My dad tells the story of how people used to always say he didn’t have a real job, all he did was sit in a truck for 12 hours and drive around all day or night. How could it be strenuous? This is kind of like saying teachers only work for 9 months out of the year and pastors/priests only work on Sunday’s. Obviously there is a lot more to driving for living than we give credit for.
Racers also seem to take it in the gut when it comes to our perception of them as athletes. But as someone who has driven on a race track, albeit for a very short time when compared to several of my racing friends, I can state emphatically that getting behind the wheel and concentrating for minutes and hours on end is both physically and mentally challenging at the highest level.
It is for this reason that racers are some of the fittest athletes on the planet. End of story, period, conversation over, take it to the bank. And while we are at it, so too are figure skaters. Try jumping on ice at top speed, spinning around and landing safely while on razor blades. Anyways, back to racers.
Ford has rolled the curtain back a little on their training program for the upcoming 24 Hours of Le Mans race. It is an interesting look at what goes into to getting their drivers ready for hours of racing this weekend. Here is a peek and peak performance. The race is this weekend, the torture begins.
Related links:
24 Hours of Le Mans