J-Dub endured his five-day intensive training camp in the brutal heat of North Queensland earlier this month to get the edge on his competition and not to be outdone, Lowndesy found his way to Melbourne last week to take part in a performance camp of his own.
With the countdown to the all-important enduro season well and truly on, Red Bull Racing Australia decided to call in the ultimate artillery to prepare Lowndesy for the hard slog ahead. And courtesy of Melbourne’s ESS Performance Centre – the personal performance centre to the likes of Melbourne Demons Football Club, Melbourne Victory and Melbourne Storm – Lowndesy was put through his paces by not only some of the best trainers in the business but some of the best athletes.
The 39-year-old was joined by Olympic gold medallist Steve Hooker, Melbourne Storm flyer Matt Duffie, Wallabies halfback Nick Phipps and Australian rules star Shaun Higgins, all put through their paces in a series of high performance tests to prepare Lowndes for defending his Sandown 500 title and adding another Bathurst title to his name.
Cognitive tests, reaction timing, strength, speed, core and stamina tests were carried out on all the athletes, producing plenty of laughter, a few tears and even a little blood. And, the results were surprising.
To watch how it panned out click here and read all about the day here.
Enjoy! It’s provocative. It gets the athletes going.