{"id":504912,"date":"2026-07-01T18:43:18","date_gmt":"2026-07-01T18:43:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/504912\/"},"modified":"2026-07-01T18:43:18","modified_gmt":"2026-07-01T18:43:18","slug":"supercars-doctor-issues-heat-stress-advice-to-drivers-and-teams","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/504912\/","title":{"rendered":"Supercars doctor issues heat stress advice to drivers and teams"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Supercars
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tThomas Randle at the Darwin Triple Crown. Image: InSyde Media <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Thomas Randle and Brodie Kostecki required medical attention following the Saturday race in Darwin and subsequently withdrew on Sunday.<\/p>\n

Randle had suffered a cool suit failure<\/a> while Kostecki entered the event with a virus and raced without a working drink bottle, resulting in a variety of symptoms.<\/a><\/p>\n

A spate of cool suit failures earlier in the year had led to a revised Supercars\u2019 heat policy ahead of Darwin<\/a>, which was not enacted as the threshold temperature was not reached<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Kostecki aside, an increase in the number of cool suit failures has been at the heart of heat stress issues this year, leading to calls for a control system.<\/a><\/p>\n

However, long-time category medical delegate Dr Carl has urged teams and drivers to ensure they are adopting best practice in all areas.<\/p>\n

\u201cRecent events have reinforced the need for a systematic, evidence-based approach to heat illness prevention within Supercars competition,\u201d reads the note.<\/p>\n

\u201cContributing factors have included cooling suit malfunctions, elevated ambient and cockpit temperatures, extended race durations, reduced pit stop durations, and failure of in-car hydration systems.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt must be recognised that each driver responds differently to heat stress, with variations in sweat rate, thermoregulatory efficiency, body composition, and acclimatisation status.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat may be tolerable for one driver could pose significant risk to another.\u201d<\/p>\n

Supercars urged to implement control driver cooling system<\/a><\/p>\n

The five-point advisory is broken down into pre-conditioning in the lead-up to events, pre-cooling in the hour before race start, hydration protocols, driver mass monitoring and post-race cooling.<\/p>\n

Recommended cooling strategies include use of ice vests, cold towels, cold fluid, cooling rooms and cold water immersion, while hydration advice includes drinking between 150 and 250 ml every 15-20 minutes during races.<\/p>\n

Weighing of drivers immediately pre- and post-race is \u201chighly recommended\u201d to provide individualised hydration data, with an in-race weight loss greater than two percent indicating \u201cinadequate hydration requiring intervention\u201d.<\/p>\n

Drivers are typically looked after at the track by either their own or team-supplied physiotherapists, employed to manage and monitor driver condition and welfare.<\/p>\n

\u201cHeat-related illness is largely preventable through appropriate preparation, monitoring and timely intervention,\u201d Dr Carl concluded.<\/p>\n

\u201cResponsibility for effective heat management is shared between drivers, teams, and their medical\/paramedical personnel.<\/p>\n

\u201cAdoption of these recommendations will minimise risk while supporting optimal driver safety and performance throughout the Supercars Championship.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kostecki details back pain scare amid Darwin ordeal<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Thomas Randle at the Darwin Triple Crown. Image: InSyde Media Thomas Randle and Brodie Kostecki required medical attention…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":504913,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[251915,111,139,69,213],"class_list":["post-504912","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-dr-carl-le","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/504912","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=504912"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/504912\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/504913"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=504912"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=504912"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=504912"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}