Are racing drivers athletes? For those involved in motorsports, this can be a rather insulting question. But let's use science to get to the bottom of this.

Most of us sports fans, or at least motorsport fans most likely remember when former NFL Quarterback Donovan McNabb profoundly announced to the world that Jimmie Johnson was not an athlete - yet he ironically had him number 3 on his list of athletes.

To help show those who don't know much about the amount of physical exertion a driver goes through during a race, here is some basic data we collected from IndyCar driver and definite athlete, Josef Newgarden, during a test last month at Barber Motorsports Park.

With the help of Zephyr Technologies, Yellowcog and Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing, we were able to initiate our #ConnectedDriver program and monitor in real-time biometrics such as heart rate, respiratory rate, blood pressure, skin temperature, G-forces and many other parameters.

This video is just the first and simply covers the drivers heart rate and respiratory rate at various sections of the track. With the successful test in the books, we will continue to test with Josef and provide even more measurable biometric parameters - all proving just how athletic one must be to endure the physical and mental stresses put on elite racing drivers.

www.risingstarracing.com
www.josefnewgarden.com
www.indycar.com
www.yellowcog.com
www.zephyranywhere.com