Speed ain't everything

“Speed is not everything”.  This has been the emphasis from day 1 at the grand finals. Stressing on the same, day 3 meant a fitness test at the Posche Human Performance Centre and seminars on nutrition and driver preparation at the Force India Headquarters.

Arriving at the Force India headquarters, The Final Eight were split into two groups of four each. While one group stayed back at the headquarters to attend the seminar on nutrition and driver preparation, the other group headed to the Porsche Human Performance to test their fitness.

Nikhil, Masood, Arjun and Anshuman attended the theoretical side of the day, while Parth, Tarun, Jehan and Shashank were the group chosen to take on the practical side. The individual fitness assessments included tests on body composition, strength, reactions and aerobic fitness.

The morning session witnessed Tarun Reddy pushing on really hard on the tread mill, where he managed to hang on to speeds of up to 16kmph. If that was not enough, he went on to take 20 chin ups and a pretty good quantity of push-ups as well. Competing well, we had Nikhil pushing up to 18kmp in the afternoon session.

Jehan managed to get up to 14kmph before suffering from a stomach cramp. However he was fit and back to get on with the other exercises required from him.

Due to a little injury, Parth took an alternative test and by the look of it, faired very well indeed.

Masood went really well up to 16kmph before the treadmill got the better of him. Last of the lot was Arjun, who again pushed quite well to go up to 14kmph.He never expected to do that well, was what he had to say, post his run.

The most enjoyable, as well as the one requiring a very balanced mixture of concentration and cool was the batak, a setup consisting of 11 light buttons, which illuminate on a random basis and require to be tapped on before the next one can go light up. Each contestant had a minute’s time to do it. After a practice session before actually being timed, each of the eight contestants made sure they made absolute usage of the practice session in order to be able to give their best in the session that mattered.

The seminar on the nutrition and driver preparation went on to enlighten the drivers on a diet that was right and nutritious enough, and the different requisites of a nutritious diet amongst other things. The driver preparation spoke about the right mind set required of a driver and various tips to get the same.

The highlight of the day was Hamilton’s (one of the judges) talk with the contestants. He said that it was a once in a life time opportunity that he wished he had when he was young. Giving his own example, he said, he was completely lost when his son, Lewis, told him he wanted to be a F1 driver. He further said, it was their hunger for opportunity that got them where they are today and it was what was required of the contestants as well. Commenting on an incident involving a contestant’s cold, he said in formula one, it might be raining, but one must be able to stand up to it and be prepared. He added saying that a few years down the lane, you might get the feeling, I wish I had pushed a little harder back then and I could have done it. He said, it was better to bear the cold a little more compared to the regret later. He went on to say that the contestants had to be more comfortable and get out of their nervousness.

We are sure, the talk proved to be one of great inspiration to the contestants, now and in the days to come.