Ingram ready to withstand BTCC heat following expert advice from F1 star Webber
28-Apr-2014 
Tom Ingram’s first outing as a British Racing Drivers’ Club (BRDC)
SuperStar saw the talented young High Wycombe ace put through his paces
by former grand prix-winner Mark Webber – leaving him well-equipped to
approach his forthcoming Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship
(BTCC) debut in peak physical form.
The two-day fitness and nutrition workshop took place at the
state-of-the-art Porsche Human Performance Centre at Silverstone, in the
presence of the German sportscar manufacturer’s new endurance racing
recruit Webber.
On the agenda were challenges as diverse as cycling, strength
conditioning, yoga, resistance work, early-morning runs and athletic
workouts – and as he revs up towards his BTCC bow in 2014 in Speedworks
Motorsport’s Hughes-backed Toyota Avensis, Ingram was able to pick up
some tips from a man who fought for the F1 title on no fewer than five
occasions during the course of a stellar top flight career.
“We had a Q&A session with Mark, which allowed us to quiz him on his
experiences and learn from him,” related the SKYCIG and Hansford
Sensors-supported KX Akademy graduate and MSA Academy member. “He is
somebody who has always taken his fitness very seriously, so his
insights into the ‘dos and don’ts’ was invaluable. To have somebody like
that on tap to glean information from was fantastic, and really
underlined the advantages of being part of the BRDC SuperStars scheme.”
As a keen mountain-biker, Ingram has always enjoyed keeping himself in
shape, but he admitted that some aspects of the activity were
particularly eye-opening.
“I must confess, beforehand, I had always thought yoga was something old
ladies do on a Tuesday morning,” joked the 20-year-old triple Ginetta
Champion and ex-British Karting Champion. “I soon realised that I was
very wrong! I was amazed by how difficult it was, and how good it is for
your flexibility and strength.
“Since there were drivers present from single-seaters, touring cars and
sportscars, the advice was tailored to our individual requirements,
which was immensely beneficial. We were taught a lot of the theory and
science behind fitness and diet, so that when we train, we understand
what effect it’s actually having and so we know what we should be eating
and when to ensure optimum recovery periods – because it’s vital that
we are absolutely at the top of our game weekend-long.
“Non-motorsport fans tend to have a preconceived idea that racing
drivers just climb into the car, press the pedal and turn the steering
wheel, and that as such we’re not really athletes – but nothing could be
further from the truth. For a start, the sheer heat level inside the
cockpit over the duration of a race is something that’s very difficult
for people to comprehend. I always compare it to sitting inside your
house in mid-summer, wearing a winter coat, with the heating at
flat-chat and the fire full-on – for half-an-hour!
“Then you’ve got the mental side, needing to be mindful of where all the
other cars are around you, sizing up and executing overtaking
manoeuvres, defending your position from the drivers behind and looking
after your tyres. You’re constantly re-evaluating situations, analysing
the track condition and paying attention to your lap times. You have to
stay completely alert and focussed throughout, and physical fitness
sharpens your mental reflexes, too.”
Ingram will need to have both in plentiful supply as he prepares to
pitch himself into the cut-and-thrust, doorhandle-to-doorhandle action
of the tremendously popular, ITV4 live-televised BTCC – a championship
that is commonly regarded as the world’s premier and most
fiercely-contested tin-top series. BRDC SuperStars Director Tim Harvey
affirmed that those preparations have already got off to an encouraging
start.
“The fitness training workshop was a great opportunity for Tom to learn
not only from a top-level athlete like Mark, but also from his racing
peers,” explained the 1992 BTCC Champion. “Everybody was able to discern
where they were strong and in which areas they had room for
improvement. Tom will face a lot of distractions over a BTCC weekend,
which will demand total mental and physical concentration, but the
Porsche programme got everybody into the right mindset for an excellent
year ahead.”
