team. Skilful driving requires smooth, precise and co-ordinated inputs combining both cognitive and physical processes. Internally drivers must be also be able to remain calm and focused to weather stress and pressure to ensure accurate decision making. Externally drivers also need to navigate team, sponsor and media obligations and manage mental and physical fatigue as well as recover after each day to repeat for many days of a race weekend.
Brodie Kostecki agrees driver athletes have unique sporting challenges to overcome "Sitting in compromising positions for long periods of time isn't ideal for performance and working with the team at driver athlete has provided me with sound advice and treatment during race weekends to maximise my performance. "
Many senior Supercars drivers I have worked with have told me how they wish they had been preparing their minds and bodies from a younger age (ideally in their karting years) given what they know now.
'Knowing what I know now I would've focussed a lot more on my state of mind and mental processes earlier in my career. I always had a good fitness and strength base but could have made this more specific." said Luke Youlden. (Bathurst 1000 Winner 2017).
Mark Winterbottom (Supercars Champion 2105 and Bathurst 1000 Winner 2013) agrees he would have prepared differently and;
"Would have had regular appointments earlier in my career to understand my body and how to look after it. Health and fitness are our most valuable asset, so working with experts in their field is invaluable."
Drivers are no different to any other athlete. They need to develop their sport specific skills plus physical and cognitive conditioning. More importantly they need to work on their own specific weaknesses. There's no point spending all the time in the gym or running a marathon but not on areas of weakness that may be contributing to poor performance such as driving technique or developing a really robust working relationship with their engineer, reaction training, mental skills, addressing nutrition and hydration deficiencies or in car ergonomics. Equally, if poor cardiovascular output or lack of strength is leading to a poor driving performance then gym and fitness is the most important for that driver.
This unique sport has limited opportunities to practice the driving side, largely due to cost and availability. So replicating that skill via simulator work or karting for example may assist maintaining and improving driver skill. Both parts a) skill and b) physical and cognitive do need to be trained to maximise performance. For example, gym and cardio alone won't improve driving skills. And driving practice or simulator alone won't always ensure physical and mental demands are met. Many drivers in my opinion make the mistake of over or under training one area in favour for another. For example it would be like the AFL player just working in the gym and not practicing kicking, hand balling or tackling. Then missing goals and targets but being the fastest and strongest on the field. Or just practicing kicking and playing skills and not running enough to maintain cardiovascular endurance, then running out of legs in a game in the heat.
For each driver my question always is; where are your racing weaknesses? What's the feedback from your driver coach or engineer and how can we improve that? For example, if the driver's braking control is letting them down because they can't maintain peak brake pressure. Then no amount of running or cardio alone will improve that and an entirely different strength and conditioning program needs to be developed with motorsport specific knowledge. If a driver suffers sever pre-race nerves (anxiety) the ‘emotion brain’ (e.g., amygdala, hippocampus) cuts off access to the ‘thinking brain’ (i.e., prefrontal cortex). So the driver can't make accurate decisions at the start or possibly during a race restart causing a detraction from sports performance. This means they need to develop mental skills for anxiety management and emotion regulation, otherwise all their hard work on physical training and driving skills could go to waste when it matters most. If a driver is getting back pain, arm or leg numbness in a race then driving inputs will be compromised physically, plus the awareness and worry of this issue could affect focus and concentration. If drivers aren't fuelling their body properly (i.e inadequate carbohydrate or hydration intake) they may get tired and foggy, lose concentration and fade in the end stages of a longer race or in more demanding weather conditions.
These are only a few examples of deficits we uncover at Driver Athlete through a rigorous assessment process that involves a thorough human performance testing plus communication between coaches, engineers, sometimes parents, managers and our team of Physiotherapists, Strength and Conditioning Coaches, Sports Dietician and Sports Psychologist. We'll then design programs to boost the drivers physical and mental performance more consistently.
True analysis and accountability never really stops throughout a career as sport skills develop and human performance becomes more of a point of difference.
"When a driver gets to a professional level it's very difficult to differentiate skill. To be on the correct side of a tenth its the 1%s that add up to make that difference. As drivers we would all kill for a tenth and it's really only now that companies like driver athlete understand the specifics of motor racing and can tailor a program to get you to the top." says Luke Youlden.
Here at Driver Athlete, we have a team of professionals who have worked at the highest level of sport with some of the biggest name athletes in Motorsport, AFL and Grand Slam Tennis. So whether a driver is in the developing stage of their careers or a seasoned professional, we can ensure their performance is maximised.
Nicole Bryant is a Physiotherapist, Performance Coach and Director of High Line Active / Driver Athlete.
Find out more here: https://www.highlineactive.com.au/motorsport-physio
To have a chat and see how we can help your driving performance or request assessment and training package information please contact us via hello@highlineactive.com.au or call us on 0428 963 734.
References:
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Bauer, H.; Muller, S.; Hirschmuller, A.; Huber, G.; Mayer, F. Reactivity, stability, and strength performance capacity in motor sports. Br. J. Sports Med. 2006, 40, 906–911. [CrossRef] [PubMed]
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Hanin, Y.L. Coping with anxiety in sport. In A. Nicholls (Ed.), Coping in sport: Theory, methods, and related constructs 2010 (pp. 159– 175). Nova Science Publishers.
Hill, C, A Phenomenal Evaluation of the Psychological Factors That Influence Motorsports Performance, Sport Psychologist 2024, 38 (2):1-11.
Edem Korkor Appiah-Dwomoh , Anja Carlsohn and Frank Mayer, Assessment of Dietary Intake of Long-Distance Race Car Drivers—A Pilot Study Department of Sports and Health Science, University Outpatient Clinic Potsdam, University of Potsdam, 14469 Potsdam, Brandenburg, Germany, 2018
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