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Grand Am
TAYLOR: Formula Medicine Day 3
Today was very difficult for me because we focused mainly on strength circuit training.
Ricky Taylor  |  Posted December 17, 2010  
Part of Taylor's education in Italy is how to perform his job driving the No. 10 SunTrust Racing Dallara-Chevy at the limit without a negligible drop in performance. (WTR)
Ciao! Day three at Formula Medicine and Jordan and I are still alive and well, but very sore! Everyday has been difficult here in Italy but, the first two days, the difficulty was in the anaerobic training, which I am most used to during my training in the U.S. Today was very difficult for me because we focused mainly on strength circuit training.

We started out the morning with one hour of aerobic training, which I did on the treadmill and Jordan did on the bike. Aerobic, in this case, means under our anaerobic threshold, which we established during the first two days. Then, it was off to the classroom with Dr. Ceccarelli to learn about mental strength and stamina. Dr. Ceccarelli showed examples of drivers’ heart rates during a race distance from over the past 20 years, including cardiograms and track data. He explained a few of the research projects they are conducting at the moment regarding driver heart rates. Some studies that they have done were very interesting.

For example, if you ask a driver about his race pace, “How much more lap time could you have gotten compared to your qualifying pace?” Most drivers will say about two or three tenths per lap. But the reason for this is that you dial back your pace, which will require less concentration so as not to make mistakes. And we could see this in the heart rates, as well. As the driver is told to push, the heart rate went up and lap time came down two or three tenths. But most drivers cannot maintain this pace throughout a race distance because it will require too much concentration and mental effort to last the entire way. But Dr. Ceccarelli says that, with mental training, a driver can increase the pace with more concentration and maintain their concentration for the duration of the race. Potentially, there is a lot of benefit because, over the course of a Formula 1 race, two to three tenths per lap equates to 20-30 seconds per race.

In the afternoon, we moved to some circuit training on the upper body, which was very difficult. We had to decrease the weight by half and increase the repetitions by three times. During the testing, the trainers were awesome, saying “Push now!” But it was in their broken English, just like they do in Formula 1. It was quite funny how they say that, as if you were just cruising along. We have been taking plenty of video and pictures with our new Toshiba Camileo camera, documenting our trip here, so we will try to catch a shot of them yelling, “Push now!”

Now we are off to bed, then we are going to visit Dallara tomorrow, which should be very exciting.

Ricky Taylor, 21-year-old son of three-time sports car champion and team owner Wayne Taylor, will begin his second full season co-driving with veteran Max Angelelli in the No. 10 SunTrust Chevrolet Dallara of Wayne Taylor Racing when the 2011 GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series season kicks off with the traditional Rolex 24 At Daytona. In 2010, Taylor earned his first two career Rolex Series pole positions (Birmingham and Daytona), another three front-row starting spots (Lime Rock, Mid-Ohio and New Jersey) and co-drove with Angelelli to his first career Rolex Series victory on Memorial Day at Lime Rock. Together, Taylor and Angelelli scored seven podium finishes en route to second place in the series championship behind Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas.

Taylor has gained a wealth of experience in the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series since debuting with the SunTrust team at the 2008 Rolex 24 At Daytona, where he led laps and co-drove to a fifth-place finish. Splitting time with Cincinnati-based Doran Racing and Texas-based Beyer Racing in 2008 and 2009, Taylor scored three top-five finishes, 12 top-10s, and led 33 laps in 20 Rolex Series starts preparing for his full-time debut with the SunTrust team in 2010. Taylor’s road to the Rolex Series showed his championship form in America’s most high-profile open-wheel development series, including the Skip Barber National and Southern Series. He’s also logged valuable seat time in other exotic racing machines, including Star Mazda and IMSA Lights prototypes.

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