Video: how to stay in shape for a 24-hour race

A few weeks ago Aston Martin’s Darren Turner told us exactly what it takes to become an endurance driver. The effort required sounded arduous and exhausting, and now two of Ford’s GT drivers have confirmed it with a video documenting their fitness regime.

Stefan Mucke and Harry Tincknell – who will compete in the #66 and #67 Ford GTs at the 24 Hours of Le Mans this year – have training programmes specially tailored to help them deal with the challenging conditions posed by a twice-round-the-clock race.

Not only do their bodies have to cope with the stresses and strains provoked by cornering and braking speeds, but they also have to contend with severe dehydration and an interrupted sleeping pattern during the course of the event.

“For Le Mans, they’re obviously going to be in the car for a long time so it’s about training them to be able to withstand the heart rate, high intensities over a long period of time, the high heat that they’re subjected to,” explains Tincknell’s fitness expert Tom Clark. “They can get cockpit temperatures of anywhere up to 50 degrees.”

Yikes. Reckon you could handle it? A typical session includes a warm-up, followed by three 45-minute blocks training the cardiovascular system, upper body muscles and core strength muscles. Then there’s a short stint working on neck strength before a stretch and a cool-down.

So about three hours of vigorous exercise. Every day. We’ll be quite happy watching from the sidelines in June...