John H.

Webber trains with his 'idol'

Mark Webber has called in the help of his hero and six-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong to ensure he is in top form on his first day as a Williams employee.

At the moment Webber is the only confirmed Williams driver after the Contract Recognition Board ruled for Jenson Button to wait another year before joining the Aussie. On November 24th the Grove based squad will not only commence testing their new car, but also potential drivers for next season.
After the 2004 season ended Webber, who is already considered as one of the fittest drivers in the paddock, travelled to the USA to begin his training with top cyclist Lance Armstrong.

"As everyone knows, Lance is a phenomenally fit guy and it was amazing to be cycling alongside him and chatting, although my breaths soon got shorter and shorter, as did my answers to his questions," said the 28-year-old.

"He's been a big hero of mine for ages, so I was a bit anxious about meeting one of my idols. But a friend of a friend who knew Lance told him about my interest which led to us meeting up in Texas for a training camp."

During their practice sessions, Armstrong admitted that he would like to swap his cycle and for once feel what a 900bhp drive feels like.

"He said he wanted to drive the car himself rather than be a passenger. I told him I wasn't sure if it was possible but I'd look into it," Webber concluded.

VintageSteve

Emerson Fittipaldi and Alain Prost are other drivers that ride regulary for the fitness. Emerson has(d) a nice time trial bike with Marlboro emblazoned on it.
Seems F1 drivers have considered cycling one of the best ways of training for driving in a way that sharpens their reactions to boot.

DocRay

The best drivers have always been athletes. In the 70's ABC used to have a multi-disciplined competiton between different sports figures from baseball, hockey, Track, to football. No one expected Jody Sheckter, a F1 driver, to win.

Modern F1 drivers run heart rates of 120 for two hours, adrenaline levels higher than any other sport and G-forces that make their heads weight about 100lbs in a corner. Great physiology studies on F1 drivers were done by McGill.

fujiacerider

There was an awesome shot back in..... '93, I think, of an in-car shot with Senna. He was wearing and HRM, and was running just over 190BPM. It was awesome!

Cole

Zouf

Hope you meant more than 120... I do that in a stressful meeting at the office...

53-11 alltheway

I'm glad there are F1 fans here. I've been watching since the 1995 Monte Carlo Grand Prix.....the first Race I saw where Michael Schumacher dominated by putting out some blistering laps while his opponent was in the Pits (I think it was Damon Hill).

Yeah.....I agree Formula 1 is probably the most taxing sport out there physically and especially mentally. Imagine having to have razor sharp nerves for a few hours while your body is undergoing massive g forces in a boiling hot cockpit. Funny thing is Formula 1 brakes (strongest in motorsports) are so powerful that if the driver was able to use them to their fullest.....the driver would black out.

operator

Uh, who told you this?

Thylacine

I wonder if he's ever dined with Robbin Williams?

53-11 alltheway

I've been watching Formula 1 for almost 10 years.......The Speedvision (now they call themselves SPEED TV) announcers have said this on a few occassions over the years.

Even Indy Car drivers who switched over to Formula 1 (and got their assess kicked by the higher level of competition) say that the biggest thing between an Indy Car and a F1 car is the superior braking of an F1 car.

2Rodies

Yes the carbon/carbon brakes on a F1 car are far superior to the cast iron brakes on an CART car. However the brakes on an F1 car will not cause a driver to black out. Even in strait line braking the tires would lock far before the driver would reach the g loads that would cause him to black out.

VintageSteve

Did anyone see that challenge in England where they raced an F1, road motorcycle and speedboat in the quarter mile? The Honda speedboat got a rolling (?) start, the Honda bike and Honda F1 set off on the line. The bike took an early lead, then after about a hundred meters the F1 hit it, and the acceleration made the bike look like it was standing still.
Pretty cool to see.

53-11 alltheway

F1 cars are rockets!

unfortunately they are talking about downsizing the engines to 2.5 liters. Even with all the restrictions every year they keep getting faster.

P.S. I love the way a 19,000 rpm Ferrari sounds! Actually the old V-12 (before all manufacturers were mandated to run V-10s) sounded even better.

fujiacerider

I'm bettin' that it COULD be done with the equipment they use right now. Enough downforce on a grippy enough track surface.... wouldn't surprise me.
At Texas a few years ago, some Indy guys were blacking out in the turns from excessive G's.


Cole

apple_quit

have you seen the video where a CART car races an F-18? the car was beating the F-18 clean until the jet got airborne.

53-11 alltheway

Yeah.....it doesn't suprise me. BTW, jet-powered drag racing cars are usually slower than piston-driven ones. Jets aren't all that great for initial acceleration.

P.S. it is still an amazing observation nontheless!

fujiacerider

There's a review around somewhere that Jay Leno wrote about his Y2K turbine motorcycle. He says it mealts the bumpers on the cars behind him if they get too close. AWESOME!
Also mentions it pretty much sucks until it picks up some speed- then it's mind blowing.


Cole

VintageSteve

I think it's ironic that all those a$$ drivers that beep or try to run you off the road don't even know that some of the best drivers in the world are also out on their bikes.
Who are they to swerve in front of Prost?

wlevey

The two best sports!!

My brother goes to Monaco every year for the race!! Luck B!! He can afford it and alass, I can't. I will be in Paris on July 24th this year to watch the cerimonial ride at the end of the Tour!! Unfortunately, my trip will not include a visit to any of the other stages!!

FYI - Mickey the Shoe is praported to have a Colnago F2 (I think that is what the ALL carbon $10K bike is called) hanging on his wall. After all Ferarri worked very closely with Colnago to perfect the use of Carbon Fiber in bike frames.

j.foster

Surely that's more than 120bpm for 2 hours. I got back from a ride 2hr15min ride the other day with a 7 min break at the half way point and an average HR of 167.

53-11 alltheway

I am so suprised people here are also F1 fans!

I guess if you watch European events like the TDF you would also be tuned into other European Events (Worldwide) such as F1.

DocRay

The US has only recently discovered F1 as a sport, when you compare it to "athletic" sports like baseball (hours of butt scratching), golf (sport...ha) or football, where a buncha fat linemen suck oxygen on the sidelines after 30 seconds of play, its a different world.

Yes, I meant 190bpm.

The rules of F1 have to change constantly to bring the cars with operating parameters of the human body, in the late 80s, some 1000hp turbo ground-effects cars pulled so many gs in corners the drivers started trying G-suits to prevent blackouts.

Another place to see insane racing is World Rally -imagine the Tour De France at 160mph.

Most drivers train in the US off-season at places like Moab with MTB.

53-11 alltheway

Even with B.S. like narrower track and grooved tires they still get faster every year....lap times keep dropping despite the restrictions. Amazing.......how the engineers keep making the cars faster despite the handicaps. F1 is a technology war unlike Indy cars where they all basically have the same car made by the same manufacturers.

Buzzi

I'm a F1 fan, too. I recall seeing Webber at the TDF during OLN's TV coverage. There had been a few TV announcers that had done F1 and TDF coverage.

Buzzi (Buzzi as in Buzzihornet-Team Jordan)

wlevey

For me one dod not leat to the other!!

I have always been a "car guy" and followed real road racing (F1).

The TDF came after I got bitten by the road cycling bug a few years ago!

dolophonic

Yup i saw that,cool.Shame they did'nt have the Moto gp bike....still the f1 whopped them both.
F1 is great,Senna was the man(rip).Shui is the man.
Moto gp is pretty incredible.Rossi is unbelievable.....