​Audi DTM drivers put through their paces

Audi relies on “Vorsprung durch Technik” not only with its race cars. The brand with the four rings is one of the first automobile manufacturers to have recognized early how important fitness and health of the drivers is in achieving success. Even as far back as in the days of the legendary original quattro in the World Rally Championship a team physician would accompany all the factory-backed commitments of the brand from Ingolstadt. The joint winter camp involving all the drivers that Audi Sport organizes every year before the start of the season dates back to the nineteen-nineties.

Since then, Audi Sport has shifted into higher gear once more. All factory drivers undergo a comprehensive fitness and medical checkup at Technical University Munich (TUM) before the Hockenheim season opener. The “Klinikum rechts der Isar” university hospital is Germany’s largest center for preventive and sports medicine attending to more than 500 athletes from national teams per year – including the skiers from Audi’s partner DSV (German Ski Association). Contact between Audi Sport and TUM was established through the ski association.

Although the program completed by the eight Audi DTM drivers is tough, they tackle it with great vigor every year. “The facilities and attendance at the hospital are first-class. Everything is available there in a single place,” says Jamie Green, the Audi driver with the best points score in the DTM last year. “It’s great that Audi Sport offers us this opportunity. They found a few things there in my case too that no other doctor had detected before. As a result, I was able to work on them together with my physiotherapist.”

The checkup that takes about four hours and is sweat-inducing at times starts with the taking of blood samples, followed by isometric strength measurements. During these measurements, the driver’s physique, head alignment, strength and agility, as well as the functions of the joints are checked. A comparison with the results from previous checkups provides a picture of the race driver’s development – making it possible to individually adjust his training program.