Ed Potkanowicz joins me to talk about the work he does with Wayne Taylor Racing drivers, Jordan Taylor, Ryan Hunter-Reay and Renger van der Zande regarding core body temperature, heart rate and stress to help them improve their performance. What he’s learned from working with elite-level pro drivers, and shares in this podcast will help you drive better and safer.
Ed is an Associate Professor of Exercise Physiology at Ohio Northern University where he focuses on “driver science” – the objective and scientific examination of the driver’s physiological response to the cockpit from which data-based recommendations can be made to improve driver safety, tolerance and performance. He’s also a member of the International Council of Motorsport Sciences, American College of Sport Medicine Member, and the Motorsport Health and Safety Taskforce.
Follow Ed on Twitter @epotkanowicz, and his website at www2.onu.edu/~e-potkanowicz.
Colin Braun joins me again (he was on episode #7 over a year ago) to talk about his approach to learning a track he’s never been to before, what it takes to get to throttle sooner, how to use the brakes, being smooth with the steering, and what “rotating” a car really means. Basically, he shares with you what he does to be so bloody fast! We recorded this episode while driving from the Lisbon airport to Portimao in Portugal, so we also share a couple of funny travel stories (since Colin’s luggage had gotten lost on his flight and would be in the same clothes for the next 4 days…)!
Colin has won races and championships in sports cars, NASCAR and open-wheel cars. He’s the youngest driver to have ever stood on the podium at Le Mans, won the IMSA Prototype Challenge championship five times, and won NASCAR Trucks series races.
Follow Colin at colinbraun.com, www.facebook.com/ColinBraun, @colinbraun on Twitter, and @colinbraun on Instagram.
I mentioned being able to download my past webinars – go to SpeedSecrets.com/Webinars to do so.
Lyn St. James joins me to talk about her career, and more importantly, what she learned about driving that’ll make you a better driver – how precision is more important than bravery, understanding car set up leads to being more sensitive to the limit of the car, who the best drivers she ever raced against are, and why we have a need for speed.
Lyn really doesn’t need any introduction, but the highlights are her being the 1992 Indy 500 Rookie of the Year, winning the Daytona 24-Hour race twice and Sebring 12-Hour race once, racing at Le Mans, in Trans-Am and the IMSA GTO series. The list of accomplishments is long, so check out her website at www.lynstjames.com for more info – and to learn about what she’s doing these days.
Gama Aguilar-Gamez allows me to record a coaching session I do with him. We talk about identifying strengths and weaknesses, and then what he needs to do to improve. We use data to confirm some things that we felt were things he should work on, and talk about the approach he should take to make these improvements. Oh, and we talk about the difference between him and Fernando Alonso.
Gama races in the PRO3 (Spec E30) series in the Pacific Northwest, as well as being a founder of the Track Attack application – a tool that helps you compare data from different systems, and provides a secure storage system.
For more information about Track Attack, go to www.TrackAttack.io; and follow on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram at @TrackAttackApp.
Heyward Wagner joins me to talk about what the Sports Car Club of America is up to, and why. We talk about how the club’s focus is on converting car and driving enthusiasts into participants (I love this!), and they’re all about having fun with cars. Specifically, we dive into SCCA road racing, autocross, Track Night In America, and the new focus on Time Trials.
Heyward is the Director of Marketing and Experiential Programs for the SCCA. The son of parents involved in the SCCA, he’s lived and breathed autocross, corner marshaling, rally and rallycross, and club road racing his entire life. But it’s what he learned being a summer camp counselor that has had the biggest impact on how he contributes to the many positive changes the SCCA has seen in the past few years.
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