Stress and Emotional Management of MotoGp and Superbike engineers and pilots

Motorcycle competition is a sports/work environment that requires a high dose of concentration, of the ability to manage stress and emotions, apart from the necessary intense athletic preparation. This study analyzes how engi- neers and pilots manage stress and emotions prior to and during the world championship competitions of MotoGP and Superbike. 16 engineers and 16 pilots were subject to three types of tests in two different moments during the championship season in order to register their levels of stress and emotional expressions. Data analysis concentrated on identifying any correlations between amount of time the subjects were exposed to such stress and emotions, age of subject, the number of years subject has been active in such environment and, for just the pilots, the type of mental and physical training they did for season preparation. During the pre-championship phase, the levels of stress of both engineers and pilots are different, as the physical and mental work of the former continues, and for the latter the winter break brings them some relief from such stress. Once the championship season begins, such stress increases for engineers but not significantly, whereas for pilots, it appears they have an “off/on” switch which is turned to the “on” position in respect to the previous phase. The most interesting result of this analysis shows that athletes who undergo both a physical and mental preparation are capable of successfully managing the stress generated by the onset of the championship season.