Pre-RACE Physical Conditioning

[steve911]

Happy New year all,

This post isn't so much Comp Coupe related as it is Viper racing in general. I have been involved in "lower" horsepower types of road racing for a while. Since the purchase of my new Viper I did take some really high performance driving classes and found that I can induce some vertigo symptoms when really pushing a race car hard for 20 mins or so.

I went to my ENT Doc and my ears and sinus's are in Excellent shape and he could not offer any explantion why I would be experiencing the symptoms. I work with military fighter pilots and they have told me that these symptoms are common when first learning to fly and that most overcome the symptoms with more flight hours.

Does anyone here have or had similar experiences? If continued exposure is the only cure, I going to go broke driving other folk's cars. Anyone have any other ideas??

thanks

 

[Janni]

Here is what we have found -

In addition to all the good info here about keeping your eyes up, etc. (that you should already know) - there are 2 things you can do that make a tremendous difference in your ability to focus...

1. Stay hydrated. You sweat buckets in the Viper - there's not a lot of air movement in closed cars. Rig up an air nozzle to pull air in from between the A pillar and the side view mirror. Drink WAY more than you tihnk you should - it'll help stay cool - dehydration is a HUGE problem.

2. Stay cool - consider a cool suit if you are going to be doing track events. Having ice cold water pump thorugh capillary tubing under your driving suit will not make you COLD, but will help your core body temperature stay reasonable. Some systems also come with a fresh air intake that will pump filtered fresh air into your helmet - helping again with concentration.

And yes, you'll get used to it the more you do and the more familiar you are with quickly learning proper lines and becoming accustomed to the speed and how quickly what you see actually gets felt....

 

[Bugeater]

I can vouch for the cool suit with air intake to helmet. It makes a HUGE difference in ones ability to remain focused.

 

[Mr U-2]

I spent my life driving jets for the Air Force and so let me add just a couple of thoughts. You mentioned vertigo, which if you're using the term as I understand it means you're getting dizzy. We were exposed in training to a rotating chair which turned very smoothly..it taught us that rapid head movement even in a slow roll or turn can cause vertigo. So rapid head movement while in a turn was something we'd try not to do...especially at night or in weather.

If your Doc says your inner ear is healthy then in addition to seat time and hydration/cooling you might consider neck and shoulder strength exercises...as well as aerobics for the heart/lungs. "G's" in and aircraft are vertical...that is head to toe...toe/head (negative G) with fore/aft less common...except for launch and arrest for example..a pilot must tighten his abdominal and leg muscles to keep the blood from "pooling" in the lower extremities...draining from the head and heart...resulting in greying out and eventually blacking out. But that's different than vertigo.

G's in a road race car are not as intense and are lateral as well as fore/aft so perhaps a stronger neck might help. I've noticed I always hurt in my neck/shoulders after racing...especially if I'm in a Formula Car. So my two cents is stay hydrated...get your body used to the stress and work out a bit...and watch the rapid head movement.

Paul

 

[Sonny 00 GTS ACR]

This may not be practical for your application, but a good race seat with a 6 point harness does a lot to keep you steady and relaxed while driving. Especially when you are transitioning to stickier tires and more agressive suspension adjustments it can really help.

The pedals in the Viper are so far to the left that it doesn't leave room for a "dead pedal". Even in cars that have one, you waste a lot of energy when you have to "brace yourself" in every turn. A properly fitted seat should make a big difference with potential vertigo problems as well as better feedback from the car which really can help your performance.