AIS DRIVER DEVELOPMENT CAMP A SUCCESS

Todd Waddell (centre right) represented Western Australia at the Australian Institute of Sport

Newly crowned Perth Motorplex Speedcar track champion Todd Waddell has just completed the second and final portion of the inaugural NASR Driver Development Program. The camp was conducted at the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) in Canberra with Speedways governing body declaring the program a huge success. Held over two, three day camps in December and April, nine drivers from all states and a variety of racing divisions were selected through the formal application process.

Todd (centre) as always keeping an eye on the opposition.

NASR Competition Manager Paul Trengove accompanied the troop to Canberra and was impressed by how the young drivers had progressed since the first camp in December. Trengove was the ideal mentor for NASR to provide, having completed the entire camp himself three times while racing Formula 3 and Formula Holden under the CAMS banner in 2002, 2003 and 2004.

"The second week of the AIS camp was another successful camp, with our future speedway stars again being put to the test in areas such as strength, fitness and agility,” said Trengove.

Ovverall, the test results were an improvement on the first three day camp in December, proving that the hard work the drivers had put in during this season had paid off. It was pleasing to learn that the majority of the guys had taken a lot out of the first camp and some had since developed fitness programs with personal trainers at their local gymnasiums.” “It was also great to see how much the nutrition information had helped the boys during their racing this year. Some commented on the changes in their general diet as well as what they ate on race day and noted significant improvement in their racing.” “It was pleasing to see how interested most drivers were in the psychology of a race driver. The idea of getting both the mind and the body right for race day was a new concept to most and has now really showed in their results this season.”

“During this camp we also added some alternative methods to training. This included pilates, boxercise, fitball and aqua aerobics. The drivers also participated in a cooking class to help them learn how to make nutritional food very quickly and easily.”

“It was great to be involved with these up and coming speedway stars for the two camps and I am really looking forward to watching their careers progress and seeing the next group of drivers come along next year,” commented Trengove. The program was attended by Speedcar driver and current track champion Todd Waddell (20, WA), Dale Smith (20, Vic, Crash n Bash), David Clark (17, Qld, V8 Dirt Modifieds), Andrew Hibbert (18, Vic, NOS Sprints), Max Clarke (16, NSW, Modified Production Sedans), Brad Warren (18, Vic, NOS Sprints) and Mini Sprint racer Jacob Krushka (16, Tas). The NASR Driver Development Program will continue to foster talented young drivers with another camp scheduled for next season. Drivers are nominated by the NASR State Branches and the costs shared between these branches and the NASR National Office providing another fantastic member benefit. NASR would urge interested young competitors aged from16 years to keep a watch for information to be release in spring on the 2008/09 AIS Driver Development Camp and apply in the relevant time frames. NASR congratulates the young competitors who attended this year’s camp.