What you should know about Martin Tomczyk

… Martin Tomczyk, on April 22, 2001, as the then youngest driver in history made his racing debut in the DTM. The season opener at Hockenheim in the Abt-Audi TT-R of the private team Abt Sportsline was his first ever touring car race.

… Martin Tomczyk has contested exactly 112 races since then, clinching 7 victories, 8 pole positions and 6 fastest laps, and mounting the podium 23 times.

… He does not attach any importance at all to numbers and statistics like these and, unlike many other racers, does not believe in superstitions and good luck charms.

… He follows a firm ritual nevertheless: Before the crucial laps in qualifying Martin Tomczyk withdraws into himself and, sitting in the cockpit, covers the track meter by meter with his eyes closed.

… Martin Tomczyk after a decade with Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline switched to Audi Sport Team Phoenix for the 2011 season and thus to a so-called “year-old” car.

… He achieved his so far best position at the end of a season – a third-place finish – in 2007. At the finale in that year three drivers – the subsequent champion, Mattias Ekström, Mercedes driver Bruno Spengler and Martin Tomczyk – still had title chances.

… Martin Tomczyk, with a height of 1.88 meters, is the tallest racer in the DTM driver field.

… He completed a clerical apprenticeship but his secrete wish had always been to become a nursery school teacher.

… Martin Tomczyk would like to see Nicolas Cage as the actor to play his part if his career should ever inspire a movie.

… Martin Tomczyk not only enjoys close ties of friendship with his brother: Tobias is also the DTM racer’s manager.

… The DTM triumph already marks Martin Tomczyk’s second motorsport title: In 1999 he won the Portuguese Formel ADAC Championship.

… Martin Tomczyk is an ardent fan of the movie character “Rocky” and is able to recite major portions of the multi-part classic starring Sylvester Stallone from memory.

… He contested his first kart races at the age of eleven – at a parking lot marked by traffic cones. In 1994 Martin Tomczyk became German Kart Champion.

… Martin Tomczyk and his brother Tobias gave their father, Hermann Tomczyk, a Zero-G flight as a joint birthday gift. The three family members are planning to take the excursion into weightlessness together after the season.

… Martin Tomczyk is an avid techie and considered by his team-mates and friends alike the first person to turn to for questions about lap tops, cell phones and flat screen TVs.

… Martin Tomczyk and his partner Christina Surer live near Basel, Switzerland.

… Martin Tomczyk enjoys spending time with plenty of horsepower off the track as well: He has a passion, among other things, for carefully tuned Harley Davidson motorcycles – albeit for cruising instead of riding at high speeds.

… Martin Tomczyk had the opportunity to make an appearance on the catwalk a few years ago with super models like Karen Mulder.

… Martin Tomczyk can be a serious “gambler” who always prefers a game of poker with friends to visiting a noisy disco.

… Martin Tomczyk is a soccer fan in general and a supporter of FC Bayern München in particular. The DTM Champion has fought a few duels here and there at the PlayStation with Bastian Schweinsteiger.

… Martin Tomczyk for the first time this year since 2004 has not raced in a car sporting the colors of Red Bull. Nevertheless, he is still part of the company’s line-up and on the road as an ambassador for its “Wings for Life” foundation, among other things.

… With the title win he gave the long-standing partner “Schaeffler” a dream start as an Audi vehicle sponsor.

… Martin Tomczyk loves to cook in his free time and sometimes buys women’s magazines with appropriate recipes.