As the days wind down and the hours fly by leading up to the 2016 race season, all the Canadian Touring Car Championship teams are working hard to prepare strong, fast race cars for the opening round of battle at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park on the May 20th-22nd. Not only am I working hard to prepare our #17 JDS Autosports Hyundai Tiburon for its new home in the Touring Car class but working hard to build a stronger, faster driver.

Since our partnership began in early 2016 I have been working to stay fit and healthy using the a specialized fitness program designed by the amazing trainers at Human 2.0 in Ottawa, ON. Each week that goes by preparing for 2016, I feel stronger and more disciplined in my ability to remain fully focused on driving and manage muscle fatigue and drain during a racing stint.

My newest fitness program designed by Human 2.0, has really challenged my stamina as well as my muscle fatigue. Like I have mentioned in previous blogs, rarely is added weight used in these excercises but this does not mean they are easy. When performing these excercises correctly just working with body weight is definitely challenging enough.

I am thrilled and excited for the opportunity to put my new found fitness to the test on the race track when we get out for testing early next month as well as at our first race weekend in May at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park. As the temperature becomes hotter through out the summer months, temperatures can reach up to 140˚F inside the cockpit and having the ability to maintain physical strength and mental focus almost always prevails over determination and luck. As a driver, dealing with door to door racing at speeds of 200+ km/h and driving at the limit as well as changing track conditions provides a driver with many opportunities to make mistakes. But it is our job to fight to the end and to the top of the podium.