Another amazing few days away in Sebring Florida working with the Pfaff Motorsports Team. After getting to the airport and realizing that my flight was going to be delayed by over three hours, I settled into a comfy seat and spent a good amount of time on clinic work and doing residency research for an upcoming round presentation that I have in April. We got into our Sebring hotel at just before 2pm, and were up and headed to the track at 7:30am. My body doesn’t mind the lack of sleep, and with the potential to see another race track, I was excited and eager to get going our first morning.
Sebring is quite the historic race track. Built on a World War II airport back in the 60s, it is flat, vast, not a lot of amenities, and so much concrete that during the day you just bake in the Florida sun. Setup was quick as everyone lends a hand and there is none of the “thats not my job” garbage that I have heard will tend to happen in some teams. We basically set up two locations with he “garage” being a large tent that comes off of the trailer and the pit lane which is totally built on site and amazingly erected thanks to the coordination of Kyle.
Our driver’s (Oli, Marvin and Hinch) arrived the same day and it was good to see them. I had a bit of work to do on Oli, and after set about working through some of the improvements I had brought to Sebring after deciding on areas of improvement after Daytona just 6 weeks prior.
I brought along a new electrolyte drink Scratch Labs, which I used in my cycling days, as it is in my opinion one of the best on the market. Nothing extra added, and only what you need. It was a test to see how the driver’s liked it, as ultimately they are the deciding factor. Based on all the feedback I got it was a big hit, even from Marvin who is bar far the most particular individual I have met when it comes to food/drink/preparation. The second thing I asked Pfaff to order and institute was having ice vests on hand for each of the driver’s. Some race cars have AC, but the McLaren sadly does not and we have had some heat issues during mid day where driver’s get a little too hot and although are able to finish a stint, are a bit of a wreck after. I wanted to institute the ice vest for pre drive to cool them down, and have it available for after to help them recover. We only got one vest, but it fit all drivers and was a big hit throughout the weekend. See below Hinch cooling off with the ice vest on right before he hops in the car.
When race day came it wasn’t very long before disaster struck. I think it was all of 10sec into the start and on the first turn Oli was hit by another car, and then hit again by an errant Ferrari. This bent and tore his front wheel and tire, and also damaged some rear suspension. This meant straight to the garage and instantly we were 15 laps down. Not a great start. The race turned into a long high speed test for the team. Unlike Daytona nothing on the car broke which didn’t involve impact. Mid race we were hit again by a Lexus driven by as Bruno (team strategist) called, a Bozo driver. On a positive the team finished the race, without retirement and at times were the fastest car on track which is quite inspiring.
We finished up. Had a celebratory beer for all of the hard work, and the positive fact that we finished this race, and finished still putting in solid, competitive lap times. For the next race I hope to use what I learned and provide better nutrition for the entire team, and make sure that we have three ice vests. One for each driver so that they stay cooler and there is no sharing. By the end of the race the vest was barely cold, and more of a psychological benefit.
I have a few other thoughts for cooling as we come into the summer races. Some track cyclists who compete in the heat intentionally for less dense air will actually eat slush prior to an event to cool themselves down internally. I proposed this to the drivers who were all open to the idea and will be packing a bender for my next race in Watkins Glen, NY.
Until the next race where I’m sure I will learn even more things and have more developments. Thats the best part of car racing I think. You are never still. Once you solve one problem you immediately move on to the next, or are constantly searching for that ever elusive performance improvement that your competitors have not thought of yet. I am no car mechanic, but I aim to keep helping the drivers and entire team to get better and better physically. Every area that we can improve, whether on or off the track is a potential improvement. Fast cars need fast personal.
Keep it rubber side down.
Adam
Dr. Adam Wade 