Photo :  Arnaud CORNILLEAU / ACO

 

The length of the race makes eating and drinking slightly complex: "The drivers will always eat pretty much the same thing", explains Greg Riffi of the GR Industry company. "Starchy food, in other words pasta or rice with either white meat (chicken or turkey) or ham. Their menus are only based on these ingredients. For dessert, they eat cottage cheese. They can eat bananas, but they avoid all acidic fruits. To make a long story short, drivers eat whatever they can handle in the car. They try to stay away from anything that is acidic ."

One of the drivers' priorities is managing their meals and the time between each ones. "Generally speaking, drivers eat after their stint because while their teammate is driving, they can eat, digest and go to sleep a bit. They will eat up until 11 p.m. and then will no longer eat up until around 5/6 a.m. If they were to eat, they would digest and be more subject to drowsiness and fatigue. As they don't eat, they get more energy and avoid the digestive cycle. This is why they snack a few nuts or a chocolate bar, but by 6 a.m. they are starving!"

Of course, drivers don't decide what is good for them: "When drivers are done with their stint, their physio tells us what to cook." Same thing for drinks: "They drink plain water and then their physio will mix some energy drinks for them."

David Bristol / ACO - Translation by Nikki Ehrhardt / ACO

PHOTO: LE MANS (SARTHE, FRANCE), CIRCUIT DES 24 HEURES, 24 HOURS OF LE MANS, SATURDAY JUNE 14 2014, RACE. Andrea Bertolini, #72 SMP Racing Ferrari 458 Italia, snaking.