In temperatures soaring to 70C, Supercar driver Todd Hazelwood is using a secret weapon to combat dehydration.
The Adelaide-born driver, competing in the Superloop Adelaide 500, is revved up for the opening round of the 2019 season, again promoting PREPD as a brand ambassador.
PREPD, now available to elite athletes backed by more than 20 years of collaborative research between Flinders and Yale universities, is being marketed by Flinders University spin-out company Preserve Health Pty Ltd.
"The first time I used PREPD, my hydration levels immediately felt stronger, and I wasn't hunting for fluid like I normally would during an intense training session. I also noticed feeling less fatigued than usual," Todd said before the event.
Drivers in a Supercar have to manage heat generated up to 70C, so experience excessive fluid loss of up to 3 litres an hour.
"Hydration is a critical part of my race preparation and the hydration boost provided by PREPD helps maintain my concentration and keep my reaction times sharp throughout the longest endurance races," he says.
In 2017, Todd was crowned the champion of the Dunlop Super2 Series and after making his Supercar debut last year, he is sporting a brand new racing package with Matt Stone Racing in 2019.
PREPD is a hydration enhancer consumed 6-18 before, and then immediately after exertion, and is designed to boost the absorption of any electrolyte drink and water to reduce dehydration.
The company's chief executive David Vincent says PREPD is not a replacement for sports drinks, "but actually makes them work more effectively".
Its 'secret ingredient' is a resistant starch, which triggers hydration in the gut.
"While the human body can't store water in reserve, the unique resistant starch in PREPD unlocks the largely unused hydration potential of the large intestine to absorb up to 5 litres of fluid per day," Mr Vincent says.
Launched in November last year, elite level cricketers, footballers and professional cyclists at this year's Tour Down have also reported performance and wellbeing benefits from PREPD, particularly over the summer months when temperatures rise above 40C.
