The purpose of the Elite Motorsport Academy is to identify and develop the potential of New Zealand's most promising young drivers. Drivers from both rally and track disciplines attend a week-long camp in Dunedin, where they are put through physical and mental tests designed to examine their ability to cope with some of the most stressful conditions found in competitive sport.
In this brief overview of the Academy, sports scientist Chris Button will provide behind-the-scenes insight into some of the activities that go on at the yearly camp. He will discuss how important issues such as heat tolerance, nutrition, mental skills, musculo-skeletal balance, media training, and physical fitness all impact on driver performance and training. Chris will also chat with a previous graduate about his experience of the Academy and what it has meant for his career.
Chris Button is a Senior Lecturer in Motor Control at the University of Otago, Dunedin. He has helped to coordinate the Elite Motorsport Academy since its inception in 2004. He works with a number of high-performance athletes and coaches from sports such as football, cricket, netball, and motorsport. Chris has written over 90 research publications, and chapters for four books.
http://physed.otago.ac.nz/research/motorsportacademy.html