“Age is no barrier to providing spectacular & competitive racing!”
Q&A with Dr Steve Olvey, Chief Medical Officer
Dr Stephen E. Olvey, M.D., is based at the Department of Neurological Surgery, University of Miami School of Medicine. He is a founding fellow of the newly-formed FIA Institute for Motor Sport Safety and before that was Director of Medical Affairs for the Championship Auto Racing Team (CART) organisation in North America for whom he provided medical care for 25 years.
You have had a long and highly respected career in motorsports medical care. Why did you choose to get involved with the Grand Prix Masters series?
The Grand Prix Masters series appealed to me for three reasons. Firstly, and this is the racing fan in me showing through, I just believe it is a really exciting proposition and exactly what is needed in motorsport right now. Also, on a personal note, I have become great friends with many of the drivers involved when they came to race in America and it will be good to see them back on track.
From a professional standpoint I am very interested in showing that age should not be a barrier to anybody, whatever sport or pastime they would like to participate in. So many sports have consigned their biggest heroes to the sidelines at an incredibly young age. It seems that as soon as you hit 40+ you are considered too old to be of any use and told it is time to spectate instead. I believe Grand Prix Masters will prove that age is no barrier to providing competitive and spectacular racing.
Is there any medical or physical reason why drivers in the series should not be able to race as well as they did in their heyday?
None whatsoever! Studies have shown that there is no reason for people to stop competing in very vigorous sports, even when they are well into their sixties. We have a very famous guy in America called ‘Banana George’ Blair, who is 90 years old and still barefoot water skis all around the world. He even learnt to snowboard aged 75. It just goes to show that you are only as old as you feel.
And from a physiological standpoint there is no evidence to show that our drivers will not be able to cope with the demands of driving a high-speed racing car. Sure, they will be pulling large g-forces, but nothing compared to what an astronaut experiences and one of our most famous astronauts, Senator John Glenn returned to space on the Space Shuttle when he was well into his seventies.
Similarly, Chuck Yeager, the most famous jet test pilot of them all, was regularly flying prototype jet aircraft in his fifties. What is more important to us is ensuring that every driver is fit and well before he takes to the track. It’s an unavoidable fact that there is a higher incidence of cardiovascular disease as people get older. Obviously we wouldn’t send them out into competition if we were not happy that such a risk had been checked out. A heart attack at 200mph with other cars around you is not good!
Can you quantify just how hard a driver has to work behind the wheel of a 200mph single-seater racing car?
Very easily, in fact. When I was the Director of Medical Affairs for the CART racing series in North America we used a metabolic monitor to see exactly how hard a driver was working during a test session. This monitor measures the amount of energy the driver expends as he is driving and gives you a simple numerical read-out. On the scale a ‘1’ would be simply sitting still. In the test session our driver was peaking at a reading as high as 12, which is equivalent to the sort of work rate you might see from an Olympic 1500-metre swimmer or a professional tennis player during a hard singles match. It’s worth noting that this was during a test session, rather than a race where you would see drivers probably exerting themselves even more. And don’t forget, as well, that unlike so many sports, racing drivers don’t get time outs! They are asked to concentrate and work simultaneously for the entire length of the race. At 200mph you are travelling the length of a soccer pitch in one second – that demands full concentration and high physical fitness.
What other factors will play a part in determining how hard the drivers have to work?
Obviously the type of track is a clear determinant in how hard the drivers are worked. Road courses like Kyalami in South Africa, where the series kicks off on 13th November, are more demanding than oval circuits simply because they are more twisty and subject the drivers to high g-forces under braking as well as cornering. Environmental factors also play a large part. As the ambient temperature rises, so does the driver’s fluid loss.
We studied weight loss on CART drivers and found that during a hot race drivers could easily lose as much as 2 litres of fluids. Obviously this can severely hinder their performance, which is why we make sure that they have drinks bottles with isotonic sports drinks, which not only replace water but also make sure their electrolyte levels are kept in check.
Things must have really changed since you began giving medical care at race tracks nearly 40 years ago?
More than you could ever believe!
My very first race as a track doctor was the 1966 Indianapolis 500. I was stationed trackside and a horn would sound when a car crashed which was our signal to head out and attend the incident. My first crash just happened to be Graham Hill, who was then the reigning Formula One World Champion.
When the horn sounded I went to jump into the ambulance – which was actually a hearse! – but the driver pulled away as I was climbing aboard and I was thrown around the back of the hearse and in the process cut both my elbows quite badly. When we got to the scene of the crash we soon saw that Graham had spun quite harmlessly and was in fact sitting calmly in the car!
I walked over to him, blood running down my arms, and asked if he was okay. He looked at me and said: “I’m fine, but you look bloody awful!” I think it’s fair to say that things have changed a bit since then…
What level of medical care will be present at the Altech Grand Prix Masters South Africa race on 11th-13th Nov?
I am determined that it will be as good as any current, modern race series such as Formula One or the Indy Racing League (IRL). I will oversee the medical team at the race and it will be my job to co-ordinate the local medical services, the hospital, the trackside doctors and so on. Obviously, if we have an incident, then I will be on hand to ensure that the right level of care is administered as soon as possible. Grand Prix Masters cars will have safety standards every bit as good as other series.
The cockpit design, car construction, restraint systems and so on are of the highest standard and we will also require all drivers to wear the HANS device, which is a relatively new piece of safety equipment. Fixed around the driver’s neck and shoulders, it has tethers which attach to his helmet and prevent the neck suffering severed whiplash trauma in the event of a serious accident. HANS is one of the most impressive innovations in motorsport safety in many years and has already proved its worth time and again.
