"Spaghetti. For six years: Spaghetti."

Martin Tomczyk is 24 and is battling it out in his sixth season in the DTM (German Touring Car Masters). In the first part of the interview, the German race car driver talks about heart and soul, the freedom on two wheels and the moment before the big crash.

The DTM series will take place over ten weekends. What do you do in the remaining 42 weeks of the year?
Believe me, I have enough to do. I do press talks for Audi, make appearances at fairs, and present new cars to the dealers. And naturally one must also prepare for racing. Whereas I don’t consider training to be work. I like to do it.

What does your life look like on a race weekend?
It all starts on Tuesday, or at the latest, Wednesday. I get up at seven and then I have things to do without a break until around nine in the evening. I spend most of the time discussing details with my engineers.

More than with your girlfriend?
I usually see Christina again only in the evening in the hotel. She is near me the whole time, and we also try to eat lunch together – however that usually doesn’t work out most of the time.

What’s on the menu at lunch?
Spaghetti. For six years, every lunch has been the same: Spaghetti.

Do you still like it?
What should I say? I eat it because it is good for me. It is simply part of a race weekend, but I prefer not to think about whether there would be something else that is better.

Do you cook anything else for yourself?
Of course. I like most to cook together with my girlfriend. We try out a lot of things from cookbooks. The hassle with this is cleaning up afterwards.

Back to the race weekend: let’s get in the car and drive. What are you thinking just before and just after the start?
That I come out as fast as possible away from my starting position and hopefully make it in one piece through the first curve.

And then?
Then the race actually is just starting for me.

A race at the top is certainly exciting. How does it go however, if one is firmly in the middle of the pack and notices that there is no chance for victory?
Regardless of where you find yourself, you always have to drive maintaining the highest concentration: it could be that drivers ahead of you drop out and then suddenly you are right back in the race. And even if you don’t have an opponent ahead of you and behind you: you are always still completely focused on your race.

You are now driving your sixth season in the DTM. Has your attitude changed a little since the first season?
I notice that I am still learning very much. I even think that you just can’t drive long enough, because new situations always lead to new conclusions. 
I used to drive particularly with a lot of heart and soul, but today understanding has the upper hand. However, today I know – contrary to before – that I can also give myself some time and a race does not have to be decided in the first round.

As a race car driver you have certainly already survived some dangerous moments.  What goes through your mind in such a situation?
In 2002 in the qualifying round at Norisring at the end of the long straightaway, the front brake circuit failed. From the data I could read later that I crashed into the wall at a speed of 180.
The interesting thing about it was that the time ran very slowly during this and I was able to watch everything exactly as it happened. I knew that the impact would be really violent, therefore I closed my eyes, tensed my muscles and hoped that everything would work out well. It went well, except the car had only scrap value afterwards.

What are your strengths and weaknesses as a race car driver?
I am very ambitious. If I set a goal, then I also want to achieve it. That is certainly one of my strengths, but from this comes a weakness also: I am very stubborn. If I want to know something from technicians, I keep asking about it until I have really also understood the answer.

Are you a team player or a lone fighter?
We have a great team and work very well together, on the course, however, everyone drives his own race. But it was of course no big deal in 2004 that I helped Matthias Ekstroem to win the championship.

Which car do you drive privately?
An AUDI RS 4. That’s my company car.

Do you drive that as vigorously as an A4 on the racing course?
Where I am allowed to, I drive fast. But I observe every traffic rule and have only received one speeding ticket.

How do you relax in private?
I drive totally unhurried with my Harley Davidson through the Bavarian mountains. At a speed of 80, with my girlfriend on the backseat. And then we cruise aimlessly along the roads.