Fitter than footballers and leaner than athletes: the word on the Formula One circuit is that racing car drivers possess the most finely tuned bodies on earth.

Medical studies consent. During a race a driver must remain calm, focused and in constant communication with a technical team whilst perfectly manoeuvring a highly complex vehicle around an unfamiliar track alongside competitors travelling at speeds of up to 300 kilometres per hour.

All this in an environment where one wrong move can cost lives calls for a sportsman at the very peak of physical – and mental – strength. Fifteen years ago drivers achieved this by visiting the gym twice a week. These days they know better.

The heart

A fit human being has a resting heart rate of around 60 beats per minute, rising to around 150 during a run on the treadmill.

David Coulthard has a resting heart rate of 40 beats per minute rising to 198 beats per minute during a two hour race, a figure - roughly the same as that of a Marathon runner crossing the finishing line – which initially stunned medical researchers.

Dr Riccardo Ceccarelli, from Italian sports medicine clinic Formula Medicine explains why a high speed drive can be as challenging as a 26 mile run: "The difference is one of mental stress. There is no sport that demands such intense concentration. A huge amount of adrenalin is being pumped, and this - as well as the physical strain - causes the high heart rate.”

The body’s ability to cope with such extremes is a result of intensive workout, and so drivers undergo cardiovascular exercise for up to four hours a day – jogging, cycling, even rollerblading.
http://webarchive.nationalarch ... y.co.uk/articles/15-06-05

JAMIE Whincup laughs when you ask him what he thinks about people who say motor sport is not really a sport. The four-time winner of Bathurst and the overall V8 Supercars Championship is one seriously fit guy.
Back in 2009, the Red Bull Racing driver finished second in the first series of the Channel Nine show Australia's Greatest Athlete. Behind him on the list were an AFL player, a rugby league player and an Olympic gold medallist.
"You need to do a couple of laps in a car to understand what V8 driving is all about," Whincup says.
"The cars are really physical to drive. They have power steering but it's nowhere near as power assisted as the car you drive. You're forever pulling gears on a 20 kilo gear stick, there's big brake pressure and steering pressure.
"Mix all that with with 55 degree cabin temperatures while you're in a three layer road suit with trackie pants and skivvy underneath with helmet and gloves.

"The other thing you can't underestimate is how much the g-forces knock you around and the noise of the environment. Then there's the intensity of the race. You have to stay mentally alert for hours which is one of the most physical things I do."

Fitness is huge, if you want to win then focus on that. No different from Olympic, Commonwealth games level. Seriously, second is the first loser is the mentality you must develop if you want to be at the top.

If you really want it, focus on next year and be the best, not first loser !

Heart rate means jack squat in relation to fitness. Kart drivers are upwards of 180 bpm. This guy is at 163 and he's just sitting on the grid. Sitting on the grid doesn't require fitness - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qixwcd0nJE0 -so this heart rate stuff is baloney. In fact most athletic training has abandoned BRP for more accurate measures of fitness.

Karts are harder physically than a GT car to drive, anyone who says otherwise is stupid. I've seen 16 stone 60 year old blokes happily lap a GT car pretty fast. If they did the same in a kart they'd be going home in a ambulance or at least a trip to the doctor with broken ribs. But do you need to be an Olympian to drive a top-level kart? No. So you don't need to be an Olympian to drive a GT car well for an hour. It's just basic conditioning that's needed, at least at the start of a talent finding program.

motorsport isn't anywhere near close to proper athletics. it's all PR ego boosting bollocks. I know boxers, UFC fighters etc... they are on a different level when it comes to fitness.

Now, if you actually read what I wrote you'd see that I stated that fitness can always be 'improved' and you don't need to be an Olympian to drive a GT car. It's something I'd say 90% of the population could get fit for without it being too much of a problem. It's not he defining factor in performance.

now I see the validity in fitness tests. if you're going to do the GT Academy I think it's quite clear you're just going to have to get fit before the finals. You have to be THAT committed. personally, I don't think it's the smartest thing to expect though. I've seen some very unfit drivers who had talent and speed start to get the results when they improve their fitness. but if you have got speed or talent, no amount of fitness will help.

They where basically looking for someone who could do 10 atleast in the beep test which the way i see it seems like a decent level to then inprove with the additional 3 month fitness program they will put you on afterwards.

Afterwards the race they put you in is the Dubai 24hour which probably the hottest 24 hour race done in a given year in a production based 370Z GT4 Class Race car.

Im pretty content in knowing i wasn't at the level this year, knowing whats ahead, im probably a good 15kg overweight and i would be about average cardio fitness so i would probably be quite a bit off the 'basic' level they were looking for.

I would really suggest giving this competition a go if you haven't before, you will have a blast regardless we spent most of our time in the Nismo HQ where the V8 Supercar team is based and we where with the Drivers most of the time getting tips and so on.

Todd Kelly was even our Bus Driver for the Weekend quite amusing really lol.

Quote from Intrepid :

Karts are harder physically than a GT car to drive, anyone who says otherwise is stupid.

[citation needed]

Quote from amp88 :

[citation needed]

That would be easily true on any competition level kart.

however the Race lengths are on opposite extremes so the type of fitness would be like sprint vs marathon.

Quote from amp88 :

[citation needed]

http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2009/8/9725.html

"Karting has a very good training effect,” Schumacher told his official website. “That is why today I just jumped into a testing day of the Tony Kart Team in Lonato (Italy). There is nothing better for my preparations at the moment - in terms of steering wheel forces for example karting is even more difficult than Formula One.”

I can find countless other examples but I can't be bothered. I've seen GT drivers struggle with driving karts physically after 10 minutes, I've never ever seen a karter struggle getting to grips with any race car from a fitness standpoint - sprint race or endurance. It's not who is fittest because it's mainly conditioning we're talking about here.

I am not saying you shouldn't BE fit to do GT racing, just that fitness required FOR GT racing isn't that high. Certainly not so high your average Joe with a bit of training couldn't get to.

Just the severity of the fitness tests for such an early stage of a competition, I am not sure if it's that productive or worth while.

Quote from Intrepid :

http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2009/8/9725.html

"Karting has a very good training effect,” Schumacher told his official website. “That is why today I just jumped into a testing day of the Tony Kart Team in Lonato (Italy). There is nothing better for my preparations at the moment - in terms of steering wheel forces for example karting is even more difficult than Formula One.”

I can find countless other examples but I can't be bothered. I've seen GT drivers struggle with driving karts physically after 10 minutes, I've never ever seen a karter struggle getting to grips with any race car from a fitness standpoint - sprint race or endurance. It's not who is fittest because it's mainly conditioning we're talking about here.

I am not saying you shouldn't BE fit to do GT racing, just that fitness required FOR GT racing isn't that high. Certainly not so high your average Joe with a bit of training couldn't get to.

Just the severity of the fitness tests for such an early stage of a competition, I am not sure if it's that productive or worth while.

When it comes to tge Final week at silverstone its mainly used as a decider if two or more drivers are at the same level(going by what i've been told by other finalists that made it). But in the early stages its used to weed down the list of people to make the final 6.

Quote from Intrepid :

I've never ever seen a karter struggle getting to grips with any race car from a fitness standpoint - sprint race or endurance.

You should look into the fitness problems Senna had in his first season of F1.

Quote from amp88 :

You should look into the fitness problems Senna had in his first season of F1.

I'll ask the team boss And an F1 car from the 80s, no doubt, that requires strength and fitness i am talking mroe modern vehicles. Also, it proves my point - you can't judge a driver on fitness.

Here's a good example. Gives you a small insight into the comparison I am making here. btw Tiff was no where near the pace... and he was still shattered physically.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EriFJQIAujY

he was also GT racing at around the same time - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9an7-FTr_w

Doesn't take a genius to work out which one looks more physically demanding.

But again my point is questioning the validity of extreme fitness tests for GT Academy at such an early stage.

Quote from Intrepid :

Also, it proves my point

BTW, I wasn't actually saying you were wrong. Just questioning your (unsurprisingly) aggressive "kartors are gods!" type post.

If you misinterpret my post I can see why you'd feel the need to question it. My point is about the fallacy about racing drivers, in general, being fitness superstars and I stated kart drivers, despite being on of the more physically demand motorsports, aren't exactly Olympic level athletes. I happen to believe karting is TOO physical.


But if GT Academy are producing the good with regards to drivers (Jann, Lucas etc...) then who am I to argue?

Quote from Intrepid :

My point is about the fallacy about racing drivers, in general, being fitness superstars

I don't think this exists in the minds of the general public. I think most people are more likely to see racing drivers as being less fit than 'proper' athletes like runners, tennis players etc. If you type "are racing drivers" into Google the top suggested search completion is "are racing drivers athletes". I personally believe that drivers involved in top level motorsports are athletes, but I don't believe they're the most athletic people in the world. Additionally, I don't think it's necessarily worthwhile to compare sports people across different disciplines for fitness. For instance, the requirements for a long-distance runner are massively different than those of a sprinter, and that's just staying within one particular area.

And now we could go about eSports and players being athletes, but that's a new story that doesn't belong to this topic. Hope you'll have another chance with this and do your best next year

Intrepid, your pointing out how fit you need to be to race Karts, and how much fitter you need to be to do this than race cars.
Then question those of us who say fitness is vital ?

I know, lets agree on fitness being a key to win at any level of motorsport. Doubly so if you enter a 'Win a drive' competition.

Fair enough ?

heres my Driving test run: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCGU2-B6fh0

I binned my first lap(hit too many cones each a 10 sec penalty) so i went aggressive in my final run but I Hit a cone when I went out of shape at the end.

http://uk.askmen.com/top_10/sp ... op-10-hardest-sports.html

i totally disagree with the statement about f1 drivers having the most finely tuned bodies,virtually any physical sports requires a lot more physically for example boxing and swimming ect, but i would agree that mentally they would have to be razor sharp to be an f1 driver

You may be right. There's obviously a minimum level of fitness required to withstand the effects of a grand prix on your body without mental fatigue setting in. I doubt that going a long way beyond that level in terms of conditioning would improve performance in the same way it would in other sports. Neck muscles though, I'd bet if you put any other top sportsman through the loads of a grand prix, they wouldn't hack it. It's a focused training that other sports don't require, so it's all relative.

A UK sports magazine did a multi test between:

Micheal Owan (England Football player)
Colin Jackson (World hurdles Champion)
John Regiss (World 400 metre champion)
David Coulthard ( Factory F1 driver)
& Neil Hodgson ( at the time of test, World Superbike Champion)

The tests were all cardio + endurance fitness tests.

Hodgson wiped the floor with them all. I remember also he was second [only to the runner] in the running test!!

Who came last in the test?
Source:
The Soccer player on over £100 K a week ! (@ $200 K )

Here's another test. Indycar this time.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMqVmilOwU4

And, as bike racers leave the car guys for dead in fitness tests, at least the best....
Motorcyclists don't get much respect as far as athletes go. After all, say the critics, what's so difficult about riding a new Yamaha R6 up the local canyons or taking hot laps down at the area raceway? As anyone who's come out of a turn with his arms aching from the power needed to flick a 350-pound sportbike around at speed knows, bikes take plenty of fitness to ride well. The logical extension of that is the more fit you are, the more performance you'll be able to wring out of your rides.

There are two basic kinds of fitness relating to the energy systems your body uses. Aerobic fitness is your ability to do work over a sustained period of time. A primary component of this is the health of your cardiovascular system. Aerobic, in this case, doesn't mean Tae-Bo; it means the body's capacity to do work over a period of time when oxygen is present in the muscle. To build cardio fitness you have to put in some time--namely you need an exercise regimen that includes a sport such as cycling or running.
Anaerobic fitness is more related to musculature. Anaerobic workouts are high-intensity exercises that create a temporary oxygen deficit by consuming more oxygen at a particular moment than the cardiovascular system can supply, thereby forcing your muscles to burn glycogen, instead of oxygen, for energy. The anaerobic energy system kicks in for shorter, harder expenditures of energy, where the muscles are operating at such a high capacity that they can no longer flush the lactic acid waste from the tissues, causing the "burn" often referred to in exercise literature. Weight training is a common anaerobic training method.
A basic exercise regimen will build on these two kinds of fitness. The form you gain from exercising will help stave off fatigue during a long, hot race, help you to post personal best finishes and recover faster after arduous efforts.
http://www.sportrider.com/fitness-motorcyclists

So, while a certain level of ability is required to get to the top, fitness is essential. That's what, these days, seperates the winner from the first loser. (And those making up the numbers)

And, bluntly, this isn't an issue for console cowboys. The energy used in actual racing is completely different to that used honing your track skills in front of a monitor.
And yes, in certain forms of motorsport, if you spend enough money then you get a package that will win no matter how unfit you are. But that doesn't apply when it's a level playing field. Then it's all down to you, Not your money.

Source; I've raced karts, bikes, and been stupid enough to swing on a chair. (Sidecar for those who don't understand)

Quote from Racer X NZ :

And, bluntly, this isn't an issue for console cowboys. The energy used in actual racing is completely different to that used honing your track skills in front of a monitor.

Did you just copy/paste the rest?
How can there be a fair comparison between Michael Owen (spelling check) and Colin Jackson...there is a twelve year age difference...never mind that Owen was probably injured at the time of the test.

The fact is that to qualify for this competition a certain level of fitness was required...

if you have like 6 hours to spare, this are the whole GT Academy 2014 U.S. National Finals (the GT6 part at least). Interesting to see how they drive.

Urgh...looks like a complete arcade.

MarcG won the German edition of GT Academy.

Wow, I just skipped through a few of the driving parts, but god those players suck. These people are supposed to represent the best of their region and they are missing nearly every braking point and can't find a grip. It wasn't even a random car.

Quote from Kristi :

Wow, I just skipped through a few of the driving parts, but god those players suck. These people are supposed to represent the best of their region and they are missing nearly every braking point and can't find a grip. It wasn't even a random car.

I think most of them don't play anything apart from GT6 so they won't know how to react when they change them the conditions, rain for example.

A1 Ring with 370z, and missing each and every braking point even after 4 laps in a row. There is no excuse for that These guys aren't newbies to the game, are they?