The Motorsport UK Academy and Nottingham Trent University joined forces earlier this week (14-16 August) for three days of physical, mental and nutritional training and education.

Academy Team UK stars Casper Stevenson, Sandy Mitchell, Jonny Edgar and Ben Green – plus Patrick O’Donovan from Team UK Futures – all took part in the camp, designed by the university’s Sports and Exercise Science department, which also featured guest speakers and a unique opportunity to train with British Canoeing to experience the commitment and demands on athletes at an equivalent level in another sport.

Similarities between canoeing and motorsport can be seen in the form of performance behaviours such as communication, teamwork, commitment and pushing yourself out of your comfort zone. There are also similarities in understanding the setup and engineering of the boat and paddle, and the impact this can have on performance.

The drivers were also put through their paces in the physiology and biomechanics lab to assess human performance, the results of which will help to dictate the individual training programmes they receive through the Academy.

There was also a focus on the importance of hydration, rejuvenation and recovery, with time spent in the nutrition labs to aid this learning.

Elsewhere, Shameema Yousef from Empower2Perform taught the group mindfulness and relaxation techniques, and guest speakers David Gregory (Off Piste Wealth) and Will Bowyer (Lawrence Stephens) shared athlete finance and sports law advice and guidance.

The camp finished with a visualisation training session in the psychology lab which involved comparing the accuracy of track visualisation with their simulated performances.

Motorsport UK Academy support was provided by Competitors Pathway Manager Katie Baldwin and Competitors Pathway Coordinator Becky Maidment, while Tom Onslow-Cole offered performance management support and Jack Wilson (Porsche Human Performance) delivered the fitness sessions and helped to explain the nutrition education in a motorsport context.

Katie Baldwin, Competitors Pathway Manager at Motorsport UK:

“It’s been an incredibly valuable three days with expert input from multiple practitioners across different performance areas.

“Outside of the session delivery, the value of bringing together likeminded, high-performing individuals together cannot be overlooked – the conversations that this generated, the sharing of ideas and generally bringing a team ethos into a very individual sport has been extremely beneficial.

“We are looking forward to continuing to provide enhanced support to the Academy Team UK drivers throughout their ongoing progression. Thanks to Nottingham Trent University’s Sport and Exercise Science department for designing and facilitating this camp.”