JELLEY TALKS PORSCHE, TRIATHLONS & THE IMPORTANTS OF NUTRITION

Its great to be in partnership with Hi-Prosport and to be able to help launch the Hi-Prosport name into the world of motorsport.

Teams and drivers will go to the ends of the earth to tune the car to be perfect, and the values of personal training and psychology are taken very seriously. However making sure the body has the correct ingredients in the form of nutrition is somewhat overlooked. Food of today is a mass produced affair with fruit and vegetables loosing some nutritional value along the way. This is not so much of a problem if your a couch potato but if your training daily, looking to find the last tenth of a second it is a big advantage to be nutritionally on top of your game.

My season so far has been an interesting one, i'm relatively new to the Porsche after two seasons in the British Touring Car Championship. All race cars demand a different approach to driving them quickly. Its pretty easy to get within half a second of the ultimate pace (in any car) but when half a second can cover the top ten its imperative to look into every aspect of your approach, especially if you can find something others haven't. This is an area that I have come good of late and the podiums and champagne have began to flow. Unfortunately another aspect of motorsport is that mechanical issues can happen, in the first three meetings of the year I got hampered with mechanical issues in one of the two races each weekend. This has taken its toll on the championship and I'm currently standing fourth, within sight of third but unfortunately the top two have made a bit of a break that i'll be doing my best to close up that gap.

As part of my training I took up triathlon and I will be competing in an Olympic distance this weekend, it gives another target to shoot for and demands a level of preparation perfect for driving race cars. Weight is an important factor for racing drivers, the heavier the driver the more the car and tyres have to work. Weight has to be balanced with strength and endurance, the constant loading of the body under g-forces combined with the intense heat build up of a race car put a lot of stress on the body. I have to be as fresh on the last lap as the first. I used to be into distance running but got quite a few injury's, I find the balance of swims, bikes, and runs, combined with the gym work mixes it up a bit and I find I can train harder without injury. Another aspect of our races is that we have two or even three races in one day, (unlike F1 which is one long race) this means that you have to get over the high of a race and re-fuel yourself to be physically and mentally sharp for the next one. For me this is an area that Nutrition in motorsport is so important as in the two hours between races it is imperative to be back to your best which is tough if you have given your all. I now have an advantage in HI-Prosport!!       

Our next race meeting is at Snetterton in Norfolk on August 7-8 after that it a busy time with Silverstone two weeks later followed by Knockhill in Scotland the first weekend of September. I'll be keeping everyone up to date.

Thanks

Stephen Jelley