Marco Wittmann has the toughest race weekend of his career behind him: The two-time DTM champion arrived at the home game of his Schubert squad in Oschersleben of all places with a stomach flu and lost five kilograms of body weight in four days!
“I have never experienced losing five kilograms in such a short time – and accordingly, that was the most difficult racing week for me,” says the BMW factory driver in a conversation with Motorsport-Total.com after his 220th DTM race, where he almost made it to the podium in fourth place.
Even in the ProSieben interview after the race, which Wittmann completed sitting on the ground with Matthias Killing, the 36-year-old looked completely drained – he had even received an IV drip beforehand. To this day, he is puzzled about where the illness came from.
“Extreme that I couldn’t keep anything down for four, five days”
“I think it was simply because the vacation was over,” jokes Wittmann, who was on vacation with his family in South Tyrol and Salzburg and had symptoms “suddenly” on Tuesday evening, three days after returning. “It started at 8 PM,” he says.
“For me, it was extreme that I really couldn’t keep anything down for four or five days in a row – and basically, hardly any medication worked, which usually worked quite well for me,” he says. “That was also one of the reasons for the massive weight loss.”
Wittmann, who is 1.79 meters tall, normally weighs 72 kilograms. “We athletes are all at the weight optimum – if five kilograms come off, it eats away at the body,” he explains. “That was the main issue.”
How Wittmann managed his diet
The condition of the BMW factory driver had at least stabilized somewhat at the start of the race weekend, because after having to go to the toilet every hour on Wednesday and Thursday, the interval increased to three to four hours starting Friday.
“I was able to contain the diarrhea quite well while driving,” says Wittmann, who mainly ate easily digestible food such as “plain pasta, maybe with some carrots” during the race weekend and was supported by his team and his physiotherapist.
“It was especially important to get energy,” says Wittmann. “The practice sessions and qualifying were not the big problem, but the one-hour race distance.”
IV drips for Wittmann: “Handled by doctors Torsten knew”
For this reason, the BMW veteran even received an IV drip on both days, which is only allowed in a low dose due to anti-doping regulations. “That was handled by doctors Torsten knew,” the German says, referring to the contacts of team boss Torsten Schubert, who comes from the region and whose team is based in Oschersleben.
“We did it after qualifying because we had a good buffer,” says Wittmann, who is thankful that the DTM and his environment kept his back free over the weekend.
While the BMW pilot spent most of the time lying in the truck or resting, team boss Schubert represented him during the pit walk and signed autographs. Wittmann was also excused from media appointments and the DTM autograph sessions in the fan zone; he only took part in the most necessary meetings with his engineers and wants to be back for his fans at the Nurburgring.
“I know what my body can achieve when adrenaline is involved”
Despite the extreme effort, Wittmann was faster in both qualifying sessions than his teammate Kelvin van der Linde, who has just recovered from a Norisring crash, and on Sunday even secured his best starting position in almost a year with third place. In the closing stages of the race, he almost pushed the dominant Manthey driver Thomas Preining off the podium and finished a strong fourth.
“You do notice that it’s harder to keep the concentration high,” Wittmann says, referring to the duel with Preining, where the extra effort took its toll. However, the fact that he performed so strongly despite the health problems is “not at all too surprising” for him, he says himself.
Battle for P3: “Fighter” Wittmann hunts down Preining in the closing stages of the race
Foto: Alexander Trienitz
“I know myself and my body – and I know what my body can achieve when adrenaline is involved,” explains Wittmann, who is known as a fighter. “I’ve had races in the past where I went beyond my limits.”
Why there is no chance for Wittmann to recover
It was only after the checkered flag that there was “a short moment when I got out of the car and had to sit down in the shade for a bit,” Wittmann says. “Drinking, maybe a little sugar intake, then a quick interview with Mr. Killing, who was so kind and sat down next to me so I didn’t have to do it standing up.”
Can Wittmann recover now? No chance, because this weekend the IMSA endurance race is taking place at the Road America circuit in Elkhart Lake in the USA. And Wittmann is sharing the BMW LMDh car with the Austrian Philipp Eng in the 6-hour race. Since Monday, however, things have been “looking up,” he says.
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Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: motorsport.com
