Lucy Hall visited Drag2Zero at the Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One wind tunnel last week to fine tune her riding position ahead of representing Great Britain in the triathlon in Hyde Park on 4 August.
“I first came into the Drag2Zero wind tunnel in January with some of my elite squad team mates. We all learnt a lot from Simon Smart about how to make ourselves more aerodynamic, trying out various positions in the wind tunnel” says Lucy, 20, who is set to make her Olympic debut next month. “I have really worked at carrying those position changes over into my riding in the last few months to improve my performance on the bike split, so it was great to return to the tunnel to confirm that my hard work had paid off and also to make some further adjustments prior to next month’s event.”
Simon Smart, Technical Director of Smart Aero Technology, who has worked with the likes of current time trial world champion Tony Martin and European Iron Man champion Timo Bracht says “It has been great to work with Lucy and her elite squad team mates and see them apply the science to improve their riding. You can see that she has really worked on her riding position in training since she was in the tunnel the last time. Working with triathletes in the wind tunnel is an interesting challenge as we are trying to help them save energy on the bike so they have more available for the run. We have seen some dramatic improvements in performance with the triathletes that we have worked with so far this year.”
Lucy rides Smart ENVE System wheels, the wheels were designed by Simon Smart in the same wind tunnel where Lucy worked on her position.
“I have been riding the Smart ENVE 6.7 wheel set this year and they are amazing! My initial thoughts were that the deeper rim would make them difficult to handle in the wind but they are really stable so I plan to use them in my races this year.”
For an interview with Lucy’s coach, Mark Pearce, and to see her in action in the wind tunnel go to http://youtu.be/lL4RaDsp0O4
