Nick Tandy: How To Be An Endurance Racing Driver

We spoke to Nick Tandy after winning Le Mans in a stellar 2015 season earned him the Autocar That Motorsport Hero Award

Nick Tandy tahun lalu Le Mans menang terlempar ketidakjelasan ke dari Bintang give perjalanannya sudah motorsport-sudah biasa yang tidak kekurangan ating.

Forgoing the usual racing kart motorsport, Bedford-born Tandy Start His skill in Grassroots Motorsports Milling short oval. I am working out his face through Formula 3 single-seat racing sportscars Before changing to give was signed as Porsche works driver in 2013. Now, at age 31, I was with Brit Le Mans 32 titles to his name.

This year has faced two Porsche driver in the 24-month-hour endurance races. Such challenges will require detailed exhausting physical cleaning stringent give Preparation, you would assume, but Tandy sounded Moreover Makes relaxed.

"I had a burger chips give last night," I am I have to say, two hours before as he entered the Porsche 911 RSR's first task in the Le Mans 24-hour flush.

We were in the pits as the rain Porsche race will take place in the back of the safety car, which means 911 - Which is the stronger Wet - can not use the weather with Reviews their advantage.

Tandy, Looked uneasy, stem Around-hole hole, but I present to him the Hero Award Motorsport Autocar - WORTH recognition for outstanding 2015 season Him - give relaxes me thank you for the ATTITUDE.

"Life has not really changed," I said About the response to last year's Le Mans victory. "More people know what you're doing, but it was quickly forgotten. It's all about the next race."

Tandy was not Have the opportunity to maintain the Le Mans crown this year Him. Dieselgate budget hit VW Group's motorsport so, with only running two Porsche cars in the LMP1 class, I was racing in the GTE Pro.

"What do you do as a person - physically, mentally - all designed to win," I said. "It's exactly the same, even if the machine is different."

I lowered my job is passed to get himself fit and masks racing humility His talent behind the wheel, but our discussion reveals there is more to it. There is, though, one recurring theme: simplicity.

"The simpler you make it, the less complications there would be if there was something that was not available that you're used to."

So the pre-race ritual out of the window. This work you do before the day of the race That Counts.

"The biggest thing is your weight. Millions are spent shaving off any grams or kilograms from the car, so that does mean that you can not go crazy with your diet. "

But burgers and chips? "Come race week, you eat when you're hungry and you eat what you want," he smiles.

Calorie counting and intense training come before, but when Tandy arrives at race week, it's clear that he likes to relax. He has been bowling with his team-mates in Le Mans twice already.

His Porsche crew had a chance to gel at the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring just three weekends Previously, but there's only so much you can prepare for. Disappointment comes with the territory. Tandy's 911 GT3 R crashed out on the second lap at the Nürburgring due to a technical fault.

"It's easy to switch off from the disappointment, but it's hugely frustrating," he says. "Six months of work for the team, the crescendo starts, then it's over before you've even started."

In endurance racing, the highs are never far from the lows and it's crucial that the driver switches focus to the next race as soon as possible. Doing two races in such a short space of time does not FAZE Tandy, but he says it's not ideal for his physical training.

"I like to have an intense, physical two-week period with the trainer before we arrive for race week, then you relax and have slightly Easier training, but N24 [the Nürburgring 24 Hours] makes that harder to fit in before Le Mans.

"We do not specify one aspect of the body, or one aspect of how to be a race car driver. It's endurance for the whole of your body. You ramp it up towards a 24-hour race, but you do it throughout the year. And obviously the more driving you do, the better you're going to go. "

The physical side is one thing, but it's the endurance of the mind as much as the body, battling exhaustion. It all comes naturally to Tandy, though, and his night drive last year was pivotal to Porsche's victory.

"Mentally, the preparation is done in the past years. Now, at the race, I'm in my normal zone. When I'm tired, I'll sleep. If I'm not, and it's 5am, I'll stay up and watch the race. I've stayed up through the course of a race before, and I've never had more than one hour, in total, for a 24-hour race. "

Even if you did want to sleep, it's impossible to plan in advance. Each car has three drivers who rotate throughout the race, but you can not Predict what time you'll be in and out.

"It's determined by fuel in the car," Tandy says, glancing at a monitor to watch his team-mate Porsche navigating his way around the circuit in the streaming rain. "Typically, we do two full fuel tanks, the which should equate to 14 laps at Le Mans. But you've got to be flexible.

"There's usually a four-hour gap between your stints. Once you've finished, you have 30 minutes out of the car for the debrief and to see the physio if you want.

"You've got to be here an hour before so if something goes wrong, you can go straight in, so that leaves an hour and a half before you've got to be ready."

Is there more pressure going into a race as last year's winner?

"There is a bit more pressure from that side, but I've got nothing left to PROVE to anybody," he says before he's ushered back into the control room.

Unfortunately, later in the race, and his disappointment strikes again withdraws Porsche 911 RSR with engine failure after 135 laps.

"It's so difficult, to Achieve what you want," he says. "When you do win, that's why it is great. "The preparation is simple. But trying to be better than the rest: that's a really difficult, challenge. "

Tweet