BMW M8 GTE Drivers Physical and Mental Preparations – Video

The Six Hours of Spa-Francorchamps (BEL) on Saturday are the season opener in the FIA World Endurance Championship (FIA WEC) for the new BMW M8 GTE. The entire BMW M Motorsport team, BMW Team MTEK and the BMW WEC drivers have completed an intensive and strenuous programme.

The principles applied to the team also hold true for the drivers. The four regular BMW WEC drivers Nick Catsburg (NED), Augusto Farfus (BRA), António Félix da Costa (POR) and Martin Tomczyk (GER) took part in a collective fitness camp at Formula Medicine in Italy as part of their preparation. This featured physical and mental training to give them the ability to perform at the highest level, even in the exceptional surroundings of a 24-hour race. “Nowadays you cannot be a successful racing driver if you are only physically fit, or only mentally fit,” said Farfus. “You need both.” That is why the camp placed as much importance on reaction and concentration exercises as on strength and endurance training. “The mental training helps me to recognise potential weaknesses and to work out how I can conquer them, even when I am woken at 4:00 at Le Mans and have to climb into the car,” said Félix da Costa.