Coaching motorsport stars of the future
Intensive training sessions hosted by the University are helping develop talented young racing drivers from around the world.
Ten drivers have been put through a series of gruelling workshops at Moray House School of Education to help them succeed in this highly-competitive sport.
Demanding physical exercises included an early morning run around a celebrated city landmark - Arthur’s Seat - followed by a work-out in the University’s heat chamber, where temperatures exceeded 40 degrees Celsius.
The sessions were designed to highlight fundamental training principles, such as how quickly dehydration can occur, and what happens to a driver’s mental performance in punishing race conditions.
Video
In this short film, some of the drivers, academics, and students explain how the programme works.
International emphasis
The programme, part of the FIA Institute Young Driver Excellence Academy, involved students from countries around the globe, including Venezuela, Lithuania and South Africa.
This year saw the first Indian driver - Akhil Rabindra - taking part in the Academy.
Teaching students
The workshops were led by physiologist Dr Tony Turner and psychologist Hugh Richards from the University of Edinburgh’s Institute of Sport PE & Health Sciences at Moray House School of Education.
Postgraduate students assisted in the monitoring of the drivers, providing them with invaluable practical experience.
The drivers were pushed hard both physically and mentally. It is an intensity of training which matches that found in high-performance motor sport environments. There was a lot of ‘hands-on’ work with the drivers learning about the exacting demands of motor sport and we developed individual take-home strategies for them to start implementing straight away.
Impressive track record
The FIA’s programme - in tandem with the University of Edinburgh - has identified young drivers who have gone on to achieve great success in various types of motor sport.
These include Alexander Rossi, current F1 Test Driver for Caterham and Andreas Mikkelsen, who drives for Volkswagen in the World Rally Championship.