Loughborough College played host to some of the United Kingdom’s top motor racing prospects last week as eight of the Motor Sport Association Team UK drivers experienced the national sports facility.
The college has seen sportsmen and women from around the world and from multiple sports visit the facility, and last week saw the first visit from Team UK’s drivers.
The Team UK drivers who visited the centre included 2014 GP3 Series champion Alex Lynn and 2014 Formula Renault 2.0 NEC champion Ben Barnicoat, as well as fellow Briton’s Jake Dennis, Jordan King, Dan Lloyd, Seb Morris, Matt Parry and Nick Yelloly.
Up-and-coming MSA Academy Squad members Sennan Fielding and Ross Wylie were also present, and were given the opportunity to work with Team UK as part of their development plan.
The four-day training camp included physical exercises, test and challenges, as well as education about nutrition. All sessions were overseen by the tutors from Loughborough College and by MSA Coaches.
“The three days in Loughborough have been really beneficial to my upcoming racing season,” said Lynn, who moves up to the GP2 Series with the multiple championship-winning DAMS team in 2015. “Some of the lessons we’ve learned have been vital, whether it’s improving our fitness or our mobility, it’s going to help keep us from injury.
“Having the whole national squad together is a great morale boost and it really gives the team good energy going into the new season. The athletes who train at Loughborough College are extremely lucky to have access to such great facilities on a daily basis and it’s really a centre of excellence. Just being around this environment makes us really appreciate what we get to do as professional athletes.”
Fellow Team UK member Barnicoat, who moves up to the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 championship in 2015 with Fortec Motorsports, agreed with Lynn about the usefulness of the visit to the facility, and admitted it was an eye-opening experience, especially when it came to fitness.
“The week in Loughborough has been my first group event as a Team UK member and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed it,” said Barnicoat. “We’ve done a lot of challenging physical activities with the great staff at Loughborough College, who have given us real insight into what we can do outside our normal training routines.
“It’s been really motivational, for example when watching top gymnasts train while attempting it ourselves; we all think we’re fit racing drivers but seeing them was very eye-opening. We’ve also done a lot of theory based workshops, for example around nutrition, which I’m certain will really help me in the future, I look forward to taking it further.”
The Team UK drivers went through physical exercises at the College (Credit: MSA Press Office)
