SCORE Journal

SCORE-Journal-Feb-2021

SCORE Journal - The Official Publication of SCORE Off-Road Racing

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ONE FOR THE ROAD New Products Can Alleviate Hydration As A Safety Issue In Motorsports By Dan Sanchez In any motorsports event, teams are always concerned about the condition and preparation of the vehicle, but drivers are often left on their own to prepare mentally and physically. In SCORE, racers have always known the importance of staying hydrated, mostly because temperatures in Baja can reach 120-degrees F., and combined with long-distance driving, there’s a real danger of becoming sick from dehydration. Racers and teams found various ways to keep drivers and navigators hydrated, using everything from being hooked up to intravenous fluids to using water bladders with long hoses, or simply having water available when drivers come into a pit-stop. While these methods have worked for decades, new studies combined with better delivery methods are changing the way racers can approach hydration that is proving to have some performance benefits that were previously unknown. The Physiology Of Hydration Decades of hydration studies on athletes have shown that when properly hydrated, athletes perform better and longer. But when it comes to racing, only recently have more in-depth studies been done. Dr. David Ferguson, Assistant Professor in the Department of Kinesiology at Michigan State University is one of many interested in studying exercise physiology, but has turned his attention on how race car drivers are affected. “At the SCORE Baja 1000, we equipped a couple of drivers with the Fluidlogic onboard hydration system, and compared their results with other racers who didn’t have it in their vehicle,” said Dr. Ferguson. “In this pilot study, those drivers who stayed hydrated had lower core temperatures and they said they felt relaxed and still energized after the race.” According to Dr. Ferguson, the difference is that an automated delivery system that makes it easier for racers to drink pre-calculated doses of water more frequently, helped those racers stay hydrated despite the high temperatures and stresses existing in their race vehicles. “Racers are under lots of stress, and stress causes fatigue,” says Dr. Ferguson. “Other stressors include heat and having to be in a fire suit. On average, we’ve found that racers can lose as much as seven pounds of water from sweat. This is clearly an impairment of physical performance and a safety issue as racers are at risk of heatstroke.” Contributing to the risk of dehydration ultimately comes down to the availability of water for drivers and motorcycle riders. The problems are having easy access to water, being able to drink but not break concentration, and the timing of knowing when to take a drink to stay hydrated. As most SCORE racers know, drinking lots of water before a race, simply means they need to get to the next pit stop before they have to urinate. Drivers who drink during pit stops are often already at a point of dehydration. Various other studies have shown that even if a person is at a stage of 10 percent dehydration, they can be deficient in making critical decisions behind the wheel. Water Delivery And Timing It seems logical that keeping hydrated is not just a way for racers to keep physically focused during a race, but is also an issue of safety. It’s for this reason that manufacturers of water delivery systems have worked on ways to improve delivery and frequency to help take the guesswork out of when and how much to drink. One of the systems introduced a few years ago is the Fluidlogic hydration system, a product derived from scientific research that is intended to make hydration effortless. “The basic concept is to deliver fluid on demand and to take the thought and distraction of trying to take a drink of water out of the equation. One study from the University of Montana found that if you use a system that delivers a dose of water every minute to 30-seconds, uninterrupted, you can be optimally hydrated,” says Fluidlogic CEO Ed Jaeger, who himself has 35-years of Baja racing experience. Based on this fact and from the research of Dr. Ferguson, the Fluidlogic system was designed to be integrated into a racing helmet’s forced-air system and deliver water by depressing a button on the vehicle’s steering wheel. According to Jaeger, the company’s MagLock Air hose connection system had to be created first in order to incorporate a water delivery hose within it and to seamlessly allow both to be connected and disconnected effortlessly during driver changes. The system is programmable via the Fluidlogic app installed on the driver’s smartphone, allowing it to deliver the precise amount of water at various intervals chosen by the driver. “We installed this in Ricky Johnson’s SCORE Trophy Truck and we’ve had tremendous feedback from him and other drivers who have tried the system,” says Jaeger. “We’ve also used it in NASCAR, Indy Car, and other motorsports racing with great results. We want to ultimately delegate the responsibility of hydration to the system, not the driver so that it becomes second nature.” Another product that has already been on the market for a couple of years, is the LiquidAider, a wireless water delivery system that attaches to any water bladder and uses a remote trigger to provide a two, three, or four-second blast of water. “Many racers, especially those on motorcycles, have had to slow down, take their hand off the handlebar, and find the drinking tube hanging from their shoulder to take a drink from the water bladder in their backpack,” says Matt Steele of LiquidAider. “At racing speeds, it’s hard to grab the tube and get it into your mouth, and racers are often slowing down or waiting for certain sections to take a drink. Some don’t drink at all and wait until they get to the pit area.” To solve this problem, the LiquidAider uses a small pump that connects to the water bladder, forcing water through the delivery tube that features a backflow valve to prevent water from siphoning back into the bladder from the hose. “Water is always present in the hose and is routed up into the helmet with a simple attachment clip that is very easy to install,” says Steele. “A magnetic dry brake makes the connection from the pump to the helmet tube so when the user takes off the helmet, it easily separates.” According to Steele, the system settings can also be precise to prevent water splashing inside the helmet and the trigger can be mounted on the handlebar to keep the rider’s hands in control of the motorcycle at all times. “The trigger uses Bluetooth to activate the pump, so there are no wires to connect and it’s a very simple and easy system to incorporate.” Integration As more racers are adopting these types of hydration systems, manufacturers of safety equipment are looking at how to integrate these systems into their own products. “Many manufacturers within the racing industry have approached us on how to integrate the LiquidAider into their helmets and vehicles,” says Steele. “Kids are some of the first to try the system and were early adopters to it, but when we display at SCORE Contingency during the races, we’ve had everyone from champions in desert motorcycle racing to SCORE Trophy Truck racers be amazed at how this works.” Bell helmets is one of the first helmet manufacturers to incorporate the Fluidlogic system and MagLock into their BR8 Carbon helmet. “We’ve worked with Bell and are talking to other manufacturers who are also interested in incorporating this type of hydration delivery technology,” said Jaeger. “It’s about time for this to happen and we feel we’re taking hydration out of the stone ages.” “The delivery systems out now are making hydration more convenient,” adds Steele. “Many of us manufacturers involved in this are working on the same goals to make hydration effortless and thoughtless. Hopefully, we can get to the point where hydration won’t be an issue and racers will be safer because of it.” SJ Sources: LiquidAider https://liquidaider.com Fluidlogic https://fluidlogic.com/products-1/

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