SUPERCAR CAMP SLOG
FROM FAST TO FIT
FACES new and old at rebranded Supercars squad Tickford Racing will push themselves to the limit on the Gold Coast this week as preparations ramp up for a brutal Adelaide 500.
The team last year known as Prodrive has sent its stable of Melbourne-based stars – Mark Winterbottom, Cameron Waters and rookie Richie Stanaway – to the home turf of 2017 lead driver Chaz Mostert for a bootcamp.
After a rigorous start yesterday that involved cycling, weights and boxing sessions, the quartet are bracing for the coming days.
The man behind the bootcamp is Essendon AFL strength and conditioning coach Paul Turk.
“Each day it’s three, maybe four sessions,” said Waters, who made a big step forward last season including nabbing his maiden win at Sandown.
“It pushes you pretty hard. Your body is pretty buggered at the end of it but you actually get a lot fitter.”
It’s been a harsh change in climate for the 23-year-old, who only returned on Saturday from a short trip to the chilly winter in the United Kingdom, where he checked out the Mercedes he will drive in next month’s Bathurst 12-Hour.
Mostert has placed an increasing focus on fitness and was last year rewarded with his best season yet, beating all of his teammates en route to fifth in the championship.
“I’m actually excited for this camp now. You never would have caught me saying that 12 months ago,” he said.
“I’m excited to do it and catch up with the boys after the new year break as well.
“It’s going to be pretty gruelling. I’m looking forward to (finishing) Thursday night – I don’t think I will be celebrating too hard on Australia Day, let’s put it that way.”
Stanaway is using the Coast camp as a chance to ready himself for his first crack at Adelaide on March 1-4.
“It’s the toughest race of the year physically with the heat, so it’s good to have this camp a month out to really get stuck into it,” he said.
Despite debuting with a frontrunning team, the highly-rated Kiwi says pressure on him won’t escalate until 2019.
“I don’t really feel any pressure because as a rookie, historically rookies don’t do well and I don’t see any reason why I would be an exception to that,” Stanaway said.